• 📅 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

    I do not have much to add to @Amma Usman's excellent post on this besides just mentioning what I think is the core aspect of law firm's profitability. Amma explained the different revenue streams that a firm can seek to maximize and the many different costs that it can seek to minimize, but in...
  2. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    For the first question, while I do not have a lot of prior knowledge about the firm, I do believe Chambers and Legal 500 rankings are good indicators for a firm's practice area focus and strengths. Based on that, it seems like Winston & Strawn is not simply a litigation boutique, but that it...
  3. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    People with experience with Latham's process might tell you more, but I do not think you necessarily should. While I would say the average response time post AC is perhaps under 2 weeks, a longer wait time could be due to many factors. In my case, I waited for more than 4 weeks for a response...
  4. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    My experience with DLA VI was one of a very typical VI, I was not surprised by any particular question. For my general tips for VIs and VI preparation, I have written an in depth guide (which you can access here) - please see in particular sections 1 and 2.
  5. Andrei Radu

    A complete guide for competency interview preparation

    Sorry for the very late response - I have been away on leave for a while. The only other guide I have written is on constructing an application strategy (which you can find here) but I am very happy to consider any suggestions on topics of interest :)!
  6. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I really do not think it will be - I discovered multiple typos/misspellings in some of my successful applications, with some examples being far more noticeable than yours.
  7. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    To add to @Amma Usman's great post on this, I just wanted to lay out the basic structure I used. There are other structures you can employ for a great answer but this one ended up working very well for me, even when I had to cover a lot of information over a span of 3-4 minutes. Introduction...
  8. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    To add to @Ram Sabaratnam's excellent answer, I think you should conceive of 'competitors' and 'the market' in two distinct ways. Firstly, you have the broad sense of the terms, where we look at firms as a whole and compare them. Looking at a firm holistically will entail considering revenue and...
  9. Andrei Radu

    A complete guide for competency interview preparation

    1. Besides the classics (why you, why commercial law), some of the ones I encountered most often/heard about others encountering are: Tell me about a time you demonstrated teamwork Tell me about a time you demonstrated resilience/worked under pressure/solved a problem What are the key qualities...
  10. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I think it is not only fine to mention vacation schemes or other work experiences at other firms, but that it is desirable to do so. You should name them and you should elaborate on the experience in a way that does it justice - do not seek to minimize it. Any potential disadvantage in terms of...
  11. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hi @marisachr I have recently written a post on the same issue, I hope you find it useful:
  12. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I think one of your main areas of focus should be commercial understanding, which should exist at a number of levels. First, to enable their clients to reach their objectives, lawyers need to know what those objectives are - and not just at a superficial level. To reach optimal results even when...
  13. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I definitely think you should consider writing about the firm globally and as a whole, as their serious presence in London has just been established and thus there will not be much historical work you can reference. Moreover, I think this question is inviting you to discuss Paul, Weiss' broader...
  14. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Interviewers at Magic Circle firms will be well aware of the fact that the firms in the group have a lot in common and that most of the differences will be marginal. However, I think each of them has certain points of pride which it would perhaps be well to mention in an interview - ie...
  15. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    If by overarching industry you mean the broad big law industry, I would recommend the legal press itself: The Lawyer, Law.com, Business Law, The Global Legal Post and Bloomberg Law. Some of this are only available on a subscription basis while some are have both freely accessible content and...
  16. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I think for phone interviews I would advise you to keep your answers short and easy to understand, as you will simply have less time and a harder time communicating than in an actual interview. Because of the time constraints most of it will likely be focused on the usual competency/motivational...
  17. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Hi @suhana I quoted bellow a post where I listed some of the best resources I found for case study preparation, both from TCLA and from other external sources. Besides this, take a look at the many useful threads you can find under the Interview Discussion heading and at my Complete Guide for...
  18. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    If you have completed any more commercial law related modules such as company law, I would also revise some of the material for that. Just to be sure, I would perhaps add some of the basics of EU Law if you have already taken the module and are going to a Competition-law focused firm. However...
  19. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I do not think there is a determinate meaning for 'law-related work experience', most likely it differs depending on how individual departments/recruiters choose to interpret it. Regardless of the interpretation however I believe it is quite unlikely any of them would take issue with you...
  20. Andrei Radu

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I think it is fine to repeat in the sense of using examples which consist of experiences listed in the work experience section as well - I did this in almost all of my applications. However, you should avoid repeating the descriptions of those experiences. To the extent possible, try to have a...

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