TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[bbbb]

Hi, congratulations on receiving your AC. I also applied to London insight day/TC and got an email stating that the London Acs would only be on 24 and 25 March. Did you recieve the same email?

Hey, thanks a lot! My email included a link to confirm the assessment day which is on 25/03. It also included FAQs. Hope that helps! And good luck

 

[Francis G.]

Is anyone still waiting for Sidley? Applied on the deadline and no updates after that...

 

[Bruce Wayne Attorney at Law]

Hi @Abbie Whitlock and others,

I was wondering how you would answer the "what is your weakness question" without really going into anything that feels like a reflag for a career in commercial law but also isn't a straw man answer. Something I related to was struggling a bit with turning professional connections into personal relations (I'm very comfortable in structured professional settings, meetings, networking events where there's an agenda, one-on-ones where the purpose is clear. But I've noticed that I sometimes default to keeping things transactional when the better long-term move is to invest in the relationship itself, finding the common ground beyond the work) and I took some steps to work on that and consciously paid more effort into it. However, I am worried that unless I frame this very specifically it may come across as an issue for US firms that generally have lean team.

I was wondering what some reasonable alternatives could be ?

I thought of these options, but not sure if it feels genuine enough or if its a bit of a redflag to talk about them:

"I have a tendency to want to feel completely across a topic before I put forward a view, which can be a strength, but I've noticed it can slow me down in situations where a provisional answer early is more useful than a perfect answer late. I've been working on learning to time-box research and give a working view with caveats, rather than waiting until I feel I've covered everything."

"I'm naturally someone who tries to work things out myself before asking for help, which is useful up to a point, but I've realised that in a team environment, there's a cost to spending too long on something independently when a five-minute conversation would have moved things forward. I've been more conscious about recognising that asking early isn't a sign of weakness ,it's actually more efficient for everyone."

What sort of answers have others gone with in interviews ?

 

[phoenix11_]

Does anyone know how to do reimbursements after Mishcon AC?

Do you mind me asking if it was an AC for summer or spring

 

[badmintonflyinginsect]

@Abbie Whitlock hi abbie!! whats the difference in the format of a memo and a report? how long in length should each be?

 

[ztas]

has anyone heard back from SPB post VI?

 

[Dannie]

Its going to be a good day! I can feel it

 

[Bread]

has anyone heard back from SPB post VI?

The email said it would be a week before the scheduled AC dates (tho I hope it’s all at once given ACs are spread over several weeks)

 

[adfs456]

Sidley partner interview invite following stream of PFOs

Any Insights/advice appreciated

 

[BuddyingLawyer744]

Well that’s this cycle over - Ropes PFO

 

[Afuturetrainee]

Ropes PFO

 

[ilikelaw]

ropes pfo

 

[radssss]

I study Finance, and this is very useful. Here is some more advice too:

• Link equity financing to:
  • Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) – when a firm first lists on the stock market to raise capital.
  • Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs) – when an already listed firm issues additional shares.
  • Both typically increase the number of shares outstanding, leading to share dilution (reduced ownership percentage and possibly lower EPS for existing shareholders).
• Firms can also issue shares through:
  • Rights issues – existing shareholders are offered new shares, usually at a discount, to maintain their ownership proportion.
  • Bonus (scrip) issues – free additional shares given to shareholders; no new cash is raised, but total shares increase, so dilution still occurs in value terms
• Be aware of financing restrictions often written into legal agreements:
  • Covenants may restrict additional borrowing or equity issuance.
  • Dividend restrictions can limit payouts to preserve cash for debt servicing.
  • Asset disposal restrictions prevent firms from selling key assets without lender approval.
  • These are designed to protect creditors and control risk-taking by management
• Always evaluate financing choices using the risk–return trade-off:
  • More debt → lower cost (as creditors are repaid first when a company goes into liquidation) but higher financial risk (gearing/leverage) - this can limit the firm’s liquidity due to interest payments on debt
  • More equity → safer balance sheet but higher cost of capital and potential dilution.

YOU ARE A STAR
Thank you so so much, this is so helpful

 

[AnnaliseK]

Anyone heard back from shoosmiths?

 

[Afuturetrainee]

Not Ropes sending the PFO email twice- like damn we get it

 

[Donuttime]

People who have gotten Ropes PFO sorry to hear can I ask when you applied?

 

[Afuturetrainee]

Has anyone else heard back from MOFO?

 

[lucky2]

Amberjack

 

[AnnaliseK]

Anyone heard back from shoosmiths?

'No later than 6pm' is making me very uneasy, I'd rather they just say that they'll get back to us at the very start of Tuesday so I don't spend the whole day jumping at every notification...

 

[ash_22]

I haven’t gotten a CRS holding email…does that mean a likely rejection? Ughhh