Hey William,
1) I think it is still worth applying to a vacation scheme with a firm that you have not had formal contact with before. And I think you have mentioned some suitable alternatives. At the end of the day, the firm is looking for someone who has dedicated time and effort into researching the firm rather than someone who is sending in an application as one of many shots in the dark.
Whilst it would make sense to prioritise those firms that you have attended events with in the first instance, since this would easily allow you to demonstrate motivation and genuine interest, there is nothing wrong with doing some extra research to apply to a firm that you would really like to attend.
On the LinkedIn point, you do not need to necessarily name drop whoever it is that you spoke to, rather try and focus on the substance that they have provided you with. Like 'after speaking to X associate at Y firm, I learnt about the regular training sessions provided in this practice,' or something along those lines.
2) I think unless the Forage course you completed was genuinely one of your first insights into commercial law, it would make more sense to mention the Forage course in the 'Why this firm?' section of your application. This might suitably bolster your interest in a certain practice area the firm offers, or teach you something new about how the firm operates.
Additionally, you might find value in adding the Forage experience to a part of the application that asks for any additional achievements or extra-curriculars that you have taken part in, as that is often a question in applications too.
3) I think when talking about practice areas, you should always focus first on forming some sort of personal connection, to explain why a specific practice area appeals to you. Whether that's mooting and how that got you interested in Litigation, or whether that's studying Company Law and how that got you interested in Corporate. Then you should go onto appropriately develop that answer to explain the steps you took to better understand if you're interested in that specific practice area.
In terms of specifically linking to the firm, I would suggest looking at rankings, and mentioning if the firm is ranked particularly high by Chambers or the Legal500. This is a good way to show research, and you could also see if the practice has won any awards across the world. Beyond that, mentioning a specific deal is a good idea yes. However, you should make sure you do have a genuine interest in the deal you have mentioned for whatever reason, and you should know the deal inside out as it will likely be brought up in subsequent stages of the application process. Try not to just mention a big name deal because it's easily recognisable.
4) So with this, there is no specific way to go about demonstrating your interest. But if you show multiple steps and link them together, then that shows you have more than just a surface level interest in a practice area.
To give you an example of the chain that might take place to get you interested in a practice: whilst studying Intellectual Property law at university, I learnt about the Getty Images v Stability AI case, and how Getty Images was represented by
Fieldfisher's Intellectual Property team, which got me interested in learning more about Intellectual Property as a practice area. I then spoke to X trainee at Y event, who told me about how Intellectual Property was split into different work-streams at a firm, like contentious work and advisory work. To learn more about the practice, I completed a Forage, etc. That sort of approach shows that you have spent a great deal of time looking into a practice rather than just doing some surface level reading.
5) I think you should mention the practice area which genuinely interests you at the firm, because just mentioning the firm's biggest practice will make it trickier to succeed in later stages when you are probed on why you are interested in that practice. Generally, you do not want to be mentioning smaller practices as the main component of your application, as that practice is not going to be representative of what you will most likely be working on at the firm.
Instead, try to apply to firms where the practice in question is the firm's main practice area, or at least one of the firm's core practices. However, after applying to said firms, there is no harm in also applying to firms where your preferred practice is not core to the firm if you get the time to do so. Just expect to have that motivation queried at a later stage, and have an appropriate response ready.
