How to chose which firms to apply to?

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you so much for this! I have only talked about culture in applications where I have met individuals from the firm. Adding on to this though, would meeting them at a more casual event, for example, a Law Fair, be sufficient? And following this advice, it would therefore be imperative to mention that we have met them in our application?

not really - you aren’t going to pick up culture at a law fair. But I think this goes back to Jaysen’s point about being specific/detailed rather than just generally claiming “culture”....

Eg:

Having met the representatives at the law fair, I was impressed by the firm’s culture (vague).

Having spoken to trainees at the law fair, I was interested to learn more about (specific policies/specific training structure/specific diversity objectives) as these aligned to my (experiences/preferences/interests)...(specific)

 

[Keren]

Firms themselves usually classify clients into different groups. Specific one off clients rarely work in an application - you could easily never work for them, so explaining the types of work or types of clients is a safer bet. Again though, this is more about you and your motivations than it is about them.

Thanks Jess. One of my points focuses on the firm's reputation in Commercial Property (the firm emphasise its plans for growth in this area and has strong expertise in Real Estate across the North West). I've discussed why it appeals to me e.g its reputation draws in high-profile development work by multinational companies etc. Would that come across like my interests are limited to this area?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks Jess. One of my points focuses on the firm's reputation in Commercial Property (the firm emphasise its plans for growth in this area and has strong expertise in Real Estate across the North West). I've discussed why it appeals to me e.g its reputation draws in high-profile development work by multinational companies etc. Would that come across like my interests are limited to this area?

Not necessarily - really depends on if the rest of your application (eg work experience, other questions). If they are focused on real estate too it may come across as more one dimensional

 

[Dheepa]

Just thought I would add my two cents on this:

1. Practice Areas/Industry Expertise

Different firms are organised differently - ultimately this is a question of doing your research. Ex: NRF organise themselves by their industry expertise and so mentioning your interested in a particular industry (as opposed to a practice area) that they operate in will come across well. I also think it is always more important to mention why you're interested in the work the firm does rather than the culture. They are hiring you to do the job and it is very important to demonstrate why the work they do (and potentially you will be doing for 9-12 hours a day) excites you! Ex: you wouldn't apply to a Kirkland or Weil unless you were interested in PE/finance and the same applies to a lot of other firms.

2. Firm Culture

As Jessica and Jaysen have said, its only worth talking about firm culture if you've had specific conversations with people and can mention their names and why what they said about culture is important to you. I also think that if you've met a firm enough times you will find that trainees/associates/partners tend to repeat the same things about culture. Ex: I know one firm that stresses the "business value" of diversity. Thats a buzzword they don't have anywhere in their brochures and will automatically convey you know what's important to the firm/have taken the time to meet them. Culture can also actually be related to the firm's international presence so maybe think about it from that angle too.

--> I think the most important thing about apps however is linking things back to you. Why is the culture important to you - have you done a lot of D&I volunteering/do you have cross-cultural experiences? Why is the practice area/industry important to you - have you had tangible experience in those areas that you can draw from? Why does their training structure fit you - do you have experiences working in small teams with lots of responsibility?

Hope that gives you some guidance as to how to pick firms/what to write for apps!

 

[Deleted member 2707]

Hi all! Just another quick question regarding disclosure of mental illnesses and disabilities. I have struggled with depression in the past (chronic or not I'm not sure- I stopped going to therapy after I moved to the UK for university) but as of late (2020), I do feel significantly better and it no longer impacts my day to day life. Consequently, I have chosen not to disclose it on my applications. However, my experience with depression has made me really value D&I/mental health initiatives and I do look for firms with strengths in these areas. Would it be okay for me to mention this in my application question answers, even if I choose not to disclose my depression history in the actual form itself?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi all! Just another quick question regarding disclosure of mental illnesses and disabilities. I have struggled with depression in the past (chronic or not I'm not sure- I stopped going to therapy after I moved to the UK for university) but as of late (2020), I do feel significantly better and it no longer impacts my day to day life. Consequently, I have chosen not to disclose it on my applications. However, my experience with depression has made me really value D&I/mental health initiatives and I do look for firms with strengths in these areas. Would it be okay for me to mention this in my application question answers, even if I choose not to disclose my depression history in the actual form itself?

Like earlier posts, it’s fine to include things like mental health initiatives that the firm runs as one reason as to why you are applying. It just shouldn’t be the key reason - your focus needs to be why you want to do the job with them. You don’t have to disclose your own experiences at that time/in this question - this would be better suited to an additional information or extenuating circumstances section. It would be a waste of word count to describe your circumstances in a limited word count when you are supposed to be talking about why you are applying. You don’t have to disclose it at all if you don’t want to though - completely up to you.

 

[Numerius Negidius]

not really - you aren’t going to pick up culture at a law fair. But I think this goes back to Jaysen’s point about being specific/detailed rather than just generally claiming “culture”....

Eg:

Having met the representatives at the law fair, I was impressed by the firm’s culture (vague).

Having spoken to trainees at the law fair, I was interested to learn more about (specific policies/specific training structure/specific diversity objectives) as these aligned to my (experiences/preferences/interests)...(specific)

I've often mentioned these in my applications and explained why they matter to me by reference to past experiences. Last week, I went to the Legal Cheek virtual law fair and was told by GR at a large firm that too many people write about legaltech and diversity on their applications. Do you think these are topics to avoid where possible?

 

[Alice G]

I've often mentioned these in my applications and explained why they matter to me by reference to past experiences. Last week, I went to the Legal Cheek virtual law fair and was told by GR at a large firm that too many people write about legaltech and diversity on their applications. Do you think these are topics to avoid where possible?

I don’t think you should need to avoid anything per say but it does help to bear in mind that maybe if you discuss these topics, it’s best to try to take a novel approach or work hard to try to make it more unique. If these things truly matter to you then don’t betray your authenticity by worrying that other people are writing about this, but if these factors are important to you on a deeper level, your answer, by virtue of this, would no doubt stand out for its original point of view/your personal take on it/experiences with this.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I've often mentioned these in my applications and explained why they matter to me by reference to past experiences. Last week, I went to the Legal Cheek virtual law fair and was told by GR at a large firm that too many people write about legaltech and diversity on their applications. Do you think these are topics to avoid where possible?

I don’t think it’s about avoiding them. I think it is about making sure you are explaining why they are important to you. Too many people just stop at the claim of the factor interesting them. If you have strong evidence of your interest in diversity or legal tech and can back up your claim that it’s important to you, then it’s ok to say it. But first you have to explain why you want to do the day job with the firm - that’s likely to have no connections to diversity or legal tech at all. And that is where people go wrong - they put all their eggs in one basket into something that won’t directly influence the type of work they will be doing day to day.