TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

[Carrington Lane]

Thank you sweet ppl of TCLA for helping me get through this hell weekend of waiting to firms to reply. I had a blast drinking two kettles full of tea.

 

[Miss Chocolate]

I don't think they were too difficult. Personal strengths, character and one company type question. The time limit got me on the first question though so be mindful it's only 60 seconds.

Thank you so so much, that's super helpful. I think I am nervous about non-firm related commercial awareness questions coming up. I am comfortable speaking about the firm's work and I am aware of a few commercial trends that may affect the firm specifically or their clients, but I am not prepared for commercial awareness questions outside of that. Should I be fine or would you recommend more preparation?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

I recommend people create a new thread in the general discussions section of the forum if they want to keep on the diversity conversation. This thread is continually being taken off on a tangent and it stops the thread's purpose, which is for people to discuss application and recruitment processes for vacation schemes.

I would also recommend that people are mindful of the accusations they make and the language they use. Some of the comments in the last hour (which I have had to remove) are unfounded accusations using unnecessary and imflammatory language.

 

[Elmiro]

I agree, Slaughters is a firm known for this. I completed a VS with them, and most of the people on the scheme were white. Also, in terms of their associates and partners they are all white coloured to say the least lol!

Why is it a shock to the system that Slaughter's vacation scheme consisted predominantly of white students, especially considering that white people account for roughly 80% of the UK population? I think we can have a legitimate conversation regarding representation, but I'm keen to understand what a perfectly representative vacation scheme, in your opinion, would have looked like. I think this conversation will only be meaningful if we define the metric by which we judge representation. If the metric is the general UK population, then having a VS consisting of over 50% white students is a perfectly representative one. If the metric is London, which has a 36% white population, then we can begin to say that white students on the VS are over-represented. In any case, there is still the question of why a VS demographic should be artificially made to represent a wider population.

Edit: In response to the moderator comment, they're right - my 36% stat only accounts for the White Brit population, the general White population in London could be anything near 50%, but my overarching point still stands > new thread for this here

Moderator - statistics relating to the White population of London are incorrect and only factor in the 'White British' population of London.

 

[EqualityNonNegotiable]

Thank you so so much, that's super helpful. I think I am nervous about non-firm related commercial awareness questions coming up. I am comfortable speaking about the firm's work and I am aware of a few commercial trends that may affect the firm specifically or their clients, but I am not prepared for commercial awareness questions outside of that. Should I be fine or would you recommend more preparation?

If you get a similar question to mine you should be perfectly fine I think at this stage they are still assessing your knowledge of the firm, its values, clients, deals etc.

 

[JacksonRJC]

It’s really sad when some people believe that ethnic minorities/disadvantaged backgrounds are prioritised by law firm when dishing out TCs.

I recently was at a US law firm for the AC and more than half of candidates there were from Oxbridge. In my group I was the only one not from Oxbridge. I asked them about their professional background and I was told by all of them that they only have extra curricular experience (except one who had a month of work experience somewhere). I was really shocked because on my CV I have a lot of diverse work experiences while some people there showed up only with Oxbridge on CV.

It’s really disappointing when firms first ask for “different skills” etc. And then they invite people to the AC with only “society experience” just cause they went to Oxbridge.

How is a 19 years old with nothing on his CV, other than Oxbridge, a better candidate than a ethnic minority/socially disadvantaged candidate with a lot of skills and work experiences?

Elitism runs deep in the London legal sphere.

Which US law firm was this ?

 

[sediofoifsf]

Any thoughts as to the main commercial trends affecting law firms today? Main points I can think of are AI, but would definitely appreciate more insight!

 

[Deleted member 31343]

Any thoughts as to the main commercial trends affecting law firms today? Main points I can think of are AI, but would definitely appreciate more insight!

- Interest rates
- ESG
- Private equity changes (fundraising and structuring)
- UK election + international conflicts

These are the only ones I could think off the top of my head!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Any thoughts as to the main commercial trends affecting law firms today? Main points I can think of are AI, but would definitely appreciate more insight!

Here are some articles that might be worth a read to consider the answer to this question. I would make sure your answer is more tailored to the type of firm you are applying to though:

The legal landscape in 2024: Trends you need to know - The PHA Group

2024 will present its own unique set of challenges. PHA analyses which key trends are set to impact the legal industry in the new year.

thephagroup.com

Key trends shaping the future for lawyers in 2024

The legal profession is adapting to new technologies, consumer demands and shifting economic conditions. But what does this mean for law firms?

www.lawsociety.org.uk

Legal Trends of 2024

The legal landscape for 2024 brings growth to many sectors along with certain concerns seeping in too.

www.lawyer-monthly.com

 

[EqualityNonNegotiable]

Why is it a shock to the system that Slaughter's vacation scheme consisted predominantly of white students, especially considering that white people account for roughly 80% of the UK population? I think we can have a legitimate conversation regarding representation, but I'm keen to understand what a perfectly representative vacation scheme, in your opinion, would have looked like. I think this conversation will only be meaningful if we define the metric by which we judge representation. If the metric is the general UK population, then having a VS consisting of over 50% white students is a perfectly representative one. If the metric is London, which has a 36% white population, then we can begin to say that white students on the VS are over-represented. In any case, there is still the question of why a VS demographic should be artificially made to represent a wider population.

Edit: In response to the moderator comment, they're right - my 36% stat only accounts for the White Brit population, the general White population in London could be anything near 50%, but my overarching point still stands.

Moderator - statistics relating to the White population of London are incorrect and only factor in the 'White British' population of London.

Welcome to the TCLA forum! As this is your first post you may not be aware that the moderators have asked to move diversity discussion to a new thread. Feel free to start one and once again a warm welcome!

 

[yxngd2x]

Should have grabbed popcorn from Sainsbury's earlier. When the tea on here is good it's sooooo good 🤭💅

Nah not after that Nigeria performance

 

[Miss Chocolate]

Nah not after that Nigeria performance

It's my honest opinion that whoever bothers to pay attention to football deserves jail time.

 

[law2022x]

Like what you’ve said. Super interesting. Are there any firms you think have “worked well” with diversity? From your experiences and friends of course.

From what I’ve gathered the firms with bigger cohorts and “reputation” tend to do better. In terms of having a good amount and a strong approach for wellbeing.

clifford chance seems to be one imo, i’ve never managed to apply because their deadlines are quite early but just based off the people i know there and speaking to the former grad rec toby horner(?), they seem genuinely interested in diversity. i don’t have more experience than this so i could be wrong but based off the people i know who are there and meeting them at law fairs etc. they seem sincere

 

[Deleted member 31343]

I think I’ve hit rock bottom…. dreaming of potential interview questions and waking up in a fright🤣I think it’s time to start auctioning my organs…..anyone have insight to Goodwin interview? You’ll have first dibs xox
(Disease free)

 

[J53]

- Interest rates
- ESG
- Private equity changes (fundraising and structuring)
- UK election + international conflicts

These are the only ones I could think off the top of my head!

I'll add onto that

- Legal recruitment, of course NQ salaries have skyrocketed in the last 10 years, but particularly those in PE are becoming extremely expensive. As an example Neel Sachdev, a PE partner, was lured from K&E to Paul Weiss for a reported 20 million a year. In terms of pay, this is a battle that US firms are winning and will win easily, UK firms can't compete, so they have to look for other ways to attract the top talent as relative to the below point, the more talented a lawyer = more efficient time spent on matters = more profit.

- At the same time as salaries going up, clients are becoming ever more demanding on reducing costs, through software such as persuit, or by demanding alternative fee arrangements rather than traditional hourly billing. This has meant that many firms, mainly MC and US are pricing themselves out of a lot of work as it is no longer worth their time/reputation to do such work, therefore limiting themselves on the size/type of work that they do and meaning a lot of firms are fighting over an ever more exclusive amount of work.

 

[F12M34L]

the artic shores literally gave me a headache 🤣 the last security game my god I was gonna throw my laptop whenever I had to restart

I managed to all of them but couldnt save so when the task restarted - i half-arsed them

the sequence game wasjust ....

 

[aspiringlawyer47]

Any thoughts as to the main commercial trends affecting law firms today? Main points I can think of are AI, but would definitely appreciate more insight!

AI: lots of firms are collaborating with tech companies to create their own AI tools to help clients & the new EU AI law that’s coming out. Data privacy/cybersecurity in the context of AI is also worth reading into.

Expansion: some firms are looking to open new offices across the globe and it may be worth researching where would be best for the firm you’re applying to. You can bring in commercial knowledge here through your research.

D&I: not sure if you’ve seen the discourse on this forum about diversity but firms are talking about it more so it would be worth looking into as well. Particularly their own individual initiatives and having an answer as to why diversity is important in the legal profession.

Would also be worth knowing who that firm’s competitors are, what their client offering is and why the firm you have applied to is “better”.

Other topics: Israel/Hamas, the transition from private equity to private credit, energy/natural resources & ESG, understanding the business cycle, how an M&A transaction works etc.

Everything I’ve mentioned is based on my experience at ACs, interviews and on my applications!

 

[R051E]

Does anyone know what the format is for DWF's VI? Also do they ask any commercial awareness questions?

Did you get any useful responses to this please?

 

[mfuturetrainee]

Has anyone else completed nrf’s games and found the report so weird? I got a lot to the right and a lot to the left and the rest in the middle, I read through the qualities and I think they are completely not who I am in real life! Shall I assume pfo rn? This is so absurd!

yeah I was pretty confused from the report as well but its not a pfo until the rejection email comes thru

 

[studentdelaw786]

Has anyone else completed nrf’s games and found the report so weird? I got a lot to the right and a lot to the left and the rest in the middle, I read through the qualities and I think they are completely not who I am in real life! Shall I assume pfo rn? This is so absurd!

I did it last week. a lot of mine were in the middle and only a select few were to the left or right. Some of the analysis they gave was weird tho.