TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[allenpopi]

Hi, has anyone done the Forsters AC? I'd be more than happy to trade insights for the Mills & Reeve, Weil, Milbank, and White & Case AC!

hey, have u heard back from W&C?

 

[via1511]

Gowling AC rejection and expecting Mills & Reeve rejection soon! If anyone hears back from M&R let me know too!

 

[Chris Brown]

@Chris Brown just wanted to say that we are all so happy for you and you’re such an amazing and helpful person wish you the best and hope you smash that ac and get an offer!!

Thank you so much man I really appreciate it. 🙂

 

[Toomanypfo]

hi congrats!!! what intake did you apply for and when did you hear back?

The London summer vacation scheme and I got the invite this morning

 

[legallyrach]

For the people who've heard back from Sidley, did you apply to the Spring or Summer intakes (or both)?

I applied for both I believe

 

[legallyrach]

Omg wow well done!! Please could I ask when you applied/heard back from Cleary?

Thank you lovely! I applied on the 30th of Jan, did the WG on the 7th of Feb, and got the AC invitation on the 11th

 

[Andrei Radu]

@Ram Sabaratnam @Amma Usman @Andrei Radu Received a VS offer! Any advice on what to do prior to this to prep for the VS?

Huge congratulations on the VS @badmintonflyinginsect ! My main tips for preparing for a vacation scheme are the following:

1. Brush up on your commercial awareness: while the specific way commercial awareness matters for the purposes of conversion tends to differ on a firm by firm basis, it is almost always an important factor. As such, in the coming weeks before the VS I would pay extra close attention to business news and see if there are any updates I should be aware about on important topics (inflation and monetary figures, economic growth, capital markets and dealmaking activity, etc). At the same time, try to fill any gaps in your general knowledge of how businesses work, the different economic sectors, and the roles and functions of the different actors and instruments in the world of finance and investing. I highly recommend Investopedia to build up your knowledge of business jargon.
2. Research the practice area you will sit in: once you find out what your seats will be, take some time to understand what it is exactly lawyers in those practices do - why do clients need their services, and how do those services differ from those offered by other practice areas? Furthermore, try to get an understanding as to how delivering those services works in practice: what are the different workstreams and tasks involved on typical client matters, and which of those are trainees/vacation schemers most likely to work on? For this, I highly recommend the Westlaw/Practical Law Introductory Practice Area Guides; they go in a lot more detail than you will be expected to know but are the most comprehensive resource I know of.
3. Reach out and build rapport with people at the firm: It is always a good idea to try to build rapport early with people at the firm. As such, you could consider sending a LinkedIn text/email asking for advice or a chat with a trainee at the firm, particularly if you have met them in the past. I would also target people who are currently doing a seat in the practice area you have been allocated, as they will be able to give you the best advice on preparation. Building rapport with them is also particularly important, as graduate recruitment tends to emphasize the reviews of people in your seat when collating input for a TC offer decision. However, avoid appearing overeager and annoying people with busy schedules. Be very straightforward about your intentions and show your appreciation for the time they decide to give to you.

 

[Wannabe_Lawyer]

I applied for both I believe

Thanks, I'm definitely getting pfo-ed in that case lol.

 

[Ggvh]

Hi, has anyone done the Forsters AC? I'd be more than happy to trade insights for the Mills & Reeve, Weil, Milbank, and White & Case AC!

Hi, has anyone done the Forsters AC? I'd be more than happy to trade insights for the Mills & Reeve, Weil, Milbank, and White & Case AC!

.

 

[Joey green]

If I indicated summer/spring for PW, can i assume pfo at this point?

 

[James Wakefield]

Hi @Ram Sabaratnam! Any tips for the Cooley AC? ☺️

 

[fitzer401]

If I indicated summer/spring for PW, can i assume pfo at this point?

Don't give up just yet. If there's one thing that you can take away from reading these forums is that there is a lot of cases where no news is good news!

 

[Livelaughlove]

Still in NRF VI purgatory 🫠

 

[Chris Brown]

If I indicated summer/spring for PW, can i assume pfo at this point?

You may have seen my posts on the forum in the middle of last week where I was on the verge of crashing out because I hadn’t heard anything from Paul, Weiss and I had convinced myself it was a PFO (seeing others had also been PFO’d). 🥲🥲

To my surprise (literally I was shocked and I still am), I was invited to interview on Friday. I guess my point here is, no news is always going to be good news. It’s easy to assume it’s a PFO, but until that email doesn’t come through, try to keep a positive mindset. 🙂🙂

Best of luck for Paul, Weiss @Joey green I’m sure you’ll get good news soon. 🙂🙂

I also applied for both Spring and Summer because I’m simply too indecisive lmao. 😂😂​

 

[jojo23]

Anybody heard from shoosmiths (post test) and crs (post vi)?

 

[andreilover01]

Hi everyone, I have an AC with Jones Day coming up, and would really appreciate any and all insight!!

 

[BBsharkk]

Anyone still being ghosted by Akin, Gibson and Milbank post-app? 😂

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Anyone still being ghosted by Akin, Gibson and Milbank post-app? 😂

I really don’t understand firms who leave you as though you never applied!! I applied to GD 1st Sept- the day they opened and did their first year insight scheme!! I haven’t heard anything and emailed them and they responded two weeks ago saying they are still looking at applications which is lowkey insulting because I’ve seen people get VS offers on LinkedIn!!! Sorry for the rant lol

 

[Jaysen]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to follow up for those who were here on Friday/have experienced the user BreadandButter or 'yourworstnightmareisback'. Thank you to everyone who reported this person and to @Jessica Booker for managing this.

We have a few ways we monitor duplicate accounts and we are about 90% sure we know who this is. Interestingly, they seem to have another account that is much nicer to everyone and one they use to react to people/be aggressive in the forums.

We've restricted one of the accounts to require approval before posting. If this is you, then I'd just suggest reviewing why you are creating new accounts to troll users. It might be more worthwhile to just focus on the law firm process.

A caveat to this is that we do sometimes get this wrong, though, and if this is the case, you can private message Jessica or email me at [email protected]. Please also do the same if you interact with a user you feel is a previously banned account. Jess and I are really keen to make sure this community stays as kind and supportive as you are. It's only ever a tiny proportion of users like this, but we want to make sure we action this very quickly.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi Andrei

This is so insightful, thank you for sharing!

If I may, can you help me understand more about who Skadden’s direct competitors are? I’m trying to understand whether Skadden’s direct competitors are simply other US firms or if it is broader than that. Thank you.

Hi @TonyStark I think you can think of competitors in two main ways. Firstly, at the level of the firms as a whole, we would essentially look for the firms that share the most important features of Skadden for the purposes of defining market position. While the exact features that are most important for outlining market position are debatable, I would describe Skadden in London in the following way: a large office of an elite US firm with a diverse offering of practice areas but a focus on high end transactional work. The two other firms that best fit this description are Latham & Watkins and White & Case.

The second way to think about competitors is at a practice area level, where two questions are relevant - (i) which are the firms with the strongest teams in that practice, and (ii) which other firms would Skadden most often find itself pitching against when trying to win a mandate? For firms like Skadden, which excel in most of their practice area, there is a substantial deal of overlap between the two. Now, looking at Skadden's most important practice areas, we get the following:

• Corporate M&A (which is Skadden's most important practice area by far): the Magic Circle firms (as they are still the undisputed leaders of the UK corporate market) and Latham & Watkins, Cleary Gottlieb, Davis Polk and Sullivan & Cromwell (firms Skadden would most often come up against when fighting for transatlantic deals or deals originating from US clients).
• Banking & Finance: Borrowers: Once again the MC firms have leading positions in this area, and on the US side we have Cleary Gottlieb, White & Case, and Ropes & Gary
• International Arbitration: Commercial Arbitration: Kings & Spalding, Gibson Dunn, Latham, Quinn Emmanuel, Debevoise, and White & Case.