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

[T202]

Hi... I am also unsure about my proposal...

My new law is to have a mandatory requirement for universities to have free Financial Times subscription to students. Very passionate about this and hope it eventually becomes a reality. Anyway, my response continues with highlighting the reasons: 1. social mobility; 2. personal experiences/extra-curricular activities and; 3. COVID's impact on our education system.

I wonder whether I should talk about the effect of my proposed law on other sectors, rather than solely focusing on social mobility (i.e how businesses would welcome such an introduction and taking more of a commercial approach/analysis to this new piece of legislation)

Or maybe scrap the idea altogether...

Would really appreciate some pointers...

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi... I am also unsure about my proposal...

My new law is to have a mandatory requirement for universities to have free Financial Times subscription to students. Very passionate about this and hope it eventually becomes a reality. Anyway, my response continues with highlighting the reasons: 1. social mobility; 2. personal experiences/extra-curricular activities and; 3. COVID's impact on our education system.

I wonder whether I should talk about the effect of my proposed law on other sectors, rather than solely focusing on social mobility (i.e how businesses would welcome such an introduction and taking more of a commercial approach/analysis to this new piece of legislation)

Or maybe scrap the idea altogether...

Would really appreciate some pointers...

I wouldn’t say this is a law as such - this is much more of a commercial arrangement. I think it could raise more questions: eg why the FT? Why not another paper?

If this is actually about Education and Social Mobility is there something more central to the university system or funding of it that could be changed in law instead?

 

[jan28]

I was wondering - I have an idea which I think makes sense but also could raise a lot of 'but what if ... ? questions' Do we have to address all of such problems or do we strictly just write the proposed law and why we would introduce that law? I'm leaning towards trying to be analytical but that isn't necessarily what the question is asking for... right?

 

[Jessica Booker]

I was wondering - I have an idea which I think makes sense but also could raise a lot of 'but what if ... ? questions' Do we have to address all of such problems or do we strictly just write the proposed law and why we would introduce that law? I'm leaning towards trying to be analytical but that isn't necessarily what the question is asking for... right?

You don’t need to justify what if questions - but I think the idea needs to be practical and thought through where it would logically work.

 

[Sam55]

I have thought of a law for quite an interesting topic which I found out about through a case that the firm the question is for were acting on- the issue is the law that I would want to put into place would be to make something illegal that the firm were enforcing in this case. I think it is relevant and a good subject but I'm a bit concerned it could come across as I'm looking down on the firm or consider them to be enforcing something unethical- is this something I should be worried about?

 

[Jessica Booker]

I have thought of a law for quite an interesting topic which I found out about through a case that the firm the question is for were acting on- the issue is the law that I would want to put into place would be to make something illegal that the firm were enforcing in this case. I think it is relevant and a good subject but I'm a bit concerned it could come across as I'm looking down on the firm or consider them to be enforcing something unethical- is this something I should be worried about?

personally, I would avoid it if it is something the firm has supported.

 

[dosblancos7]

Would it be wise to talk about new laws , but something that is grounded in recent developments(for e.g, Volkswagens emission scandal litigation etc, or employment in gig economies"). I'm interested in the latter, but I don't want A&O to think I am piggybacking of recent case law.

 

[Jaysen]

Would it be wise to talk about new laws , but something that is grounded in recent developments(for e.g, Volkswagens emission scandal litigation etc, or employment in gig economies"). I'm interested in the latter, but I don't want A&O to think I am piggybacking of recent case law.

If that's an interest of yours, then I'd say that's absolutely fine.

 

[dosblancos7]

If that's an interest of yours, then I'd say that's absolutely fine.

Thank you! Would it be problematic if there was a law imposed elsewhere(say the US), but not in the UK? I feel as though I can justify why my proposed law should be implemented though!

Thank you once again!

 

[Achint_NA]

Hi all

Currently applying for A&O's VS, but I'm stumped about the last question(introduce a new law)

I want to talk about the ownership of football clubs, and I want to link this to competition areas specifically. (so, specifically sovereign/state owned teams,like UAE's ownership of NewYork Football Club that benefit from the wealth of states, competing against ordinary, individual/company owned football teams).

I'm worried that this may seem a bit ...casual/relaxed? Super passionate about it though. I have no idea how it can link to the firm either or even the legal service

Any feedback appreciated.!

 

[Jaysen]

Thank you! Would it be problematic if there was a law imposed elsewhere(say the US), but not in the UK? I feel as though I can justify why my proposed law should be implemented though!

Thank you once again!

I don't see a problem with that. You wouldn't be expected to know if there was a law about it in a different jurisdiction and either way that might be even greater justification for why a law should be imposed here.

 

[Jaysen]

Hi all

Currently applying for A&O's VS, but I'm stumped about the last question(introduce a new law)

I want to talk about the ownership of football clubs, and I want to link this to competition areas specifically. (so, specifically sovereign/state owned teams,like UAE's ownership of NewYork Football Club that benefit from the wealth of states, competing against ordinary, individual/company owned football teams).

I'm worried that this may seem a bit ...casual/relaxed? Super passionate about it though. I have no idea how it can link to the firm either or even the legal service

Any feedback appreciated.!

I don't know much about this area, but as long as you are clear on the law that should be introduced, the topic sounds fine to me. I wouldn't worry about linking it to a firm.

 

[Karin]

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.

I agree that showing how it would impact either the firm or its clients in some way would make your answer much more comprehensive and relevant. However, when thinking about this, you can think outside the box - if you talk about societal problems, you can link it to some of the firm's pro bono projects or corporate social responsibility aspects, for example. Firms as big as A&O have probably done some project in almost every area that you can think of. Also with clients - they have such a great variety of clients that it may be not that difficult to put that in.

But to add to this, I think it is important to see the question in the context of the application as a whole. I am not familiar with this year's A&O's application, but if you feel like you have space to show your interest in the firm and the commercial world enough in the rest of the application, then I think there is no harm in looking outside of commercial law (it is even beneficial), after all the question will lead you to talking about "law" anyway, so there is no chance it could be completely law-unrelated!

I think when answering this I am thinking about HSF's 'introduce a topic question' - speaking to GR they liked that people's passions and interests got channeled through and there was not one way to answer the question.

 

[M&ALawyer]

Hi all

Currently applying for A&O's VS, but I'm stumped about the last question(introduce a new law)

I want to talk about the ownership of football clubs, and I want to link this to competition areas specifically. (so, specifically sovereign/state owned teams,like UAE's ownership of NewYork Football Club that benefit from the wealth of states, competing against ordinary, individual/company owned football teams).

I'm worried that this may seem a bit ...casual/relaxed? Super passionate about it though. I have no idea how it can link to the firm either or even the legal service

Any feedback appreciated.!

As a football fan, I think this an excellent idea and should definitely be implemented; but it may have a potential flaw for the purpose of the question. Is it not the FA (and potentially FIFA) who govern football club ownership; in this respect is it actually a law or rather regulatory criteria from an association; that wouldn't actually be introduced as a law?

I may be completely wrong and overly cautious. But in the unlikely event the person reviewing your application is an expert in football - it may be worth double-checking!

 

[TChopeful2021]

Hi guys.

I might be overcomplicating things but the terms 'introduce' and 'new' are throwing me off. I currently want to discuss an area of law that is very incoherent and impractical which forms the basis of my new proposed law. However, whilst it is new in the sense that it is different to how the current law operates, I don't know if it might be perceived as amending and improving the current law rather than actually introducing something completely new and novel?

I would appreciate any advice!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi guys.

I might be overcomplicating things but the terms 'introduce' and 'new' are throwing me off. I currently want to discuss an area of law that is very incoherent and impractical which forms the basis of my new proposed law. However, whilst it is new in the sense that it is different to how the current law operates, I don't know if it might be perceived as amending and improving the current law rather than actually introducing something completely new and novel?

I would appreciate any advice!

Sounds fine - especially if you explain your rationale is to make the existing law less incoherent and more practical. Ultimately you are introducing something new through the suggested change.

 

[Stephen]

Hi @Jessica Booker
When I fill in the work experience section on the A&O application form, should I use full paragraphs, bullet points or a mixture of both?

many thanks!

 

[Alice G]

Hi @Jessica Booker
When I fill in the work experience section on the A&O application form, should I use full paragraphs, bullet points or a mixture of both?

many thanks!

Hi Stephen,

I’ve always opted for full prose and no bullet points. I think bullet points can be ok on a CV but the advice and preferences I’ve heard for work experience sections in online applications is for full prose.

I think the exception is if you have entries for attending various open days/events or the completion of virtual experiences- in these instances I think you’d be perfectly fine to list or bullet those you’ve attended/completed

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker
When I fill in the work experience section on the A&O application form, should I use full paragraphs, bullet points or a mixture of both?

many thanks!

I think it depends on the formatting of the application.

• Some application forms allow
• Bullet points to be easily formatted
• Like you can do in the posts in this forum

But if it is a text box that you cannot format, then I would put it in paragraphs. You can be clever with your wording though to ensure your paragraphs and sentences are still punchy/concise.

 

[Jaysen]

Just a quick pointer on this application question. The question doesn't ask you to tailor this to A&O, so personally, I don't feel you must include references to the firm. If the firm wanted you to do so, it would have been in the question.

That said, I'm seeing a lot of applications where candidates are trying to fit the firm into their answer. I would just flag that if you do, it needs to come naturally. To me, it doesn't come across too well if you have one paragraph on your proposed new law and why, and then a separate paragraph that tries to force the relevance of this law to A&O.