TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

[Andrei Radu]

Hi all, I am writing direct TC applications to TLT and BCLP and I would appreciate your insights on the following questions:

TLT:

What are the benefits to TLT of having a sector approach and why?

• I know generally that a sector approach allows firms to understand thoroughly the industries they operate in, allowing them to provide more tailored solutions. This also allows them to focus on investments in those sectors and improve their reputation more quickly. But I'm kind of struggling to think about how to stand out in this question. How would you answer this to stand out?
• Also, I didn't attend a TLT info session - is there something that I should bear in mind in terms of TLT apart from what I can find on their website, TCLA, Legal Cheek and Chambers Student?

The legal landscape is always changing and at TLT we value lawyers who are future ready. What do you perceive to be the biggest challenges facing trainee solicitors in the next 5 years and how will you manage this?

• I guess we know some challenges for the legal industry as a whole, but I'm not sure how I should focus on trainee solicitors. ChatGPT suggests (1) navigating Legal Tech and AI and (2) mental health concerns as the pay war for trainees and NQs continue. However I'm not sure how that can be specific to trainees. Do you have any insights?

Hi @InterestInPublicLaw for your first question about the sector-based approach, the first point to make about researching TLT is that besides the sources you have listed, I would take a look at the broader legal press (in particular, The Lawyer, Legal Business, and The Global Legal Post) as it may contain useful comparisons between how well different firms are doing in a given sector. Secondly, I think there are two options you can go for to try to make your answer stand out. On the one hand, you could try to impress with the depth of your understanding of 1/2 key benefits of this approach and analyze it in a lot of detail. If you could also find a deal/case the firm advised on in which the relevant expertise benefit is illustrated, that could make your reasoning quite compelling. On the other hand, you could try to impress recruiters by showing the breadth of your understanding - ie, that you are aware of all the main advantages of a sector-based approach. This is the way I went about answering such questions when I was applying, as I was relying on a "need to make sure I tick all the boxes" strategy. I think both options can work, but to the extent that you will consider going for the second, I have made a list of the main benefits of a sector focus:

Benefits for clients:

1. Ease of service: essentially, a sector-focused firm will deliver legal services in a way that is a lot easier for the client to use. Firstly, if a firm organizes teams more around sectors than practice areas, it looks and is a lot more similar to the client's business. Businesses perceive themselves as players in a certain industry and do not neatly separate their legal needs between the different workstreams of different practice areas. Thus, the legal service of sector-focused firms seems a lot more tailored to the client. Secondly, industry-focused firms tend to have partners with significantly broader expertise. Hence, the firm can provide a 'one-point-of-contact' system to clients, which is easier to navigate administratively.
2. Strategic advice: the idea is that if you spend years and years working on matters in a single industry, by the time you become a more senior practitioner you will have almost as much technical expertise in the sector as the client themselves. Having this kind of deep insight and knowledge of the industry will not only mean that you can give better advice to clients on particular mandates, but it will also mean you will be in a better position to form a client-lawyer relationship which goes beyond that. This way, you will have a good chance of getting to know all the insides of the client's business and becoming their go-to strategic advisor. Thus, the client gets the benefit of exceptional business and legal advisory services simultaneously.
3. Industry reputation: if the firm generally does a lot of high-end work in a particular sector, it will become very reputable with businesses in that sector. The fact that firm will simply be a very well-known name definitely helps in terms of shaping advantageous negotiations dynamics with opposing counsel. A great example of this is Kirkland in the PE sphere. Simply because of the firm's reputation in this area, it is able to obtain advantageous terms for clients by insisting they are "market terms". Because nobody does as many deals as they do in PE, it is sometimes difficult for the other side's counsel to counteract Kirkland's claims.

Benefits for employees:

1. Learning more about the intricacies of the sector as a benefit in itself: if you have a prior interest in a given sector of the economy, working for a firm that has a focus on that sector will enable you to get a lot more exposure to it, which can be a benefit in and of itself. Just as you might have a general interest in commercial law because you have a general interest in learning more about and working with businesses, you might also have a specific interest in sector-focused firms because you have a specific interest in learning more about the sector. This reasoning will be especially persuasive if you have some previous work or other relevant experience related to the sector. Personally, I have seen candidates write persuasive answers based on this type of question in regards to sectors ranging from tech and financial services to energy, pharma and transportation.
2. Becoming a true strategic business advisor: this is similar to the line of reasoning you mentioned but is focused on long-term career prospects. As mentioned before, repeated experience in a single industry means you will in time become very technically proficient in your understanding of it. This puts you in a great position to become a true strategic adviser, which is potentially a more interesting role than just dealing with their legal requests.
3. More high-end mandates: if the firm can generally provide better service than its competitors because of its sector focus, this also means that the firm will be better placed to win the top of the market mandates from that industry. This might be naturally attractive to you, as these mandates tend to be the among the most complex and consequential.

As for your second question, about making the two general challenges you have mentioned specific to trainees, I would focus a lot on (i) how they impact specifically the workload of trainees, and (ii) how the trainees' position might make it more difficult to address them. For (i), I would firstly discuss how trainees have been traditionally responsible for most admin-heavy work such as due diligence and document review. These tasks are becoming increasingly easier to automate with the advent of generative AI, but clients still want to be sure the work is error-proof and want firms to be ultimately responsible for the work. As such, trainees will need to ensure that to the extent AI is used, it is error-free. However, this is a difficult task for trainees as they will lack experience in identifying the kinds of errors bound to occur with this type of work and the attention to detail skills they will need are themselves built by manually completing such admin-heavy tasks. Secondly, in relation to the pay wars, you can discuss how the industry is becoming increasingly "Americanized", in that to justify the high salaries, firms might become increasingly demanding of their trainees and push high responsibility work on them that they were not adequately prepared for. Now, for (ii), I would also analyze these issues from the perspective of a trainee as someone who is as inexperienced as it gets in the legal profession. This will inevitably mean that they will be less well-equipped to handle big changes and adapt to significant challenges - at this point in their career, they are mostly still just trying to figure out the basics.

 

[Andrei Radu]

BCLP:

What is your understanding of how a business generates and maintains a profit? (Please provide examples) (500 words)

This question is quite wide. Do you think I should focus more on business models / ways business generates and maintains a profit similar to BCLP, and maybe perhaps BCLP's sectors? Do you think it would be fine if I focus more on my work experience which informed me of how businesses profit so that it's more personal / unique in my answer?

As for the BCLP question, I have previously made a post describing how I would go about answering it - I have quoted it below. In short, I think you have a lot of discretion with how you can approach it, but your general focus should be on demonstrating a solid understanding of how businesses of all types operate.

Hi there! As @Jessica Booker mentioned, you have a lot of freedom in deciding how to approach this, and it doesn't need to be BCLP or law-firm specific. If anything, I'd advise you to avoid trying to shoehorn firm-specific/legal industry examples to more abstract points which could be better illustrated in another way.

As for other application answers, I don't think you need to aim to 'dazzle' the recruiters with very niche points. Rather, I would focus on having a very good structure, a concise style, and cogent and clear substantive points about how a business works. If a concrete suggestion is of any use, off the top of my head this is how I would go about answering this question:

• Firstly, explain the concept of profit in simple terms, as earnings minus costs, and exemplify with sources of earnings and sources of costs most businesses have.
• Having explained how generating profits essentially boils down to either increasing earnings, or reducing costs, or both, I would then describe in layman terms the general strategies a business can use to maximize earnings. Things I could mention include increasing market share (perhaps via geographic expansion, increased hiring, or M&A) to improve the total volume of business and therefore the margins of profit; or finding gaps in the market, where you can tap on existing demand no one else is servicing; or differentiate your business' brand via effective marketing etc. Whatever general strategy point I would choose to mention, I would the illustrate with the best example I could find of a company successfully doing this.
• The second half of the answer would instead be focused on minimizing costs, where I could mention strategies like: creating economies of scale to increase the efficiency of supply and distribution chains and improve market bargaining power; structuring operations and transactions in a tax efficient manner; automating processes (especially now with generative AI), outsourcing, etc. Once again, I would seek to illustrate these strategies with the best examples of companies who have efficiently implemented them.

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

As for the BCLP question, I have previously made a post describing how I would go about answering it - I have quoted it below. In short, I think you have a lot of discretion with how you can approach it, but your general focus should be on demonstrating a solid understanding of how businesses of all types operate.

Thank you so much @Andrei Radu for your detailed ideas for all 3 questions! They're really helpful

 

[Tintin06]

Does anyone know why Reed Smith TC application asks whether we’ve applied to certain other banks/firms/companies?

Just seems a bit weird, am wondering why that is

Aka ‘where else have you applied?’ But, unusually, as a closed question.

 

[wannabe_solicitor]

Has anyone who applied for the government trainee scheme got an invite for the next stage yet?

 

[Bread]

Aka ‘where else have you applied?’ But, unusually, as a closed question.

Yeah, it’s like “have you applied to any of the following?” And it lists some law firms, banks, etc
Strange! Also, slightly embarrassing to have to say “yes, to no avail”💀

 

[lucy_p]

Has anyone who applied for the government trainee scheme got an invite for the next stage yet?

I’ve just had an email inviting me to complete the next stage. Not sure what that is yet, haven’t had chance to look.

 

[TortillaTC]

Does Fried Frank gets back to all applicants past first stage or only successful ones?

 

[trainee4u]

I’ve just had an email inviting me to complete the next stage. Not sure what that is yet, haven’t had chance to look.

it's a reading comprehension test. a standard one, think I'd seen the questions before, one of the more vanilla tasks you could hope to find really.

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi @Amma Usman , could you pls explain how to go about answering the questions: "Why London?", "Why an international law firm?", "Why do you want to work in London?", "Why do you want to do international work?", "Why international law?". Asking this since I am based outside of the UK and will have an in-person AC soon. All these questions sound too similar to me honestly. But I feel that I will def get one of the above since I have no ties to the UK. Confused about which one of these questions wants me to talk about London as a city, the popularity of english law in commercial contracts etc. Thanks a ton.

Hey,

Yep, this is a very common question. There will always be the question of why here rather than your home country. There’s a strong need for specificity, as you mentioned and rightly figured out. Law is law, so on the surface, practising law is similar regardless of the jurisdiction. That’s why firms are looking for clear, specific reasons.

There’s also the need to be precise when talking about internationality. Even in your home jurisdiction, top local firms often partner with international law firms to work on big deals because of their regional expertise. So someone could ask, “Why international law in London?” when technically you could still get international exposure back home through those partnerships.

London has long been recognised as a global hub for legal work, and there’s a lot of scope to talk about how you can grow there. That said, it’s easy to come off as generic since lots of people say the same thing.

What helps is tying your interest in London to something more specific, like the firm's regional strengths. For example, if a firm has a stronger aviation law practice in London than in Manchester, and you’re genuinely interested in aviation law for XYZ reasons, that becomes a strong and tangible reason for choosing London. It shows real, demonstrated interest.

As for the international element, you could explain that the scope and scale of cross-border work in the firm’s London office surpass what’s available at home, and that appeals to you for DEF reasons. Always try to back up these points with your own experiences. Maybe there’s a niche within a practice area that really interests you and is more prominently done in London. That’s the kind of detail that makes your answer stand out.

You might then get a follow-up like, “Many firms offer that too, so why us?” That’s where even deeper research comes in. Sure, a lot of firms look similar on the surface and offer similar work, but if you dig a bit more, you’ll likely find a niche or initiative at that specific firm that genuinely appeals to you.

Also, it helps to round out your answers with broader examples. Maybe two firms have similar practices, but the one you're interviewing at has a pro bono focus in an area you care about for XYZ reasons. That’s another strong angle.

Ultimately, it’s best to approach these questions holistically. Don’t treat each one as isolated. Show that you’ve thought about your long-term career, you understand how the firm fits into that vision, and most importantly, how it can help you grow in the way you want.

Very best of luck on the AC, I’m sure you will do great! Also happy to advise on more specific components of the AC if you know what it comprises of.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

tha

Hey,

Yep, this is a very common question. There will always be the question of why here rather than your home country. There’s a strong need for specificity, as you mentioned and rightly figured out. Law is law, so on the surface, practising law is similar regardless of the jurisdiction. That’s why firms are looking for clear, specific reasons.

There’s also the need to be precise when talking about internationality. Even in your home jurisdiction, top local firms often partner with international law firms to work on big deals because of their regional expertise. So someone could ask, “Why international law in London?” when technically you could still get international exposure back home through those partnerships.

London has long been recognised as a global hub for legal work, and there’s a lot of scope to talk about how you can grow there. That said, it’s easy to come off as generic since lots of people say the same thing.

What helps is tying your interest in London to something more specific, like the firm's regional strengths. For example, if a firm has a stronger aviation law practice in London than in Manchester, and you’re genuinely interested in aviation law for XYZ reasons, that becomes a strong and tangible reason for choosing London. It shows real, demonstrated interest.

As for the international element, you could explain that the scope and scale of cross-border work in the firm’s London office surpass what’s available at home, and that appeals to you for DEF reasons. Always try to back up these points with your own experiences. Maybe there’s a niche within a practice area that really interests you and is more prominently done in London. That’s the kind of detail that makes your answer stand out.

You might then get a follow-up like, “Many firms offer that too, so why us?” That’s where even deeper research comes in. Sure, a lot of firms look similar on the surface and offer similar work, but if you dig a bit more, you’ll likely find a niche or initiative at that specific firm that genuinely appeals to you.

Also, it helps to round out your answers with broader examples. Maybe two firms have similar practices, but the one you're interviewing at has a pro bono focus in an area you care about for XYZ reasons. That’s another strong angle.

Ultimately, it’s best to approach these questions holistically. Don’t treat each one as isolated. Show that you’ve thought about your long-term career, you understand how the firm fits into that vision, and most importantly, how it can help you grow in the way you want.

Very best of luck on the AC, I’m sure you will do great! Also happy to advise on more specific components of the AC if you know what it comprises of.

thanks for this answer, Amma. this was very helpful

 

[saj2002]

Does anyone have any insights/advice on the Farrer & Co interviews? I can't find anything about what type of interview it is (i.e. competency, strength, or general). Or does anyone know of good resources to practice for interviews on a small budget? Any guidance would be super helpful!

 

[Tintin06]

LinkedIn - YoUr PrOfIlE iS gEtTiNg NoTiCeD

 

[Andrei Radu]

Does anyone have any insights/advice on the Farrer & Co interviews? I can't find anything about what type of interview it is (i.e. competency, strength, or general). Or does anyone know of good resources to practice for interviews on a small budget? Any guidance would be super helpful!

I do not know a lot about the Farrer & Co interview but as resources I would recommend: (i) the Complete Competency Interview Guide - a step by step guide about how to prepare for competency/generalist interviews; and (ii) once you have prepared as well as you could on your own, consider the TCLA mock interview service I have linked here. While it is available only on a fee basis, you can get up to a 50% discount as a premium member.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Amma Usman , could you pls explain how to go about answering the questions: "Why London?", "Why an international law firm?", "Why do you want to work in London?", "Why do you want to do international work?", "Why international law?". Asking this since I am based outside of the UK and will have an in-person AC soon. All these questions sound too similar to me honestly. But I feel that I will def get one of the above since I have no ties to the UK. Confused about which one of these questions wants me to talk about London as a city, the popularity of english law in commercial contracts etc. Thanks a ton.

I do not have much to add to the great post by @Amma Usman on this, but I just wanted to illustrate a good way I think you can justify a substantive interest in international work/working in an international law firm. For me, the answer has always had to do with the opportunity this provides to interact with and learn about many diverse legal systems around the world. To advise on a cross-border deal/dispute, you will need to understand what all the elements of the matter that are connected to other jurisdictions impact the client, and how they can come together and can be addressed under a cohesive strategy. This can also be a reason for 'Why London' - as a global financial hub which houses the legal system which is the status quo choice of law in international commerce, lawyers in the London office of a firm will perform the role of bringing input from everywhere together and coordinating work in other jurisdictions.

This can itself be attractive to you because you will get to learn to navigate the quirks of different systems around the world, problem-solve around conflicts between the rules of various legal systems and markets, and learn about the businesses, economies, and even politics about countries all around the world. This provides the opportunity for a constant stream of complex and highly varied work, which I think many people can have a natural interest in.

 

[SamiyaJ]

I do not know a lot about the Farrer & Co interview but as resources I would recommend: (i) the Complete Competency Interview Guide - a step by step guide about how to prepare for competency/generalist interviews; and (ii) once you have prepared as well as you could on your own, consider the TCLA mock interview service I have linked here. While it is available only on a fee basis, you can get up to a 50% discount as a premium member.

Hi @Andrei Radu! Do you have any advice re doing an attendance note/what to look out for? The interview consists of a 30 min written assessment + 60 min interview.

Thank you!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

I do not have much to add to the great post by @Amma Usman on this, but I just wanted to illustrate a good way I think you can justify a substantive interest in international work/working in an international law firm. For me, the answer has always had to do with the opportunity this provides to interact with and learn about many diverse legal systems around the world. To advise on a cross-border deal/dispute, you will need to understand what all the elements of the matter that are connected to other jurisdictions impact the client, and how they can come together and can be addressed under a cohesive strategy. This can also be a reason for 'Why London' - as a global financial hub which houses the legal system which is the status quo choice of law in international commerce, lawyers in the London office of a firm will perform the role of bringing input from everywhere together and coordinating work in other jurisdictions.

This can itself be attractive to you because you will get to learn to navigate the quirks of different systems around the world, problem-solve around conflicts between the rules of various legal systems and markets, and learn about the businesses, economies, and even politics about countries all around the world. This provides the opportunity for a constant stream of complex and highly varied work, which I think many people can have a natural interest in.

epic, Andrei. Just one follow up question here. I actually didn't get the point of london being a status quo choice in international commerce. my interest is in cross-border M&A, so how does it matter what the choice of jurisdiction is? In transactional cross-border work, other than the dispute resolution clauses in SSAs, SHAs, where else does London have an influence? I'd be grateful if you could pls clarify.

 

[Joey green]

Did anyone here back from Mayer brown for the ac?

 

[RS Sanjanaa]

does anyone know how many trainees does white and case take through the DTC route on average?

 

[Chris Brown]

does anyone know how many trainees does white and case take through the DTC route on average?

White & Case offer 50 TCs per year. They have 3 VS’, with 25-30 candidates per VS (75-80 candidates across the VS’). 50% of VS’ers get a TC offer (40/80). 🥲

This is c80% of TCs (40/50). This means that White & Case take c20% of trainees through the DTC route (10/50) on average. I think these numbers will fluctuate each year. 😅

Best of luck with your DTC application to White & Case, they’re a great firm! 🙂​