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

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Amma Usman, I have been invited to a first stage interview with Gibson Dunn and I am very nervous as this will be my first ever. As the focus is mostly motivational and competency-based, I was hoping you could share some advice to help me prepare. In particular, I’m curious about who you’d consider Gibson Dunn’s main competitors and how the firm differentiates itself from them. It would be great to understand what sets the firm apart from others.

@Kay Aston @Andrei Radu @Ram Sabaratnam if you have any general tips on how to approach the interview, especially in terms of preparation or standing out, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks so much for your help!

Hey @hello123 and first of all congrats for getting the interview, it is a huge achievement! In terms of general tips and preparation, I advise you to read the recent Complete Guide to Competency Interview Preparation I have written. You will find a list of my best tips and a detailed description of the the preparation method that has secured me a VS 4/4 times I implemented it.

Just to jump in before @Amma Usman can come back to you with a more informed view, I would break the competitors question into two. Firstly, you have competitors understood as firms that are most alike Gibson Dunn as a whole - the same 'type' if you like. I would describe Gibson Dunn's type as a small to middle-sized office of an elite white shoe firm, with strengths across transactional and disputes practices. Thus, I would compare it with the likes of Milbank and Willkie. Secondly, you can think of competitors as the toughest firms to pitch against on a given mandate, and this will necessarily be practice-area specific. Thus, I think you should look at Gibson Dunn's main practice areas (you should be able to see this from their Chambers firm profile) and then look up the Chambers UK 2025 band rankings for each of those. Then, select some of the two-three best ranked ones and look particularly for US firms, as they share more of the same market and client base with Gibson Dunn.

 

[ChambersLoading]

Hey @hello123 and first of all congrats for getting the interview, it is a huge achievement! In terms of general tips and preparation, I advise you to read the recent Complete Guide to Competency Interview Preparation I have written. You will find a list of my best tips and a detailed description of the the preparation method that has secured me a VS 4/4 times I implemented it.

Just to jump in before @Amma Usman can come back to you with a more informed view, I would break the competitors question into two. Firstly, you have competitors understood as firms that are most alike Gibson Dunn as a whole - the same 'type' if you like. I would describe Gibson Dunn's type as a small to middle-sized office of an elite white shoe firm, with strengths across transactional and disputes practices. Thus, I would compare it with the likes of Milbank and Willkie. Secondly, you can think of competitors as the toughest firms to pitch against on a given mandate, and this will necessarily be practice-area specific. Thus, I think you should look at Gibson Dunn's main practice areas (you should be able to see this from their Chambers firm profile) and then look up the Chambers UK 2025 band rankings for each of those. Then, select some of the two-three best ranked ones and look particularly for US firms, as they share more of the same market and client base with Gibson Dunn.

This VERY VERY helpful, thank you very much for this and all you do!!

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi @Amma Usman, I have been invited to a first stage interview with Gibson Dunn and I am very nervous as this will be my first ever. As the focus is mostly motivational and competency-based, I was hoping you could share some advice to help me prepare. In particular, I’m curious about who you’d consider Gibson Dunn’s main competitors and how the firm differentiates itself from them. It would be great to understand what sets the firm apart from others.

@Kay Aston @Andrei Radu @Ram Sabaratnam if you have any general tips on how to approach the interview, especially in terms of preparation or standing out, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks so much for your help!

Hi there @hello123 ,

I don’t have much to add to @Andrei Radu ’s wonderful response.

With regards motivational and competency interviews, I generally recommend candidates knowing their skills and experiences in and out. This way, any question you’re asked wouldn’t trip you off as you can easily link it back to yourself to show specific interest.

With regards how to differentiate a law firm from its competitors, I have linked a thread below which should help out.

Best of luck!

Guide to Identifying a Law Firm’s Competitors

In this guide, I’ll be talking about how to identify a law firm’s competitors. This is a skill that’s not only useful for applications but also helps you get a much better understanding of the legal industry as a whole. Honestly, this was something I initially struggled with. I found it hard to...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[oneskillfc]

Hello TCLA,
I have just subscribed to the gold membership but I could not get assessed to the premium data base. I would like to get approved.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hello TCLA,
I have just subscribed to the gold membership but I could not get assessed to the premium data base. I would like to get approved.

If you send me a private message with your confirmation email from TCLA, I can get this set up for you.

 

[hmevey]

How to approach this question for SH, struggling slightly!

In up to 600 words, please outline up to three significant challenges that you think all law firms will face over the next five years. You should draw on your current awareness and your commercial awareness to answer this question.- Max 600 words

 

[DunphyPritchett]

Hi! If I’m doing a commercial case study at an AC, what kind of topics/questions should I anticipate and how can I prepare/what should I know? Thank you!
@Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam

 

[TCLAAAA]

Hi, I activate the premium membership but still cannot see Premium Database and Chat @Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam Thanks!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi, I activate the premium membership but still cannot see Premium Database and Chat @Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam Thanks!

If you send me proof of purchase in a private message, I can get this sorted for you.

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi! If I’m doing a commercial case study at an AC, what kind of topics/questions should I anticipate and how can I prepare/what should I know? Thank you!
@Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam

Hi there,

Commercial case studies encompass so many things. In law firm interviews, I usually expected article or corporate case studies. As your firm has told you this would be a ‘commercial’ case study, I presume this to be on two businesses navigating a problem/series of problems. In my experience, this was usually an M&A case study as those firms were more transactional-focused. To prepare for this, I learnt basic terms, stages of a typical M&A deals, the types of contracts involved, etc. I will link a case study I made on this which covered most of the issues I encountered and ways to navigate these.

Now let’s assume the case study isn’t even on an M&A topic. The truth is, and in my opinion, basic knowledge of how businesses make and maintain profit, navigate common economic problems like inflation etc, will help you navigate ANY case study. The ability to also consider the influence of greater things such as social and political considerations, where necessary, may also be relevant. For example, policy considerations may also need to be taken into account in certain business processes.

I’ve included some topics you could anticipate, though the list is non-exhaustive:

• Market entry: Should a company expand into a new region or launch a new product?
• M&A: Evaluating whether a merger or acquisition makes strategic sense.
• Risk assessment: Identifying potential risks (legal, financial, reputational) for a client.
• Stakeholder analysis: Considering the perspectives of different parties involved, like clients, regulators, or investors.

To prepare:

• Brush up on current commercial trends, like AI, ESG, or economic developments (inflation, interest rates, etc.).
• Familiarise yourself with basic financial terms (e.g., revenue, EBITDA, valuation) and frameworks like SWOT or PESTLE.
• Practise structuring your answers logically. Use frameworks to organise your thoughts and clearly explain your reasoning.
• Stay calm and don’t panic if you’re unsure, it’s more about how you approach the problem than having the “right” answer.

You’ve got this!

Mock M&A Case Study: Analysis

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a fantastic day. We’re entering the season of assessment centres (ACs) at law firms, and a hot topic for many of these ACs is Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)! So, in this thread, I’ll be guiding you through a short fictitious M&A case study and highlighting...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi there. You can touch on anything really, from ESG, energy, AI, and the likes. There is no right answer, only your ability to connect it to the commercial and legal worlds, as this is what will help demonstrate your commercial awareness. There is also a tendency for applicants to talk a lot about topics like AI, but I presume it would not be much of an issue if you mention a common topic, provided you expand on it adequately. Another thing is that you do not have to equally split the word count, but I recommend doing so (or somewhat closely) to ensure you touch on each topic in depth.

I’ve linked an example of how I would personally approach this question in the context of ESG:

One significant challenge law firms will face over the next five years is managing the escalating demand for environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related legal services amidst rapidly evolving regulations and stakeholder expectations. Governments worldwide are introducing stricter environmental legislation, such as carbon reduction targets and mandatory sustainability reporting, while investors and clients demand greater transparency and accountability in corporate operations.

For law firms, the challenge lies in providing clients with proactive and commercially viable solutions to meet these obligations while avoiding reputational and legal risks. This requires deep expertise in emerging ESG frameworks, sector-specific regulations, and litigation risks, as well as the ability to handle the increasing complexity of cross-border ESG issues. Moreover, firms must address their own ESG commitments to attract talent and clients who prioritize sustainability and ethical practices. Balancing the cost of internal transformation with maintaining profitability will test firms' strategic adaptability.

Law firms that effectively integrate ESG advisory into their practice and demonstrate leadership in this space will secure a competitive advantage, but those that fail to keep pace risk losing relevance in an increasingly sustainability-conscious market.

How to approach this question for SH, struggling slightly!

In up to 600 words, please outline up to three significant challenges that you think all law firms will face over the next five years. You should draw on your current awareness and your commercial awareness to answer this question.- Max 600 words

 

[DunphyPritchett]

Hi there,

Commercial case studies encompass so many things. In law firm interviews, I usually expected article or corporate case studies. As your firm has told you this would be a ‘commercial’ case study, I presume this to be on two businesses navigating a problem/series of problems. In my experience, this was usually an M&A case study as those firms were more transactional-focused. To prepare for this, I learnt basic terms, stages of a typical M&A deals, the types of contracts involved, etc. I will link a case study I made on this which covered most of the issues I encountered and ways to navigate these.

Now let’s assume the case study isn’t even on an M&A topic. The truth is, and in my opinion, basic knowledge of how businesses make and maintain profit, navigate common economic problems like inflation etc, will help you navigate ANY case study. The ability to also consider the influence of greater things such as social and political considerations, where necessary, may also be relevant. For example, policy considerations may also need to be taken into account in certain business processes.

I’ve included some topics you could anticipate, though the list is non-exhaustive:

• Market entry: Should a company expand into a new region or launch a new product?
• M&A: Evaluating whether a merger or acquisition makes strategic sense.
• Risk assessment: Identifying potential risks (legal, financial, reputational) for a client.
• Stakeholder analysis: Considering the perspectives of different parties involved, like clients, regulators, or investors.

To prepare:

• Brush up on current commercial trends, like AI, ESG, or economic developments (inflation, interest rates, etc.).
• Familiarise yourself with basic financial terms (e.g., revenue, EBITDA, valuation) and frameworks like SWOT or PESTLE.
• Practise structuring your answers logically. Use frameworks to organise your thoughts and clearly explain your reasoning.
• Stay calm and don’t panic if you’re unsure, it’s more about how you approach the problem than having the “right” answer.

You’ve got this!

Mock M&A Case Study: Analysis

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a fantastic day. We’re entering the season of assessment centres (ACs) at law firms, and a hot topic for many of these ACs is Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)! So, in this thread, I’ll be guiding you through a short fictitious M&A case study and highlighting...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Thank you so much! This is really helpful

 

[Eye of the Sun]

Hey TCLA team!

I have recently purchased the TCLA Gold membership but have not had my request to access the Premium content approved yet. I'd appreciate your help on this one thanks!

Also, I have an AC coming up in Feb, which includes written exercise, business case study, group exercise, and interview with a Silver Circle firm. This is my first ever AC and I'd appreciate any advice to prep for the day. @Amma Usman @Andrei Radu @Jaysen thank you in advance.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hey TCLA team!

I have recently purchased the TCLA Gold membership but have not had my request to access the Premium content approved yet. I'd appreciate your help on this one thanks!

Also, I have an AC coming up in Feb, which includes written exercise, business case study, group exercise, and interview with a Silver Circle firm. This is my first ever AC and I'd appreciate any advice to prep for the day. @Amma Usman @Andrei Radu @Jaysen thank you in advance.

If you send me proof of purchase via a private message, I can get this access sorted for you.

 

[Eye of the Sun]

If you send me proof of purchase via a private message, I can get this access sorted for you.

Just did thank you!

 

[ChambersLoading]

Hi @Amma Usman @Andrei Radu,

I wanted to thank you, as well as the resources provided by TCLA, for all the guidance—I'm thrilled to share that I have made it to the second and final stage interview with Gibson Dunn! This stage includes an article-based interview and a further competency interview with a partner and a senior associate.

I was hoping to get some advice on how best to prepare for the article-based interview. Do you have any tips on how to approach it effectively, particularly in terms of structuring responses and demonstrating commercial awareness, especially since I’ve been told it likely won’t be very legal?

Additionally, I’m feeling a bit unsure about how to approach the further competency interview. Since my first interview with Graduate Recruitment was also competency-based and covered questions like “Why Gibson Dunn?”, “Why law?”, and “Tell me about yourself,” I’m not sure if I need to adapt my answers for the final stage.

In the first interview, I focused on Gibson Dunn’s strengths across transactional and contentious work, the appeal of the free market system, the training philosophy, and the firm’s culture. Should I give different reasons this time, or is it okay to reiterate and expand on these points? Similarly, should I change my answer to “Why law?” or even adjust how I introduce myself at the start of the interview?

Any advice on these points would be so appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Amma Usman @Andrei Radu,

I wanted to thank you, as well as the resources provided by TCLA, for all the guidance—I'm thrilled to share that I have made it to the second and final stage interview with Gibson Dunn! This stage includes an article-based interview and a further competency interview with a partner and a senior associate.

I was hoping to get some advice on how best to prepare for the article-based interview. Do you have any tips on how to approach it effectively, particularly in terms of structuring responses and demonstrating commercial awareness, especially since I’ve been told it likely won’t be very legal?

Additionally, I’m feeling a bit unsure about how to approach the further competency interview. Since my first interview with Graduate Recruitment was also competency-based and covered questions like “Why Gibson Dunn?”, “Why law?”, and “Tell me about yourself,” I’m not sure if I need to adapt my answers for the final stage.

In the first interview, I focused on Gibson Dunn’s strengths across transactional and contentious work, the appeal of the free market system, the training philosophy, and the firm’s culture. Should I give different reasons this time, or is it okay to reiterate and expand on these points? Similarly, should I change my answer to “Why law?” or even adjust how I introduce myself at the start of the interview?

Any advice on these points would be so appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help.

Hi @FutureTrainee100 and first of all huge congratulations, this is a huge achievement! Also, I am very glad to hear we were able to help !

For your question about how to approach the competency interview, I do not think you should let your strategy be affected by the answers you gave in the graduate recruitment interview. The partner are unlikely to know/keep in mind what you have responded, and regardless there is no expectation for you to have different why law/why firm motivations. If anything, coming up with radically different answers might be a sign of dishonesty/insincerity.

The only adjustment regarding this interview should be to account for the fact that you will be speaking with experts in their fields who have very detailed technical knowledge of their practice but also of the firm and the legal market in general. As such, you might expect more scrutiny and follow up questions on your motivations and knowledge of the firm/commercial law. Thus, as you are preparing I would advise you to try to anticipate what you might be questioned further on and find answers to that. Moreover, you might want to actively try to showcase your nuanced understanding more than in a graduate recruitment interview. For instance, when discussing the firm's strengths in different practice areas you could analyze that in the context of its competitors, thus demonstrating an increased depth of research.

As for your question about advice for the written exercise part, I have quoted bellow some posts I made discussing general written exercise tips and some specific to an article-based written exercise. Besides these, in regards to showing commercial awareness, I would have two further tips:

• When considering a commercial factor, always try to link it to the bottom line: is this likely to increase/decrease revenues and/or is this likely to increase/decrease costs and expenses? If so, by how much? This should be helpful in terms of showcasing understanding of how businesses work and should also help with coming up with an argument in favor of one view or another if that is required of you.
• Try to actively think of ways the weigh given to a given commercial factor is impacted by current events/trends: is inflation coming down relevant in any way? Is AI innovation? Or perhaps the recent elections? It is likely that for one factor or another, at least something in terms of recent news will be relevant, so if this is the case definitely try to mention it. This is once again particularly useful for helping you to formulate an argument in situations where you need tiebreakers.

I have not had any personal experience with this particular type of written assessment method, but I think it is quite likely the firm is looking to assess the same key competencies: time-management and resilience under pressure, ability to identify and summarize key issues in large bodies of text, use of formal language, commercial awareness and problem solving skills. As such, I do not think your preparation for this type of written assessment format should be very different from your preparation for an exercise with a more common format.

The only things I can think of that you may want to consider as altering in your preparation are the following:

• Broader scope: An article will normally treat a broader topic and will aim to be more comprehensive than an email relating to a particular task. As such, when preparing I would look for written exercises asking me to summarize/comment on a wider set of issues. However, a corollary of that may be that you are not expected to go into as much depth in any of the particular issues.
• Length: Because of the broader scope, an article may generally be longer than an email.
• Impersonal and objective tone: As opposed to an email, which will relate to a particular issue a client cares about, an article is generally supposed to be more objective and impartial. You may therefore have to consider the perspective of stakeholders other than the firm's clients and to avoid the temptation of analysing the issues from a 'client-centric' perspective. However, if you are asked to also make an argument and give your personal view in the article (rather than an impartial commentary), definitely avoid sitting on the fence.

Finally, I would advise you to try to gather more information about the details of the written task at this specific firm. Resources like the TCLA Interview Database may come in very handy.

While I think different strategies apply for different formats, there are a couple of pointers which I would say are generally applicable for all or almost all types of written exercises:

1. Time-management: You might have heard this so many times already, but I have to stress that most written exercises are incredibly time-pressured. I remember I was always told this, but it is very easy to forget during the actual assessment. In the first 20-30 minutes I have always to an extent or another allowed myself to be tempted by thoughts such as 'Oh it won't take me that long to read/write that part, I will just speed up a bit later' and I would thus justify being less efficient than I could have been in the first half of the exercise. As I would be entering the second half and nearing the end, I would invariably then find that it was very difficult to increase my working pace to make up for lost ground and my work product would suffer as a result. Thus, my advice is to be on your guard against that and to try to spread out your efforts evenly across the allocated time. Take one or two minutes in the beginning to make a plan and divide your workload, allocate portions of your time to completing the different parts, and try to make yourself to stick to those time limits.
2. Efficient reading: In a substantial number of written exercises you will be given a large number of documents containing overlapping information and also big sections of text containing technical details which are not of great importance to your task. Once again, there is a temptation to ignore the time constraints and to try to read everything closely to ensure you are not missing anything. However, in my experience the main task of the assessment very rarely or never hinges on easy to miss details. As such, my advice for you is to try to quickly read and skim through the documents, and only once you have a big picture go back and look at the relevant sections in more detail.
3. Analysis: Almost all written assessments have an analysis part, in which you are asked to weigh different considerations and make a judgement. I would advise you not to focus too much on trying to "blow away" the reader with the depth of your analysis or creativity of your arguments. Given the time constraints and nature of the tasks, there is rarely scope for that and if you focus to much on this kind of goal you might miss explaining much simpler points that should have been included in your analysis. As such, concentrate on considering the position of all relevant stakeholders (if you have issues doing this, drawing out diagrams can be very useful), having all the main pros and cons properly laid out, and weighing which set of considerations should you give priority to. If you can further support your opinion by making any links to current news stories or commercial trends, try to do so.
4. Clarity and structure: Finally, ensuring your answer is very easy to follow is a point whose importance I cannot overstate. A essential skill for a prospective trainee is an ability for clear communication, both verbally and in writing, and this type of assessment is how they test the later. As such, you should focus on having a simple writing style and structure as much as you focus on the substantive points you are trying to communicate.

Hi @CHLTC I really empathize with your struggles, as case studies/written tasks were always the hardest part of ACs for me as well. I don't think there is a specific method you can prepare, since as you mentioned, they come in a wide variety of formats. In my view, the only way to prepare is by developing the underlying skills every case study will seek to test: time-management and work under pressure, clarity of writing and structure, commercial awareness and analysis, ability to digest large amounts of information, etc.

To do that, I think it is useful to both practice actual case studies and to read more widely about the commercial matters that might be relevant for them. A particularly helpful resource for me was the course offered by TCLA on the matter (which you can find here). It includes a number of mock PE and M&A case studies, recordings of two hour long sessions explaining how to think through written/interview style M&A case studies, and a number of questions that are analyzed in depth by the TCLA team. To link a few useful free resources on TCLA:

• An amazing guide for M&A case studies by @Jacob Miller, which includes both a mock case study and a model answer with detailed explanations of how you should think through the materials (which you can find here).
• A mock written case study offered by TCLA here.
• An excellent article written by @Jaysen Sutton, which explains the process, types, structures, and general terms of an M&A transaction (which you can find here).
• A glossary of M&A terms by @Amma Usman here.

Besides these, I have also found a few external resources you may want to take a look at:

• A great LSE article giving an overview of case studies and preparation methods for each element
• An article with tips from the Oxford Careers Service
• A Next City Lawyer case study available on a fee basis

Finally, I quoted bellow a recent post I wrote which I think you could find useful - it includes my top tips for any written task:

 

[DarrenB]

Hi @Andrei Radu

I was wondering whether you could share any tips on the Slaughter and May AC for the direct TC?

Thank you!

Best,

Darren

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Andrei Radu

I was wondering whether you could share any tips on the Slaughter and May AC for the direct TC?

Thank you!

Best,

Darren

Hi @DarrenB my main tip for the competency interview would be to come very prepared to be challenged and questioned on your motivations and experiences. Firstly, you need to be able to discuss any point in your CV in depth, and particularly any educational point. Be ready to explain every grade in university and to be asked why you have not performed very well in certain modules - particularly if any of them have links with commercial law. Secondly, you should have a watertight motivation for why commercial law and to be able to explain your preference for over your other passions and potential careers. It will likely not suffice to state some of the commonly met reasons as you will likely get a number of follow up questions. Thirdly, you should have a very good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the firm's model, particularly when compared to the other Magic Circle firms.

For the article discussion, as you prepare you should think of different arguments to support potential views about the subject matter, as you may be asked to defend positions you do not necessarily agree with. You should also expect to be challenged a lot here, as partners want to test your resilience and advocacy. Be flexible and willing to integrate their points into a synthesis view, but stand your ground and do your best to justify your core claim despite their pushback.

Best of luck !

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi, just wanted to ask if you apply to a firm and are rejected prior to getting an AC and re-apply next year, would they view it negatively? I've heard of some firms only giving you one shot at them and I've not gotten any positive news so far in this cycle, so feel like it may be a waste to try again as an international student. Would appreciate some advice on this @Andrei Radu @Jessica Booker @Ram Sabaratnam

Before the rest of the team gets back to you, I see no harm applying again. I know firms such as Jones Day do not have a re-interview process, but even this according to the Firm, is subject to whether your application has changed significantly from last time (meaning you can still re-apply). I presume most firms will not have a problem considering your candidacy again if you haven’t interviewed with them before. I know many people that have applied to firms for a second year and gotten past the application stage, after refining their initial applications and/or spending the time to gain more experience.