Allen & Overy "Introduce a new law" question for VS application

[Polzovatel]

Hi,
For "Introduce a new law" question, is it better to talk about commercial/contract or any law? Any idea ?
Thanks

 

[Verity]

Hi,
For "Introduce a new law" question, is it better to talk about commercial/contract or any law? Any idea ?
Thanks

I believe the idea is to test your commercial awareness - seeing what trends you have picked up on, and what your opinion is on how the area should be developed

 

[Zsaurcaks1]

Hello! To add to the good post above, I have found that honing in on a specific topic within a wider practice group/ sector can be quite effective. For instance, I wrote about shipping law for a similar question, but focused on a specific regulation passed by the IMO which would impact ship fuel. This helped me to target my research toward that topic and my answer was more focused as a result. If you need any help, I would be happy to look over it!

 

[Polzovatel]

Hello! To add to the good post above, I have found that honing in on a specific topic within a wider practice group/ sector can be quite effective. For instance, I wrote about shipping law for a similar question, but focused on a specific regulation passed by the IMO which would impact ship fuel. This helped me to target my research toward that topic and my answer was more focused as a result. If you need any help, I would be happy to look over it!

Thank you very much, that's a very kind offer. I'll do some research and get back to you

 

[Jessica Booker]

Just pick something that you are genuinely interested in and that could impact the advice they gives some of their clients. Doesn’t have to be contract at all

 

[Karin]

Hi,
For "Introduce a new law" question, is it better to talk about commercial/contract or any law? Any idea ?
Thanks

That is an interesting question I have not come across yet.

I agree with Jessica, but guess this may be subjective.

Unless there is something that you studied in contract or seen in commercial news where you thought “this is not right”, I would recommend picking something that you are genuinely interested in. Not only can commercial topics be very complex (of course subjective), but if it is not something you really care about, you may also miss the chance to show that you are passionate about something.

I would just brainstorm the areas you are interested in (or directly involved in) & think about what issues there are - can be anything from environmental, social justice, public policy, workplace, renting etc. - and think about what law could resolve them.

I may be wrong but I believe that law firms want well-rounded individuals who are passionate about something, and they don't want you to only think about commercial law 24/7

 

[RB]

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could get some opinions on my ideas for the question above!

I've brainstormed a few ideas but I have one that currently stands out to me the most is on tax reforms relating to transfer pricing. I'm an accountant and work with a lot of companies who have transfer pricing structures in place so I have a brief idea on what laws are already in place but I was wondering if this is too narrow a subject to discuss? I'm not hugely interested in tax practice areas but rather, the wider reaching implications that transfer pricing legislation may have on the economy, namely tech companies (I was inspired by the recent digital services tax introduced) and other large multinationals. So I'm not sure if this will come across badly on my application form if it seems like I'm only interested in tax practice areas or if I was invited to an interview with the firm (crossed fingers!) that the partners will drill down into hugely complex areas in transfer pricing laws that I'm not super familiar with!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could get some opinions on my ideas for the question above!

I've brainstormed a few ideas but I have one that currently stands out to me the most is on tax reforms relating to transfer pricing. I'm an accountant and work with a lot of companies who have transfer pricing structures in place so I have a brief idea on what laws are already in place but I was wondering if this is too narrow a subject to discuss? I'm not hugely interested in tax practice areas but rather, the wider reaching implications that transfer pricing legislation may have on the economy, namely tech companies (I was inspired by the recent digital services tax introduced) and other large multinationals. So I'm not sure if this will come across badly on my application form if it seems like I'm only interested in tax practice areas or if I was invited to an interview with the firm (crossed fingers!) that the partners will drill down into hugely complex areas in transfer pricing laws that I'm not super familiar with!

Is this a bit predictable if you are working in a profession that comes across this subject? Could this question instead give you an opportunity to talk about something else that would demonstrate other knowledge/interests (especially if you aren’t actually interested in sitting in tax)?

I don’t think the subject it too narrow - i just think it might be a little to much in your comfort zone.

 

[g1234]

Hi all

I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on this.

I wrote a dissertation exploring companies' duties to their wider stakeholders and my conclusion was along the lines of introducing a new law, so I was thinking of choosing that topic to answer this question. However, Jessica mentioned avoiding subjects that are too much in your comfort zone so I'm worried this is too narrow. I am genuinely interested in this subject and can link the impact of such law on the firm's clients. Would you recommend proceeding with this or look into other options?

Thanks!

 

[Jaysen]

Hi all

I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on this.

I wrote a dissertation exploring companies' duties to their wider stakeholders and my conclusion was along the lines of introducing a new law, so I was thinking of choosing that topic to answer this question. However, Jessica mentioned avoiding subjects that are too much in your comfort zone so I'm worried this is too narrow. I am genuinely interested in this subject and can link the impact of such law on the firm's clients. Would you recommend proceeding with this or look into other options?

Thanks!

This sounds fine to me.

As the other candidate was an accountant and then writing about tax reforms, I think it's more important for them to choose something outside of their field.

 

[g1234]

This sounds fine to me.

As the other candidate was an accountant and then writing about tax reforms, I think it's more important for them to choose something outside of their field.

Thank you Jaysen!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi all

I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on this.

I wrote a dissertation exploring companies' duties to their wider stakeholders and my conclusion was along the lines of introducing a new law, so I was thinking of choosing that topic to answer this question. However, Jessica mentioned avoiding subjects that are too much in your comfort zone so I'm worried this is too narrow. I am genuinely interested in this subject and can link the impact of such law on the firm's clients. Would you recommend proceeding with this or look into other options?

Thanks!

If it’s for an application, it’s fine. But I’d probably choose something different if you were in an interview.

I bit like the above, you are relying on something you have already done/achieved to show your knowledge off. This probably isn’t as obvious from an application, where the content of your dissertation probably wouldn’t be obvious. But if you were in an interview you could end up discussing your dissertation anyway, and then being stuck on a very similar subject when asked this type of question.

 

[Jaysen]

If it’s for an application, it’s fine. But I’d probably choose something different if you were in an interview.

I bit like the above, you are relying on something you have already done/achieved to show your knowledge off. This probably isn’t as obvious from an application, where the content of your dissertation probably wouldn’t be obvious. But if you were in an interview you could end up discussing your dissertation anyway, and then being stuck on a very similar subject when asked this type of question.

Looks like this is A&O's new application question this year, so I suspect this will be a popular thread!

 

[nymi]

Hello,
Similar to the query of @g1234, I had written a company law essay that how the liability should fall on the companies since they are limited liability partnerships and therefore, owners usually shift the blame on the company due to the corporate veil. I had also discussed about a law reform about how the cases should be decided for the owners to be rightfully held liable.
Do you think this is too theoretical or too detailed to go into?
thanks

 

[Frank]

That is an interesting question I have not come across yet.

I agree with Jessica, but guess this may be subjective.

Unless there is something that you studied in contract or seen in commercial news where you thought “this is not right”, I would recommend picking something that you are genuinely interested in. Not only can commercial topics be very complex (of course subjective), but if it is not something you really care about, you may also miss the chance to show that you are passionate about something.

I would just brainstorm the areas you are interested in (or directly involved in) & think about what issues there are - can be anything from environmental, social justice, public policy, workplace, renting etc. - and think about what law could resolve them.

I may be wrong but I believe that law firms want well-rounded individuals who are passionate about something, and they don't want you to only think about commercial law 24/7

Agree with this one

This type of question is very subjective in the end and I think it makes sense to discuss anything as long as it transpires that you know what you're talking about either via past experiences or current research. You can talk from corruption to general average reforms in shipping law. What is important in your eyes doesn't have to be the same for the others. Just make sure you type in 1-2 sentences (1 would suffice) why this matters to you, especially if the answer is 250w max

 

[RB]

Is this a bit predictable if you are working in a profession that comes across this subject? Could this question instead give you an opportunity to talk about something else that would demonstrate other knowledge/interests (especially if you aren’t actually interested in sitting in tax)?

I don’t think the subject it too narrow - i just think it might be a little to much in your comfort zone.

Hi Jessica,

Thank you for your input - I really appreciate it!

Would you be able to provide further clarification on what you mean by too much in my comfort zone? I’m an accountant but I’m not a tax specialist and nor do I work on tax areas, I work in one of the big4 firms where we advise on accounting standards and not tax. The only reason why I know a bit about the subject is because we had a tax module as part of our accounting exams. Would this still be counted as within my comfort zone?

Additionally, if I phrase my answer in a way that demonstrates that there are wider implications in other practice areas such as restructuring and banking, would it still look as if I’m only interested in tax?

Lastly, as my clients are within financial services and I work a lot with financial products, if I discuss anything related to these items would it also be perceived as within my comfort zone as well?

Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks again!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Thank you for your input - I really appreciate it!

Would you be able to provide further clarification on what you mean by too much in my comfort zone? I’m an accountant but I’m not a tax specialist and nor do I work on tax areas, I work in one of the big4 firms where we advise on accounting standards and not tax. The only reason why I know a bit about the subject is because we had a tax module as part of our accounting exams. Would this still be counted as within my comfort zone?

Additionally, if I phrase my answer in a way that demonstrates that there are wider implications in other practice areas such as restructuring and banking, would it still look as if I’m only interested in tax?

Lastly, as my clients are within financial services and I work a lot with financial products, if I discuss anything related to these items would it also be perceived as within my comfort zone as well?

Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks again!

Apologies, I thought I read in your post that you worked on these type of matters where you said you worked with companies that have these issues.

That and the fact that you said you didn’t even really have an interest in tax made it sound like you were picking something within your comfort zone but not actually that interested in.

My advice is to make sure it is written in a way that is more aligned to the areas you are interested in and that you make it clear this hasn’t been your day job

 

[RB]

Apologies, I thought I read in your post that you worked on these type of matters where you said you worked with companies that have these issues.

That and the fact that you said you didn’t even really have an interest in tax made it sound like you were picking something within your comfort zone but not actually that interested in.

My advice is to make sure it is written in a way that is more aligned to the areas you are interested in and that you make it clear this hasn’t been your day job

Hi Jessica,

Apologies - I didn’t make it very clear in my first post! I do have clients which have transfer pricing structures but my work does not relate to advising them on these structures. Just from working with them I just have a slight insight to what uncertainty the tax laws on transfer pricing might be but it definitely does not part of my work, it’s just an observation I have made from working with them!

Thank you again!

 

[Jane]

That is an interesting question I have not come across yet.

I agree with Jessica, but guess this may be subjective.

Unless there is something that you studied in contract or seen in commercial news where you thought “this is not right”, I would recommend picking something that you are genuinely interested in. Not only can commercial topics be very complex (of course subjective), but if it is not something you really care about, you may also miss the chance to show that you are passionate about something.

I would just brainstorm the areas you are interested in (or directly involved in) & think about what issues there are - can be anything from environmental, social justice, public policy, workplace, renting etc. - and think about what law could resolve them.

I may be wrong but I believe that law firms want well-rounded individuals who are passionate about something, and they don't want you to only think about commercial law 24/7

This answer makes the most sense among all of those above. It's a simply-structured (although hardly simple) question, and HR has said before that the key to answering the questions is reading into what A&O is asking for, rather than what you think A&O is asking for. I think there are two main tracks: Either write about an area of the law that has affected you personally (could be non-commercial and reveals more about yourself and general critical thinking skills), or some area of commercial law that you really feel passionate about.

To be frank, though, I would find it absurd for a student to suggest that the ONE law they would make would be something about corporate law unless they were personally involved in a project of some sort like RCBell above. The question is clearly nonspecific for a reason - there's really no fixed approach unlike the rigidity of past years' questions. At the end of the day, it's a trade-off: If you write about non-commercial law, you could leverage the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to think outside the box, analyse societal problems and relate to a deeply personal issue of the law; if you write about commercial law, you can demonstrate commercial awareness but risk being viewed as narrow-minded. Favouring one approach over another is entirely dependent on which one is best able to showcase your personality and strengths to HR.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I follow up to the above, the law doesn’t have to be “commercial” as such - I agree it should be something you are genuinely interested in.

But I’d advise it should be something that would impact either the firm or some of their clients in some way, even if that isn’t directly.