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29 Oct 2025
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm (UK)
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Join Isabel Elsey, Legal Recruitment Manager at BCLP, for a live Q&A session. Get details on secondments, innovation, growth areas, and everything else you’ve wanted to ask about life at BCLP!
I think more city law firms should follow in the footsteps of Travers Smith, White & Case and BCLP. 2,000 words is light work idk why there aren’t more firms asking us to write that much in our applications. Surely we’d all be doing it for the thrill!! 😖🤣
Based on what people have said on this thread, the deadline for the Mischon VI is 23:59 on Tuesday the 25th, meaning up until 23:59 on that day, you can sit and complete the VI. It is fine to submit Tuesday 11:59 or even 22:59 (one hour before). 🙂
Most firms have virtual internships on Forage so if you haven’t completed those yet, they are a great way of demonstrating an interest in the firm. I think they also can count as work experience because you are completing trainee style work. I know all the Magic Circle firms have virtual...
The only thing I can think of is that there might have been some people on TCLA who did get to the Linklaters AC but they chose not to post about it. 🤷🏾♂️
Thank you @Andrei Radu for your advice and guidance for both questions, I really appreciate it. The breakdown of Willkie relative to its position in the City of London and against its competitors is really insightful. I think TCLA needs to add a 🐐 react at this point because you are literally...
I’ve made the decision that if I am to go through another cycle, I am avoiding firms that ask us to write an entire PhD thesis, only to then give us a generic automated PFO. If an application question asks for more than 300 words, it’s an automatic no from me. This is the point I am at after...
That’s literally what has been throwing me off because I’ve got the rest filled in (e.g., personal details, academics, work experience, rare recruitment data, etc.) but the thought of writing 1,800 words is actually draining. That’s basically an entire university essay. Just need to firm it at...
I’ve seen around 3 people on this forum with partner interview invites so far. The AC itself takes place during the VS I think. People that pass the partner interview get SVS offers.
Just to add to this, I think this also extends to things like work experience and extra-curricular activities. Most people who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds end up needing to work part-time or full-time during their time at university (to afford the cost of living), so do not have...
Please don’t give up man. The fact you secured 4 VS offers from some of the most prestigious law firms in the world speaks volumes about your potential and abilities. You are genuinely one of the few forum users that has been a huge influence and inspiration for me to keep it pushing through...
Were the non-RG attendees from St Andrews, Bath and Loughborough? If so, it’s pretty much the same difference. If not, then that’s good to hear honestly. I wonder how many of the non-RG VS’ received TC offers though. Most of the current and future trainees I have come across on LinkedIn went to...
Universities aren’t accessible to all though. My point was that some people have the potential to succeed at elite RG universities and have the academic grades to meet their entry requirements, but due to financial circumstances, they are unable to access these institutions due to the higher...
I agree with you. That’s kind of the point that I was making. A firm shouldn’t claim to have no minimum entry requirements, or that they assess applications holistically, or that they adopt university or CV-blind recruitment, when in reality, they are after a particular kind of future trainee. I...
“They definitely do. Also they did a presentation a couple of years ago at my uni (Top RG, non Oxbridge) and one of the partners mentioned they went to Birmingham for UG, he then said “But we don’t hire from there anymore do we”. Grad rec tried to hush it up by saying they look at everything...
Grad rec trying to do damage control when it’s so much better to be honest and transparent about it. I went to a semi-top RG but I went there solely because it was the closest RG to where I live. I wasn’t in a financial position of moving really far from home. Of course I loved my uni and course...
Ropes & Gray PFO. For reference, I sent my application a few days before the deadline (28th - 31st Jan) and applied for both Spring and Summer Vacation Scheme 2025.
Nobody can convince me they don’t have a hidden minimum entry requirement of AAA and a 1st at undergrad. I lowkey thought my...
From what I have seen on the TCLA forums, it seems like they recruit 50:50 from VS and DTC, but I’m unsure if that will change for this recruitment cycle. It might be worthwhile asking them via email tbh, just to get a solid answer. 🙂
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