Hi everyone! I'm an international law student from Brazil, in the third year of my five-year degree. I am currently seeking information about vacation schemes, but unfortunately I do not know anyone who has applied. Since my second year of university, I have gained internship experience in the field of commercial law, specifically capital markets and reestructuring. I competed in the 2022 Foreign Direct Investment Moot, which was held at Kings College, and my team is currently preparing for the 31st Vis Moot. I am also an assistant to a commercial law professor at my college.
I am seeking your help since I do not know anyone who has applied for vacation schemes. I would be grateful if you could provide me with some guidance, since I don´t know what my real chances are. Thank you in advance!
@axelbeugre
Hey
@Lara Lemos,
It is so great to see you interested in commercial law and especially in the UK! There are some things that I will need you to clarify:
- Is your degree in Brazil or is it a double degree between a university in Brazil and a London university?
- Do you want to eventually work, qualify and practice in the UK?
- Do you have a UK passport?
The answers to these questions are fundamental to give you a better guideline as to how to apply for vacation schemes. This is because law firms will not give international students who do not study in the UK the opportunity to do 1,2, or 3 weeks vacation scheme and ultimately get the training contract. This means that your chances of getting a vacation schemes, as an international student who does not study in the UK are very low. I personally think that I was successful in securing offers because I had my MSc at LSE and I was living in London. If I was applying from Italy with my Italian degree, I do not think I would have been successful.
Unfortunately, being in the country is really helpful for applying to vacation schemes, not only because it is important to have a recognisable degree (at least in this sector) and also for legal purposes (I think that there is no visa that you can get and law firms are not paying for tier 5 visas to sponsor international students to come to the UK for a week or two ). So I would keep this in mind.
What you could focus on, if you are not planning to come and study in the UK are direct training contracts. I have met a couple of students from outside the UK who got direct training contracts at firms like Freshfields and that is really cool as they will sponsor your visa when you start your training contract and allow you to get the student visa for the SQE.
Additionally, since you are in your 3 year of a 5 year degree, I would say that it is a bit early to think about applying to vacation schemes. What I would do in your position now is:
- Focus on doing many professional experiences in the legal and commercial sector to try and understand what you might be interested in when you apply to vacation schemes/training contracts.
- Get involved in your university societies/extracurricular activities or volunteering. These experiences are extremely valuable when applying to law firms as they will always be interested in what you have done outside of academia.
- Focus on your studies: make sure that your grades are up and try to take course you enjoy! Since you are studying law, if you can take commercial subjects that might help you understand if you are interested in the sector, do them! However, this is not a prerequisite. I was a non-law student and I studied international relations and it was fine!
- Do your research on the sector in London. Talk to people with your similar background and understand the challenges that you will face, especially as an international student outside of the UK.
- Consider applying to an LLM at a UK university after you graduate to maximise your chances of securing a vacation schemes/training contract once you are here. This will allow you to understand the process, go to events and legally be able to attend a spring or summer vacation scheme (as international students cannot do winter ones).
When you answer these questions, I will give you more detailed tips but I hope these are somewhat of help. Of course, the issue of being in the UK will not present itself if you are a UK national or you have the passport!
I hope that I was helpful!
