AC at WEIGHTMANS

[Jai C.]

I have a training contract interview coming at a firm called Weightmans. They are a top 45 Uk firm that has their roots mostly in the insurance sector.

Their application form was in March so I ended up giving in and got an interview. Here comes the tricky part

The HR has stated that the interview will consist of a

1) Written Exercise
2) Group Exercise ( she advised general preparation for group exercises)
3) Presentation leading to an interview


I have no idea how to prepare because they are not a corporate heavy firm so my knowledge on private equity or M/A will probably not be very useful - Am I right in thinking this?

Secondly - the presentation leading to interview aspect - does this mean I won't be asked questions like Why Weightmans - Why you - etc. I thought because it is a presentation etc so the focus will be on my presentation and then they will ask questions surrounding the presentation

The information available about the firm itself is severely limited and only the firm's profile seems like the only go to position. I am unsure how to prepare for this all

Any advice would be great.

 

[Nicole]

I have a training contract interview coming at a firm called Weightmans. They are a top 45 Uk firm that has their roots mostly in the insurance sector.

Their application form was in March so I ended up giving in and got an interview. Here comes the tricky part

The HR has stated that the interview will consist of a

1) Written Exercise
2) Group Exercise ( she advised general preparation for group exercises)
3) Presentation leading to an interview


I have no idea how to prepare because they are not a corporate heavy firm so my knowledge on private equity or M/A will probably not be very useful - Am I right in thinking this?

Secondly - the presentation leading to interview aspect - does this mean I won't be asked questions like Why Weightmans - Why you - etc. I thought because it is a presentation etc so the focus will be on my presentation and then they will ask questions surrounding the presentation

The information available about the firm itself is severely limited and only the firm's profile seems like the only go to position. I am unsure how to prepare for this all

Any advice would be great.

Hi Jai,

Well done on the interview

I think so. If they don't focus on corporate/PE then it's unlikely you'll be asked about it. As they're an insurance based firm, you should be prepared to explain why you're interested in insurance and have a general understanding of what insurance is (you'll probably be asked about this).

Is it a group presentation or just you? I would say it's more likely that you'll be asked questions after the presentation and then you'll get asked a few of the typical interview questions.

 

[Jaysen]

^ That's good advice.

I appreciate there's not much on the firm out there, so a few thoughts on Weightmans:

• Although Weightmans is best known for its insurance and litigation work (and this contributes most of its turnover), in recent years, the firm has been investing in corporate/commercial work to balance the practice.
• Weightmans has transformed itself from a decent sized north-west firm to a top 50 national firm by revenue thanks to a series of investments and acquisitions (such as its 2015 Leeds acquisition).
• The firm's structure is quite radical/innovative relative to other law firms. It's split into two: the legal side which deals with the legal work and the client side which focuses on getting more work/looking after existing clients, and is organised around different client markets. This seems to be working - the firm posted its best ever half-year results for the first six months of 2017-18. Other client-focused projects include ICE (Improving Client Experience) and its Anatomy of the Client project, which led to the firm winning Legal Week's Client Management Innovation award in 2016.
• The firm is ambitious. Weightmans now has a large number of UK offices and there are indications that the firm will continue to grow nationally.
• It hasn't shown an interest in growing internationally, but it has set up international legal networks. This happened recently (2017) where Weightmans formed an alliance with US, Canada and Spain to serve insurance clients. There are plans to expand this.
• Weightmans has spent roughly £6m on tech in recent years, which included the purchase of a new practice management system to increase efficiency. It has also focused on efficiency in other areas such as training lawyers on the Lean Six Sigma principles (something Clifford Chance and a few other firms do too).
• Weightmans has said London is a key market for growth, especially Lloyd's (a key insurance market in London).
• Weightmans has an ABS licence which allows it to take on external investment/promote non-lawyer partners. So far, it has promoted two non-lawyers (in marketing and HR).

As you rightly said, the firm is quite different from many commercial law firms. At the Weightmans interview, if they do ask 'why us?' try to focus on those reasons and justify why that interests you.

 

[Jai C.]

I am so grateful for both of your replies. This has given me a lot of clarity.

Just a small point - Weightmans does not seem like a firm that will set a case study for the written exercise aspect. Are you both familiar with any other types of written exercises apart from case studies that I should look into and possibly prepare?

 

[Nicole]

I am so grateful for both of your replies. This has given me a lot of clarity.

Just a small point - Weightmans does not seem like a firm that will set a case study for the written exercise aspect. Are you both familiar with any other types of written exercises apart from case studies that I should look into and possibly prepare?

Hey, when we've referred to case studies in the past - like for our mock case studies - we just mean written exercises. The topics they cover can vary a lot, but the ones I've seen are usually a letter, email or report to a client/law firm.

So you can't really prepare for the topic, but you can prepare for how you answer the question. For example, making sure you get the form right, remembering to use headings and subheadings and leaving a good amount of time at the start to plan.

 

[Paralegal178]

Hi Jai,

I have an AC at Weightmans next week.

Are you able to share any tips/guidance on what to expect? Particularly the interview following the presentation?

Thank you!

 

[Jay.S]

^ That's good advice.

I appreciate there's not much on the firm out there, so a few thoughts on Weightmans:

• Although Weightmans is best known for its insurance and litigation work (and this contributes most of its turnover), in recent years, the firm has been investing in corporate/commercial work to balance the practice.
• Weightmans has transformed itself from a decent sized north-west firm to a top 50 national firm by revenue thanks to a series of investments and acquisitions (such as its 2015 Leeds acquisition).
• The firm's structure is quite radical/innovative relative to other law firms. It's split into two: the legal side which deals with the legal work and the client side which focuses on getting more work/looking after existing clients, and is organised around different client markets. This seems to be working - the firm posted its best ever half-year results for the first six months of 2017-18. Other client-focused projects include ICE (Improving Client Experience) and its Anatomy of the Client project, which led to the firm winning Legal Week's Client Management Innovation award in 2016.
• The firm is ambitious. Weightmans now has a large number of UK offices and there are indications that the firm will continue to grow nationally.
• It hasn't shown an interest in growing internationally, but it has set up international legal networks. This happened recently (2017) where Weightmans formed an alliance with US, Canada and Spain to serve insurance clients. There are plans to expand this.
• Weightmans has spent roughly £6m on tech in recent years, which included the purchase of a new practice management system to increase efficiency. It has also focused on efficiency in other areas such as training lawyers on the Lean Six Sigma principles (something Clifford Chance and a few other firms do too).
• Weightmans has said London is a key market for growth, especially Lloyd's (a key insurance market in London).
• Weightmans has an ABS licence which allows it to take on external investment/promote non-lawyer partners. So far, it has promoted two non-lawyers (in marketing and HR).

As you rightly said, the firm is quite different from many commercial law firms. At the Weightmans interview, if they do ask 'why us?' try to focus on those reasons and justify why that interests you.

Thank you so much for this Jaysen!

I know this is quite late, but I have just applied for the Weightmans apprenticeship, and have a situational judgement test coming up. And I was looking for something that would give me a real insight into the firm, to gauge what the firm is like and this is great for that.

Thank you very much once again!