• 📅 Vacation Scheme Applications 2025–26

    Planning to apply for winter, spring or summer vacation schemes? Join our dedicated threads for support, deadlines, and discussion:

    Let’s make this your strongest application season yet 💼

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  1. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    While sometimes a larger intake can signify a higher likelihood of a higher availability of formal training programmes and organized support structures, this is not always the case (with a firm like White & Case it definitely is, but at a firm like Kirkland a lot less); and furthermore it is...
  2. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hi @Reem2024 for the first question, I think you should focus on (i) explaining why you are interested in working both in the Middle East and London, as opposed to any other locations; and (ii) why you are particularly interested in Linklater's work and culture, as opposed to that of any other...
  3. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Case study interviews tend to differ significantly from firm to firm. Some require power points, while some do not but will give you an option to have one. Some will require the preparation of a report/brief on a number of reading materials, whereas others will not and will just start directly...
  4. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    That's a very good question. In my experience, US firms tend to provide a number of introductory sessions at the beginning of the TC and/or at the beginning of each seat to get you to understand the basic as to what the role of a trainee is and how to go about completing your work. Afterwards, a...
  5. Andrei Radu

    Ask 4 future trainees ANYTHING! *New TCLA Team Members*

    From my experience and the anecdotal experience of others it seems like most articles are on broader themes around current issues. Sometimes they can include more technical details, but those are generally either (i) explained in simple enough terms for a reasonably commercially aware applicant...
  6. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hi @F2020202 I completely understand how disappointed you are feeling right now, but try not to get too disheartened by it. The fact that you have gotten so close to a VS must make it all the more frustrating, but believe me that getting to this stage shows you are an exceptional candidate...
  7. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    The basic distinction is that with debt financing a company will borrow money from a lender and will in return make a promise to return the initial borrowed sum + an agreed upon interest. With equity financing, the company gets money from an investor but never has to pay the investor back in...
  8. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    As long as you do not ask about the specific questions the trainee got in their interview it should be fine. Just ensure you ask the trainee in an appropriate manner: show you are mindful of their busy schedules and that you appreciate them taking the the time to speak with you. In terms of...
  9. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I know Slaughters definitely does not have any of the above and that Davis Polk does not either. Besides that I know that Milbank does not have any of those up until the AC stage (as part of the overall AC assessment I had to complete a WG test).
  10. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I would describe Sidley in London as a medium-sized outfit of an elite US firm with strengths in a suite of transactional and advisory practices. While it is undoubtably one of the most prestigious firms in the US, it currently is and historically has trailed the traditional V10 firms (Wachtell...
  11. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hey @a1024 I answered this in an in depth post a while ago, I will quote it bellow:
  12. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hi @TonyStark I think you can think of competitors in two main ways. Firstly, at the level of the firms as a whole, we would essentially look for the firms that share the most important features of Skadden for the purposes of defining market position. While the exact features that are most...
  13. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Huge congratulations on the VS @badmintonflyinginsect :)! My main tips for preparing for a vacation scheme are the following: Brush up on your commercial awareness: while the specific way commercial awareness matters for the purposes of conversion tends to differ on a firm by firm basis, it is...
  14. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Thank you again for the kind words Chris😄!! For the question about Paul, Weiss' position in the City, I would describe it as a middle-to-large office with a full service offering tailored for PE clients and a strategic focus on high end mandates. While its English law practice is very new, you...
  15. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I will list resources here for some of the principal trainee tasks in PE: Legal Due Diligence: see this Practical Law Note on the due diligence process. Process Management: I did not find any specific guide on this, but take a look at this Practical Law overview of PE buyouts in the UK - it...
  16. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Huge congratulations @Chris Brown 🥳 🥳 🥳 this is truly an amazing achievement and I am so happy to have been able to help along the way! I know you will nail the AC, but feel free to tag me with any questions as you are preparing for it :)!
  17. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Prestige is a term with a notoriously elusive meaning so I will caveat the following by stipulating that this will just be my personal opinion based on my limited experience in the world of biglaw. Reasonable disagreement can and does exist about almost everything I will comment here. That...
  18. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hi @sapphireoreos I will list my best tips for each question bellow: Tell me about yourself: explain in a brief summary what your main interests and activities have consisted of in the past 3-4 years, including both the professional/academic aspect and the extracurricular/personal side. You...
  19. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hi @Lizzy that is a great question and I do not think I have tackled this topic in depth before! People have different research methods which can yield equally good results. But if I were to explain my research philosophy, the starting point would be to "split" the law firm up between a number...
  20. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Huge congrats on the AC! Here's the links to the resources I found: An older post with a general interview experience A 2020 thread discussing telephone interview experiences A 2025 post on a telephone interview experience (available via the premium database)

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