Ask 3 future trainees (Magic & Silver Circle, International Elite) ANYTHING! *New TCLA Team Members*

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hi guys. Hope you are doing well. Could you please answer one question of mine related to Commercial awareness? When I read news articles headlined "M&A activity is at an all-time high and is up from last year by 39%", I do realise that this does affect law firms who do M&A but I fail to understand what decisions do they take based on this? Just because the M&A activity is at all all-time high, doesn't mean it will remain so in the future. So, what is it exactly that they do when they know that a sector is booming?

@Jacob Miller @Dheepa
Thank you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi guys. Hope you are doing well. Could you please answer one question of mine related to Commercial awareness? When I read news articles headlined "M&A activity is at an all-time high and is up from last year by 39%", I do realise that this does affect law firms who do M&A but I fail to understand what decisions do they take based on this? Just because the M&A activity is at all all-time high, doesn't mean it will remain so in the future. So, what is it exactly that they do when they know that a sector is booming?

@Jacob Miller @Dheepa
Thank you.

Put simply - get more people to work and/or work harder!

Sometimes they will get temporary support in to the department to support the busier times. They can also sometimes transfer lawyers from quieter departments to work in busier departments - although this is rarer. There will be temporary ways of getting staff in to, especially more trainees who can rotate into the team, but there are contract lawyers, paralegals and admin staff options too.

They also hire people (whether qualified lawyers or taking on more NQs), knowing that natural attrition of staff will bring numbers back down at a time it is quieter.

But sometimes it also just means longer hours for everyone!

 

[ofm]

Hi everyone! I have my first ever vac scheme with my dream firm next week, and I am so nervous. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about how to prepare or things to make sure to do during it.

While I have worked in a law firm in the US before, I haven't done my conversion course or anything so this is very new to me.

Any advice would be very appreciated! Thank you so much!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi everyone! I have my first ever vac scheme with my dream firm next week, and I am so nervous. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about how to prepare or things to make sure to do during it.

While I have worked in a law firm in the US before, I haven't done my conversion course or anything so this is very new to me.

Any advice would be very appreciated! Thank you so much!

Some great posts here:

2020-21 Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion

I know Shoosmiths are reviewing apps still but, out of curiosity, has anyone heard back for the Leeds office yet? I haven't seen much in terms of responses outside of their London office!

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hi guys. Hope you are doing well. Could you please answer one question of mine related to Commercial awareness? When I read news articles headlined "M&A activity is at an all-time high and is up from last year by 39%", I do realise that this does affect law firms who do M&A but I fail to understand what decisions do they take based on this? Just because the M&A activity is at all all-time high, doesn't mean it will remain so in the future. So, what is it exactly that they do when they know that a sector is booming?

@Jacob Miller @Dheepa
Thank you.

Yeah I agree with Jess' substantive advice so I don't have an enormous amount to add.

I would encourage you to think about this just from a simple business infrastructure perspective: for transactionally-focussed firm, a 40% rise in M&A activity is wonderful but needs 'provided for' inasmuch as they need a sufficient number of lawyers and also business services/ support staff in place to cope with such a huge extra demand.

This is the same in any department: post-200€ crisis, there was a slew of complex commercial litigation. Litigious firms will have needed to bolster their offering in this area to ensure they could take on the added workload without being completely swamped and drowning.

During particularly busy times, a firm has to gauge the market as it is and being reactive to the market conditions.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Yeah I agree with Jess' substantive advice so I don't have an enormous amount to add.

I would encourage you to think about this just from a simple business infrastructure perspective: for transactionally-focussed firm, a 40% rise in M&A activity is wonderful but needs 'provided for' inasmuch as they need a sufficient number of lawyers and also business services/ support staff in place to cope with such a huge extra demand.

This is the same in any department: post-200€ crisis, there was a slew of complex commercial litigation. Litigious firms will have needed to bolster their offering in this area to ensure they could take on the added workload without being completely swamped and drowning.

During particularly busy times, a firm has to gauge the market as it is and being reactive to the market conditions.

Ironically, one of the issues some firms faced with office capacity - they'd often want to take on additional lawyers, but didn't have the space for them in the office! I know a couple of firms who thought about taking on shared office space like WeWork temporarily just to house an extended team due to department growth! At least that isn't so much of an issue these days.

 

[c1070]

Hey Guys, I am currently prepping for a TC AC and trying to brush up on recent deals the firm has been involved in/matters it has advised on. I have lots of examples of matters but they are very sparse in detail - literally one line on their 'highlights' section under the practice areas. I think that it would be better to have more of an in depth example but I am really struggling to find them, or if they are they often dont name the client and say something like 'multinational technology company'. Do you have any advice on how to tackle this/the level of detail i'd reasonably be expected to know ?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey Guys, I am currently prepping for a TC AC and trying to brush up on recent deals the firm has been involved in/matters it has advised on. I have lots of examples of matters but they are very sparse in detail - literally one line on their 'highlights' section under the practice areas. I think that it would be better to have more of an in depth example but I am really struggling to find them, or if they are they often dont name the client and say something like 'multinational technology company'. Do you have any advice on how to tackle this/the level of detail i'd reasonably be expected to know ?

They won't expect (or want) you to recite specific detail. They will be much more interested in your opinions and analysis of the deal - what you think may have influenced it, what types of legal advice the firm may have given on it etc, so try to analyse it more broadly.

 

[c1070]

They won't expect (or want) you to recite specific detail. They will be much more interested in your opinions and analysis of the deal - what you think may have influenced it, what types of legal advice the firm may have given on it etc, so try to analyse it more broadly.

great thanks so much!

 

[Lawbour]

I'm currently preparing for an upcoming vacation scheme and was wondering what people's thoughts are on emailing my trainee buddy before the scheme? we have been given their emails already and I was thinking of introducing myself but don't want to come across as annoying haha

 

[Holly]

I'm currently preparing for an upcoming vacation scheme and was wondering what people's thoughts are on emailing my trainee buddy before the scheme? we have been given their emails already and I was thinking of introducing myself but don't want to come across as annoying haha

As they’ve given you their emails, I believe the firm would want you to reach out to them. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t, but if you want to introduce yourself then do!

It’s a great chance to ask any questions you have before the scheme too

Remember they are your buddy because they want to be your buddy! So I’m sure they want to help out where they can

 

[Jessica Booker]

I'm currently preparing for an upcoming vacation scheme and was wondering what people's thoughts are on emailing my trainee buddy before the scheme? we have been given their emails already and I was thinking of introducing myself but don't want to come across as annoying haha

Not a problem - just keep it brief and don't expect anything from them until you join.

 

[Dheepa]

Hey Guys, I am currently prepping for a TC AC and trying to brush up on recent deals the firm has been involved in/matters it has advised on. I have lots of examples of matters but they are very sparse in detail - literally one line on their 'highlights' section under the practice areas. I think that it would be better to have more of an in depth example but I am really struggling to find them, or if they are they often dont name the client and say something like 'multinational technology company'. Do you have any advice on how to tackle this/the level of detail i'd reasonably be expected to know ?

Just to add to Jess's advice here, I've never been asked to specifically discuss an example of a deal. I think any questions surrounding a deal the firm has done would likely only come up if you chose to mention, in which case doing research on one deal that touched on a number of the firm's strengths/practice areas would be better than multiple deal examples. In terms of finding details on deals, I'd look at the Due Diligence section of the FT - it often covers big M&A transactions and if you search them on Google, the firms that work on them come up as well. So in this way you can use the FT to flesh out your research on the commercial factors behind the deal too. Hope that helps you streamline your research a bit more!

 

[c1070]

Just to add to Jess's advice here, I've never been asked to specifically discuss an example of a deal. I think any questions surrounding a deal the firm has done would likely only come up if you chose to mention, in which case doing research on one deal that touched on a number of the firm's strengths/practice areas would be better than multiple deal examples. In terms of finding details on deals, I'd look at the Due Diligence section of the FT - it often covers big M&A transactions and if you search them on Google, the firms that work on them come up as well. So in this way you can use the FT to flesh out your research on the commercial factors behind the deal too. Hope that helps you streamline your research a bit more!

thank you! thats really helpful

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

Hey,

@Jacob Miller @Dheepa - I hope both of you are doing well!

I have a vacation scheme coming up very soon with NRF, and have some questions that I hope you will be happy to answer.

Firstly, do you have any general advice as to how to prepare for a vacation scheme? (specific advise to NRF and its vacation scheme would be great - really pushing for the TC here🤞)

Secondly, what does the group exercise entail and how can I prepare for it, if so?

Finally, what do the 3 department exercises entail and how can I prepare for them, if so?

Would really appreciate some insight and advice since both of you have completed the NRF virtual vacation scheme last year.

Thanks,
Dwight

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hey,

@Jacob Miller @Dheepa - I hope both of you are doing well!

I have a vacation scheme coming up very soon with NRF, and have some questions that I hope you will be happy to answer.

Firstly, do you have any general advice as to how to prepare for a vacation scheme? (specific advise to NRF and its vacation scheme would be great - really pushing for the TC here🤞)

Secondly, what does the group exercise entail and how can I prepare for it, if so?

Finally, what do the 3 department exercises entail and how can I prepare for them, if so?

Would really appreciate some insight and advice since both of you have completed the NRF virtual vacation scheme last year.

Thanks,
Dwight

Hey Dwight

I'll go through these questions chronologically and advise where I can, although I won't be able to give away specific details pertaining to assessments as these could easily distort the recruitment process.

In re general vac scheme prep, a lot of the information here is great if you were unable to attend our live webinar on VS conversion earlier this month.

As mentioned, I can't discuss any details of the group assessment but I would advise consulting my article on group/ team-based assessments in the first instance. Whether or not the specific assessment you may be given is negotiation-based, the teamwork and team dynamic elements are nevertheless highly applicable.

Finally, on the point of departmental assessments, I again can't give away particular information. I wouldn't say there's actually an enormous amount of prep you can do for them, though, so I wouldn't worry here.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

Hey Dwight

I'll go through these questions chronologically and advise where I can, although I won't be able to give away specific details pertaining to assessments as these could easily distort the recruitment process.

In re general vac scheme prep, a lot of the information here is great if you were unable to attend our live webinar on VS conversion earlier this month.

As mentioned, I can't discuss any details of the group assessment but I would advise consulting my article on group/ team-based assessments in the first instance. Whether or not the specific assessment you may be given is negotiation-based, the teamwork and team dynamic elements are nevertheless highly applicable.

Finally, on the point of departmental assessments, I again can't give away particular information. I wouldn't say there's actually an enormous amount of prep you can do for them, though, so I wouldn't worry here.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for this @Jacob Miller.

It is unfortunate that you cant provide any info in relation to the assessments but I completely understand that.

Is there a recording to the session that you mentioned?

Thanks

 

[Jacob Miller]

Thanks for this @Jacob Miller.

It is unfortunate that you cant provide any info in relation to the assessments but I completely understand that.

Is there a recording to the session that you mentioned?

Thanks

The recording was made available for TCLA Premium users.

 

[Selggib16]

Hi all, this isn't really application related but I hope it is ok to ask! I am so thrilled to say that I have been made a TC offer this week! I expected to begin in 2023 but they want me to begin the LPC as soon as possible (July this year) which means once face to face teaching begins in August I will have to make the move pretty fast (I am from Scotland). I really do not know London that well in terms of areas etc - does anyone have any advice in regards to living arrangements that is central for Canary Wharf? I am happy to live on my own or flat share but I don't know anyone in London! Any advice is appreciated, thanks so much

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hi all, this isn't really application related but I hope it is ok to ask! I am so thrilled to say that I have been made a TC offer this week! I expected to begin in 2023 but they want me to begin the LPC as soon as possible (July this year) which means once face to face teaching begins in August I will have to make the move pretty fast (I am from Scotland). I really do not know London that well in terms of areas etc - does anyone have any advice in regards to living arrangements that is central for Canary Wharf? I am happy to live on my own or flat share but I don't know anyone in London! Any advice is appreciated, thanks so much

Hey, feel free to DM me about this and I'll get back to you!