Hi Perseverance!
First of all thank you for being so kind and helpful in sharing all your nuggets of information both on your website and on Student Room, I have just signed up for the newsletter today.
I was wondering if you could help me with the following:
1. VS vs TC - I am in my final year of university doing an LLB and this is my first round of applications. I have not had legal work experience in the UK, only in my home country. Could you please advise as to whether I should apply for vacation schemes over training contracts?
I would like to qualify and work in the UK but I am concerned about being unable to convince employees that I have am suited to the pressures and culture of legal work in the UK without experiencing a VC.
However, my concern lies particularly in the fact that:
• Vacation schemes receive more applications than training contracts, that many firms recruit
from their VS and that one often cannot apply to them both in the same cycle if rejected at
the AC stage of a VC.
Should I apply for a TC for firms I really want, and apply for VSs at UK firms that I am less interested in? Really quite stuck at the moment!
2. Thoughts on Sidley Austin – if I remember correctly I think you may know a trainee from SA that could help me with the following:
a) I’ve read that the firm is rather conservative - how does the conservative outlook manifest itself in the firm’s various aspects (apart from its zero-debt policy) from management and diversity to social life? Is it a bad thing, compared to other less conservative firms?
b) I understand US firms tend to focus on on-the-job training, but I have read that Sidley does have (to some degree) a structured timetable of training – is the training throughout the traineeship fairly classroom based or mostly on-the-job? Also, more generally, what are your thoughts on the mentoring and support system given to trainees?
c) What is the responsibility and quality of work like? So roughly what portion of your time would be spent doing mundane tasks compared to more interesting work such as drafting documents for example? I am particularly concerned as Chambers Guide ranks the firm’s various practice areas between Band 3-5, does this mean Sidley’s work is less interesting/exciting/high quality compared to MC or other top-tier US firms? Some people have commented that the work is analogous to a mid-level UK firm.
d) Somewhat related to the bullet-point A, in terms of culture, what is the firm like, especially considering that every now and then teams of lawyers would move in and out of the firm?
e) Does the London office operate like a slightly larger satellite firm, or does it possess some autonomy in decision/policy-making? In other words, what is the practical working relationship between Sidley’s US firms and the UK one?
f) What are your thoughts on the retention process? Any pros or cons to be aware of?
g) Diversity – there seem to be plenty of relevant committees in place, but Legal Cheek does not list down the crucial percentages (BME, women), so some insight into this would be greatly appreciated.
Any other general comments that might be even the slightest bit insightful would be greatly appreciated too!
Sorry for the very long message and please write back to clarify if you find anything confusing/vague.
PrancingUnicorns
First of all thank you for being so kind and helpful in sharing all your nuggets of information both on your website and on Student Room, I have just signed up for the newsletter today.
I was wondering if you could help me with the following:
1. VS vs TC - I am in my final year of university doing an LLB and this is my first round of applications. I have not had legal work experience in the UK, only in my home country. Could you please advise as to whether I should apply for vacation schemes over training contracts?
I would like to qualify and work in the UK but I am concerned about being unable to convince employees that I have am suited to the pressures and culture of legal work in the UK without experiencing a VC.
However, my concern lies particularly in the fact that:
• Vacation schemes receive more applications than training contracts, that many firms recruit
from their VS and that one often cannot apply to them both in the same cycle if rejected at
the AC stage of a VC.
Should I apply for a TC for firms I really want, and apply for VSs at UK firms that I am less interested in? Really quite stuck at the moment!
2. Thoughts on Sidley Austin – if I remember correctly I think you may know a trainee from SA that could help me with the following:
a) I’ve read that the firm is rather conservative - how does the conservative outlook manifest itself in the firm’s various aspects (apart from its zero-debt policy) from management and diversity to social life? Is it a bad thing, compared to other less conservative firms?
b) I understand US firms tend to focus on on-the-job training, but I have read that Sidley does have (to some degree) a structured timetable of training – is the training throughout the traineeship fairly classroom based or mostly on-the-job? Also, more generally, what are your thoughts on the mentoring and support system given to trainees?
c) What is the responsibility and quality of work like? So roughly what portion of your time would be spent doing mundane tasks compared to more interesting work such as drafting documents for example? I am particularly concerned as Chambers Guide ranks the firm’s various practice areas between Band 3-5, does this mean Sidley’s work is less interesting/exciting/high quality compared to MC or other top-tier US firms? Some people have commented that the work is analogous to a mid-level UK firm.
d) Somewhat related to the bullet-point A, in terms of culture, what is the firm like, especially considering that every now and then teams of lawyers would move in and out of the firm?
e) Does the London office operate like a slightly larger satellite firm, or does it possess some autonomy in decision/policy-making? In other words, what is the practical working relationship between Sidley’s US firms and the UK one?
f) What are your thoughts on the retention process? Any pros or cons to be aware of?
g) Diversity – there seem to be plenty of relevant committees in place, but Legal Cheek does not list down the crucial percentages (BME, women), so some insight into this would be greatly appreciated.
Any other general comments that might be even the slightest bit insightful would be greatly appreciated too!
Sorry for the very long message and please write back to clarify if you find anything confusing/vague.
PrancingUnicorns
