General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[M1999]

In an application form that has a separate question about 'explain your extra-curricular activities/leisure interests & awards/responsibilities in academics'; do you not have to talk about the firm or commercial law? Can you just answer the question without relating it back to why you want to be a commercial lawyer at that firm?

 

[ophelia]

Is anyone else still waiting for White & Case direct TC from the previous cycle?

 

[LLawR]

Has anyone heard back from Simmons & Simmons post VI + tests?

 

[Florawilliams]

Is anyone else still waiting for White & Case direct TC from the previous cycle?

Yes! I applied for the W VS too because was worried I wouldn’t hear Back till too late for the TC. Undertaken a video interview for the VS but still not heard on my TC app!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hey guys! I was wondering if anyone was able to help out on issue I have. I have had to resubmit a piece of coursework: does this count as an exam resit? I don’t want to drag my application down unnecessarily if it isn’t but I do want to be honest as I know that is very important. My transcript says attempted: 2, so maybe I should...

yes this would be a resit and should be declared.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

In an application form that has a separate question about 'explain your extra-curricular activities/leisure interests & awards/responsibilities in academics'; do you not have to talk about the firm or commercial law? Can you just answer the question without relating it back to why you want to be a commercial lawyer at that firm?

Absolutely no reason to link this back to the firm or commercial law unless explicitly asked to do so.

 

[Frenchielawyer]

yes this would be a resit and should be declared.

Thank you for your answer!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

I am getting an awful lot of PMs at the moment about the same subject.

Mistakes on application forms.

And by mistakes, I don’t mean typos or grammatical errors, I mean you presenting your experiences incorrectly - eg presenting dates of work experience wrong, presenting your grades incorrectly etc.

This is the kind of stuff no one else will necessarily pick up on until a reference check is made. If I review an application, or a friend does it a careers service person does, they aren’t going to know your dates and grades. It is absolutely vital that you check these details to ensure things are correct. If you are unsure what you achieved or when you did something, go and check and find out so that you are sure before applying - it’s your responsibility to do this.

There isn’t really an excuse for these mistakes on an application form beyond them being YOUR mistake. And making these errors is worse than a typo/grammatical mistake because you are presenting false information and it will only bring into question whether you have wrongly presented this information to benefit your application rather than it being an honest mistake. Given integrity and attention to detail are important parts of the job, you don’t want one of your first impressions to be that either of these qualities are brought into question.

Please invest time reviewing these details as only you can be held responsible for them.

 

[KerC14]

The email said we’d hear by the 12th November but just wondering if anyone has heard back from BLM for the 2022 TC apps?

 

[ophelia]

Yes! I applied for the W VS too because was worried I wouldn’t hear Back till too late for the TC. Undertaken a video interview for the VS but still not heard on my TC app!

I see, thank you! I haven't applied for the W VS but I probably will for Spring/ Summer cause the TC app is just taking forever..!

 

[Florawilliams]

Hey guys

I read this on Mayer Brown's website
Mayer Brown is the only integrated law firm with approximately 200 or more lawyers in each of the world’s three largest financial centres — New York, London and Hong Kong — the backbone of the global economy.

Could anyone help me out, I'm not sure what an 'integrated law firm is'? I know lots of law firms have more than 200 lawyers in the London, NY and HK office. So what does Mayer Brown mean... i'm guessing the answer lies in what an integrated law firm is?

Thank you

 

[DrowninginSQE]

Hey guys

I read this on Mayer Brown's website
Mayer Brown is the only integrated law firm with approximately 200 or more lawyers in each of the world’s three largest financial centres — New York, London and Hong Kong — the backbone of the global economy.

Could anyone help me out, I'm not sure what an 'integrated law firm is'? I know lots of law firms have more than 200 lawyers in the London, NY and HK office. So what does Mayer Brown mean... i'm guessing the answer lies in what an integrated law firm is?

Thank you

It means they share their clients and their work, and there is one pool of money.

 

[Florawilliams]

It means they share their clients and their work, and there is one pool of money.

thank you so much! i don't get how it is the 'only' law firm that does this though?

 

[DrowninginSQE]

thank you so much! i don't get how it is the 'only' law firm that does this though?

Other firms like CC have separate pools of money or are Swiss verein

 

[Jen E C]

thank you so much! i don't get how it is the 'only' law firm that does this though?

I believe they are referring to the number of lawyers in each location.

 

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Hey guys

I read this on Mayer Brown's website
Mayer Brown is the only integrated law firm with approximately 200 or more lawyers in each of the world’s three largest financial centres — New York, London and Hong Kong — the backbone of the global economy.

Could anyone help me out, I'm not sure what an 'integrated law firm is'? I know lots of law firms have more than 200 lawyers in the London, NY and HK office. So what does Mayer Brown mean... i'm guessing the answer lies in what an integrated law firm is?

Thank you

Hey!

So from my understanding, they're saying that Mayer Brown is a single partnership (meaning they have the same pot of money and the same salary arrangements) with a huge presence in each of those areas. So, whilst there are other firms that have offices in those areas, either they're not a single partnership in those areas and/or they don't have the presence that Mayer Brown do.

For example, Firm A may have offices in London, NY and HK but London may be part of the Europe arm of the firm, NY is part of the North American arm and HK is part of the Asia-Pacific arm. But, they'll share a common brand. Some examples are Bakers, Dentons, KWM.

Other firms may be integrated in all those areas but might have 1000 lawyers in London, 250 in NY and 50 in HK, etc.

 

[c1070]

Has anyone else had glitching problems with the bird & bird VI? It happened to me last year (different laptop, different WiFi) where it played the first question twice and then on 1 question the clock just started counting down with no timer allowing for 60seconds thinking time (as the other questions had) and then on the final Q the thinking time timer and actual answer timer were nothing going on at the same time...

I emailed to say it glitched but hopefully they received my full answers, just wondering if anyone else experienced the same given it did it to me last year aswell?? Also kinda annoying I had zero seconds to think on 2 of the answers lol I think all in all it was a bit of a disaster...

 

[lawgirl1234]

Has anyone else had glitching problems with the bird & bird VI? It happened to me last year (different laptop, different WiFi) where it played the first question twice and then on 1 question the clock just started counting down with no timer allowing for 60seconds thinking time (as the other questions had) and then on the final Q the thinking time timer and actual answer timer were nothing going on at the same time...

I emailed to say it glitched but hopefully they received my full answers, just wondering if anyone else experienced the same given it did it to me last year aswell?? Also kinda annoying I had zero seconds to think on 2 of the answers lol I think all in all it was a bit of a disaster...

That's super weird. I didn't have any glitches with mine but having said that it still went fairly disastrously

 

[Florawilliams]

Other firms like CC have separate pools of money or are Swiss verein

thank you so much

 

[Florawilliams]

I believe they are referring to the number of lawyers in each location.

thank you!