☆☆☆ Kingsley Napley questions- any advice? ☆☆☆

[njones95]

Two have me a bit stumped:

1) "Tell us about a time you disclosed information that was private or confidential. How did you rectify the situation?" (200 words)

This is by far the one I'm more confused by. I'm unsure what to answer for this. I currently work as a paralegal and obviously what clients tell me is totally private (aside from colleagues). I also work in an area in which they could be put at real danger if I decided to blab to anyone, which also motivates me not to. So I just don't talk to anyone about it. I'm not sure what the law even is on this, but I don't even talk to my therapist about it.

I've previously worked in a couple of other roles where I had to deal with confidential information, and again- I just never disclosed it to anyone I wasn't supposed to. I've never found that difficult to do.

So what should I answer this with? 200 words of "I've honestly never done this?"

2) "What do you consider to be the most interesting/exciting emerging issue or trend in the legal sector and why?" (200 words)

To be honest, this one is OK- I was thinking about writing about either how climate change is going to impact the legal industry (and the firm in particular) in the long-term, or about the SQE and how that will change the legal profession.

I was just wondering if anyone knew any good materials on either of those issues?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Two have me a bit stumped:

1) "Tell us about a time you disclosed information that was private or confidential. How did you rectify the situation?" (200 words)

This is by far the one I'm more confused by. I'm unsure what to answer for this. I currently work as a paralegal and obviously what my clients tell me is totally private (aside from colleagues). I also work in an area in which they could be put at real danger if I decided to blab to anyone, which also motivates me not to. So I just don't talk to anyone about it. I'm not sure what the law even is on this, but I don't even talk to my therapist about it.

I've previously worked in a couple of other roles where I had to deal with confidential information, and again- I just never disclosed it to anyone I wasn't supposed to. I've never found that difficult to do.

So what should I answer this with? 200 words of "I've honestly never done this?"

2) "What do you consider to be the most interesting/exciting emerging issue or trend in the legal sector and why?" (200 words)

To be honest, this one is OK- I was thinking about writing about either how climate change is going to impact the legal industry (and the firm in particular) in the long-term, or about the SQE and how that will change the legal profession.

I was just wondering if anyone knew any good materials on either of those issues?

With the first question, it doesn’t have to be a work situation. For instance it could be a private/personal situation where maybe you mentioned something personal about someone to a friend.

 

[njones95]

With the first question, it doesn’t have to be a work situation. For instance it could be a private/personal situation where maybe you mentioned something personal about someone to a friend.

Thanks for your reply!

I just don't think I've ever disclosed something private about a friend that they don't want me to disclose. So I don't even think that would work as an example.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks for your reply!

I just don't think I've ever disclosed something private about a friend that they don't want me to disclose. So I don't even think that would work as an example.

It doesn’t need to be anything major - it could be you let something slip by accident.

I personally wouldn’t go down the route of it never happening. But if you truly think that is the case, then explain what you would do in such a situation. You will do it multiple times in your legal career, if only by mistake and so it’s important to understand how you would react in such a situation (that’s actually much more important than the making the mistake in the first place).

 

[njones95]

It doesn’t need to be anything major - it could be you let something slip by accident.

I personally wouldn’t go down the route of it never happening. But if you truly think that is the case, then explain what you would do in such a situation. You will do it multiple times in your legal career, if only by mistake and so it’s important to understand how you would react in such a situation (that’s actually much more important than the making the mistake in the first place).

I thought I would probably do this- say that I could not recall ever having done so, but talk about what I'd do if I did. I honestly think the last time I ever did that was when I was about 13 years old and I don't really think it'd be relevant to this application!

I find knowing how to respond a bit difficult, though, because I think it's all very context-dependent. If I had a few too many drinks and told something to a friend, or if I accidentally sent the wrong person an email at work, for example, are two very different scenarios and I think I'd respond to them in quite different ways!

If you have the time to clarify (and thanks again for your help!) how would you personally approach answering that?

 

[Jessica Booker]

I thought I would probably do this- say that I could not recall ever having done so, but talk about what I'd do if I did. I honestly think the last time I ever did that was when I was about 13 years old and I don't really think it'd be relevant to this application!

I find knowing how to respond a bit difficult, though, because I think it's all very context-dependent. If I had a few too many drinks and told something to a friend, or if I accidentally sent the wrong person an email at work, for example, are two very different scenarios and I think I'd respond to them in quite different ways!

If you have the time to clarify (and thanks again for your help!) how would you personally approach answering that?

If you are doing it theoretically, then my advice is to focus on the why it's important to correct the situation and how you would try to build back relationships rather than focusing on the specifics of the situation - ultimately I would expect those aspects to be very similar whether it was a personal situation or a professional one.