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17 Nov 2025 (Live Now)
10:00 am – 12:00 pm (UK)
Hosted on TCLA Forum
The Withers graduate recruitment team is live right now answering questions about life at the firm, secondments, and the trainee experience. Join the discussion below.
Join us for a live student panel with BPP University Law School. We'll be joined by Jonny Hurst, Senior Lecturer in Law at BPP, and current BPP students who will share their advice on passing the SQE.
Yeah they mentioned they take on up to 20 trainees a year but that number can fluctuate slightly depending on the calibre of candidates. 🙂
They don’t have a direct TC route so it’s solely from the VS.
I didn’t apply to Skadden but I remember at one of their events the grad rec manager said they have a limit on the number of people who make it to each stage:
250 written exercise, 120 partner interview and 70 for vacation scheme (15-20 per VS).
I imagine they would wait until everyone had...
Thank you for this I really appreciate it. 🫡
The partner must have been impressed to have called the next day!! 😎
I’m surprised there has only been two AC’s so far given the deadline passed two weeks ago. 😭
There’s definitely hope left for those of us that applied closer to the deadline! 💀
I don’t think anyone should assume PFO. 🫡
We won’t know until we get the email so we just need to have some faith that we still stand a chance. 🥲
I think I have seen 1 or 2 AC invites so I think HL are just going through all applications and making decisions as they go. 🙂
Best of luck!
Do you mean Willkie? This is a Willkie thread so I think Gemma can only answer certain questions about Willkie specifically. 🙂
If not then it might be good to ask on the other TCLA threads that cover all firms including Watson Farley & Williams. 🙂
I think they recently rebranded and the name is now just Freshfields.
It’s no longer called Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, if that’s what you are referring to. 🙂
For the cover letter I used around 850 to 900 words.
For the two questions I used 500 each so the maximum word count. 🙂
Ideally you want to be within 20% of the word count.
This ensures the responses are detailed but concise so there has to be a balance. 🫡
For the cover letter I think 800 is...
I have just read my application to Paul, Weiss.
In at least 3 places, I forgot to put the , between Paul, Weiss. 😂🥲
In most parts (95%) I have included it.
I read through my application so many times to avoid this mistake and I still made it. 😂🥲
Hopefully they will let it slide or perhaps...
It is definitely risky for sure. 💯
I would never want to discourage anyone from applying to any firm but BCLP is a tricky one. 🥲
I have seen people already getting AC offers for the SVS from a few weeks ago.
I guess it comes down to how fast someone can write a good quality application. 🙂
To be honest this is tricky because BCLP’s application for SVS has 4 x 500 word long answer questions (2,000 words overall). 🥲
If you feel that you can write a strong written application I would go for it but with the short time frame left it will definitely take superhero abilities. 🥲
The...
I also read on this forum somewhere that they send the WGT in batches and begin to screen applications before the deadline. 🙂
For that reason, it might just be they are doing both at the same time now. I wouldn’t assume a PFO just yet.
HL do receive around 4,000+ applications a year so I guess...
I don’t think there is an expectation for you to memorise everything and regurgitate it all in an interview. That would seem robotic. 🫡
It’s much better to choose areas of commercial law that interest you and focus on those. Doing it this way also means you can articulate ideas better. 🙂
For...
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