Ask 4 future trainees ANYTHING! *New TCLA Team Members*

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi everyone! I’m Ram, a future trainee at Cooley LLP, and I’m thrilled to be joining TCLA as a Community Assistant (along with @Andrei Radu @Kay Aston and @Amma Usman).

Some of you may know me from my previous account, when I posted as @Adrian_S during my time as a forum user. When I moved to London in 2019 and decided to pursue a legal career during the pandemic, navigating the world of large commercial firms felt overwhelming. Resources like Aspiring Solicitors and Chambers UK were certainly helpful, but TCLA was the first community that truly broke down the complexities of commercial law for me. As someone who was the first in my family to attend university and pursue a legal career, the forum also provided consistent encouragement. This was invaluable to me, particularly throughout a process that could feel daunting and isolating.

I’m also a career changer, having left academic political science in 2020. Like many other future trainees, my journey to securing a training contract took persistence—two application cycles, five vacation schemes, and countless applications. However, one thing I’ve come to realise is that many people, myself included when I first started this process, can underestimate the value of their unique experiences and skills. Transitioning from another field gave me a fresh perspective and a set of transferable skills that I initially struggled to recognise but that became key to my success. TCLA was instrumental in helping me identify and articulate these strengths, and I’m now eager to help others do the same.

I’m passionate about helping applicants—especially those who feel overlooked or struggle to find support—realise their potential and gain confidence in the diverse backgrounds they bring to the table. If you’re finding it tough to research law firms, write tailored applications, tackle Watson Glaser tests, or break down commercial news, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m also happy to answer firm-specific questions for those I’ve completed vacation schemes or interviewed with, including Charles Russell Speechlys, Jones Day, and Vinson & Elkins.

Every written application, video interview, and assessment centre played an important role in my own development – even when they went might’ve gone badly for me. These stages of the application process taught me valuable skills. It wasn’t just about securing the offer – they helped me become more confident and ultimately a better professional. That’s something I wish I’d realised earlier on during my application journey.

A bit more about me: I grew up just outside of Toronto and have spent time living in Montreal and Chicago. I’m currently preparing for the SQE at ULaw Moorgate, and in my spare time, you can usually find me at any museum or exhibit in London, or else still delving into academic political science.

I’m really looking forward to connecting with you all. Feel free to ask me anything on the forum!

 

[Kay Aston]

Hi everyone!

I am excited to be joining TCLA alongside @Ram Sabaratnam , @Andrei Radu and @Amma Usman , as a Community Assistant. TCLA was instrumental in my training contract journey, so I am honoured to be joining this community and hopefully helping many of you along the way.

A little about my training contract journey, and some areas I can specifically help with:

• I took a slightly different route to the traditional one, in that I undertook an apprenticeship at accounting firm at 18 instead of attending university, and trained as a Chartered Accountant, before deciding to make the switch to commercial law, so I can answer lots of questions about career changing.
• When I decided to switch careers, I went back to university and studied my LLB in the evenings at Birkbeck University of London, alongside working full-time as an accountant, so I can answer lots of questions about working alongside study.
• I was extremely fortunate to have secured my training contract during my first year of my LLB, largely by leveraging my professional experiences. I was lucky enough to undertake multiple first year schemes, so I can help people out with those too.
• I am now in the process of beginning my SQE with Ulaw, and I will be joining Clifford Chance as a Trainee Solicitor in August next year!
• Another difficulty that I encountered in my journey was my A-Level grades, in which I achieved BCC. I therefore have personal experience with mitigating circumstances and social mobility, and how to best articulate this in applications.

So, it has been far from a smooth journey, and I’m hoping that I can help out those of you who may (or may not!) have similar experiences, particularly those who may feel disenfranchised due to poor academics / socio-economic background / non-RG university degrees. I know how disheartening this insanely competitive process can be, especially when you have any perceived ‘flaws’ in your application.

My best advice to future lawyers going through this process is to really try and take lessons from the journey, no matter how long. If you are getting even 1% better with each time you complete a stage, the outcome will follow. I know it’s said a lot (and easy for me to say now!), but trust the process.

That’s all from me right now, but I am happy to answer any questions at all!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi everyone!

My name is Andrei, a current third year law student at UCL and future trainee at Davis Polk. I’m excited to be joining @Ram Sabaratnam, @Kay Aston, and @Amma Usman as one of TCLA’s Community Assistants for this year.

I just wanted to introduce myself and share a bit about my background and journey. I’m originally from Romania, and I have only moved to the UK in 2022 to start my law degree at UCL. I knew I had an interest in commercial law since the very beginning of year 1, but I knew very little about the application process and legal landscape in the City. As such, in my first application cycle, I was rejected in 10/10 of my applications at the first stage. As for many other applicants, the experience was extremely distressing, and it caused me to start questioning my self-worth – especially since coming to the UK as an international student was a significant financial investment for my family and I was afraid of letting them down.

Fortunately, with the support of a number of friends and career mentors, I bounced back by using my frustration and anxiety as motivation to give 100% in the next application cycle. By attending several careers events every week, completing courses and virtual experiences, and using some of the amazing resources offered by TCLA, I managed to significantly improve my research and application writing skills. Thus, my second cycle was the complete reversal of the first. I ended up receiving vacation scheme offers from Slaughter and May, Milbank, Willkie, and Davis Polk, and was fortunate enough to receive TC offers from the last three.

Subsequently, I have started spending lots of time to help friends and acquaintances in overcoming the same struggles I had faced. Having realised I was finding a lot of fulfilment in giving back to the community, I decided to apply to join TCLA. I spent a month in the summer writing new law firm profiles, and I am now looking forward to becoming a part of the forum community here!

To list some of the queries I feel like I would be in a good position to answer:

• Application process questions, particularly regarding how to research law firms to identify unique selling points, writing tips, and application strategy.
• Interview tips, especially competency interviews and general commercial awareness/case studies.
• How to improve commercial awareness, particularly in how to make best use of events and online resources.
• Any questions around PE, M&A, and equity capital markets work.
• Tips for overcoming rejection.

However, definitely feel free to ask me anything and everything throughout the forum threads – I am here to help 😊!

Finally, my top tip for aspiring solicitors is to realise you are not in this journey alone. The biggest difference between my first and second application cycle has been the support I received from so many people the second time around, without which I would not be in in this position. So, whether it is friends, your university’s law society, LinkedIn connections, or this forum, do not be afraid to reach out for help!

 

[Amma Usman]

Hello everyone! My name is Amma and I’m really excited to start as a Community Assistant at TCLA alongside @Ram Sabaratnam, @Kay Aston, and @Andrei Radu ! By way of introduction, I’m an incoming final year law undergraduate at Leicester and a Future Trainee at Gibson Dunn. I’m an international student, born and raised in Nigeria, and I moved to the UK a couple years back. I was so keen on joining TCLA due to the positive impact it had on my career trajectory and perception of the law firm application process. From the wonderful forum community where everyone was so open and friendly about their experiences, to the comprehensive courses, TCLA really felt like a ‘community’ from day one.


One piece of advice I would really love to share about the whole process is that consistency would take you places that sometimes motivation may not. As a candidate, it’s super easy to feel let down by rejections or struggle with confidence during the process - I certainly did. Although it’s always worth remembering that every rejection, every feedback call with a member of graduate recruitment, every written application, all eventually contribute to securing that TC. As an international student, I personally struggled with adapting to the legal system in the UK as I had only been exposed to Nigerian laws and deals my whole life. I also felt quite ‘late’ to the process as I had no knowledge of what graduate programmes or training contracts even were until the end of my first year! I must admit that all these feelings were quite overwhelming but eventually I realised that I actually appreciated the journey a whole lot more when it wasn’t particularly smooth.


Among other areas, I’m happy to touch base on queries relating to corporate transactions such as private equity and M&A, general commercial awareness, application writing tips, and case study preparations!


Really looking forward to getting deep into the role and adding as much value as possible! Lovely to meet you all

 

[futuretcholder]

Hi future trainees, its nice to meet you all and already I feel encouraged reading about your journeys. I had a few specific questions:

@Andrei Radu What do you think you did differently in your 2nd cycle that led you to success? And was there a particular part of the application cycle you found challenging (beyond the rejections in your first cycle) and how did you overcome it? ​

@Ram Sabaratnam Since Cooley has a focus on lifesciences, did you have any experiences in this field that you were able to speak about? I would also love to know whhat "type" of person they are looking for. To me, Cooley is a mysterious firm with only the Meet Cooley event, so I would love to know more about how the firm views itself and defines itself from other lifescience focused firms.

@Kay Aston If i'm correct, I believe that the CC process has a Watson Glaser as the first hurdle, were you quite good with taking these tests and do you have any tips? Currently i'm really struggling with recognising assumptions.

Finally for any of the community assistants, do any of you have tips in terms of when to start prepping for future stages (ie. VI, AC, WG). Currently i'm focusing a lot on appliicatons with keeping up with the news/commercial awareness bits. But at this stage I have not started thinking about competency/motiivational questions. Would love to hear what the process was like when you guys were applying!

Apologises for the lengthy message and thank you in advance for your advice!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi future trainees, its nice to meet you all and already I feel encouraged reading about your journeys. I had a few specific questions:

@Andrei Radu What do you think you did differently in your 2nd cycle that led you to success? And was there a particular part of the application cycle you found challenging (beyond the rejections in your first cycle) and how did you overcome it? ​

@Ram Sabaratnam Since Cooley has a focus on lifesciences, did you have any experiences in this field that you were able to speak about? I would also love to know whhat "type" of person they are looking for. To me, Cooley is a mysterious firm with only the Meet Cooley event, so I would love to know more about how the firm views itself and defines itself from other lifescience focused firms.

@Kay Aston If i'm correct, I believe that the CC process has a Watson Glaser as the first hurdle, were you quite good with taking these tests and do you have any tips? Currently i'm really struggling with recognising assumptions.

Finally for any of the community assistants, do any of you have tips in terms of when to start prepping for future stages (ie. VI, AC, WG). Currently i'm focusing a lot on appliicatons with keeping up with the news/commercial awareness bits. But at this stage I have not started thinking about competency/motiivational questions. Would love to hear what the process was like when you guys were applying!

Apologises for the lengthy message and thank you in advance for your advice!

Hi there, it's nice to meet you too, and thanks for first questions!

What did I do differently in my 2nd cycle that led me to success?

I would say the biggest differences in my approach between my 1st and 2nd cycle have been the following:

• Amount of dedicated time: in my first cycle, while I spent several hours before submitting each application and attended a few careers events, I would estimate I was spending less than 3-4 hours per week on commercial law-related activities. In my second cycle, I would say I have been spending anything between 15 and 25 hours per week, depending on the period. With 15 to 25 hours every week, I had a lot more time to prepare for each specific application and to simultaneously invest in developing my commercial awareness.
• Planning and consistency of effort: in my first cycle, I did not have a well-thought-out plan for my applications. Instead, I would do nothing for weeks, and only start researching and writing an application after hearing that the application window for a top firm was closing soon. Besides missing many deadlines of firms I was interested in, I wrote poor applications even for the firms where I did manage to apply – because I was always short on time for drafting and research. In my second cycle, I made a list of the roughly 15-20 firms I was interested in back in early September, noted down their deadlines in my calendar, and then planned out my next 3 months to space out my efforts. Thus, I set out my own deadlines and had at least a week’s time for researching and drafting for every application. This enabled me to avoid the being overloaded come December and to make every application good enough to have a decent shot of progressing.

Was there any particular part of the application process that I found particularly challenging, and how did I overcome it?

In my first cycle, I was rejected at application stage every time, so that was definitely the biggest hurdle for me. There were three aspects of the application stage I had particular difficulty with:

• “Why this firm?” questions: This was by far the biggest difficulty for me. I was having problems with both (a) identifying the unique selling points of each firm; and with (b) finding a link between a unique selling point and something I have reasons to care about. Thus, my answers tended to be both vague, in that they applied to many other firms, and unconvincing, in that they did not truly represent my motivations. There were several things I did to overcome this:
• Started using resources like TCLA’s Law Firm Profiles, which both gave me unique selling points for individual firms, and also more broadly taught me what are the kinds of aspects of law firms I should be looking for in my research.
• Significantly expanded the scope of my research, and started looking a lot particularly at Chambers Student, Chambers UK and Global Rankings, Legal 500 rankings, awards and recognition and news about the firm’s business in the legal press (The Lawyer is especially useful for this).
• Asked for examples of successful applications from mentors, friends, and acquaintances, and started learning how I can tie unique selling points to my own motivations and experiences (for instance, I started linking my debating/mooting experience with an interest in a firm’s contentious work, and my negotiations experience to a firm’s transactional practices).
• Writing style and structure: A significant problem is my first cycle was the verbosity and lack of structure of my applications. The primary way I remedied that was by asking for application reviews from my career mentors and friends, and then redrafting my written answers. For my first applications, it took 3 to 4 redrafts until I managed to achieve the appropriate style and structure.
• Commercial awareness questions: In my first cycle, I was finding it difficult to understand both the overall business world, and the business of law firms. To remedy the first issue, I started investing roughly 1 hour per day in informing myself about commercial news – primarily by listening to podcasts (like the FT’s news briefing, Watson’s Daily, Bloomberg news) on my way to university and back. To learn about the business of law firms, I started attending many more firm events, many of which were available online and without an application process.

Do any of you have tips in terms of when to start prepping for future stages (ie. VI, AC, WG)?

I would say your current approach (of focusing on applications) is the right one. As mentioned previously, this is generally the biggest roadblock. Besides improving your general commercial awareness, I did not do any preparation for the other stages until I received an invitation from a firm. For the WG, there are simply not that many resources you can use to prepare – I went through all the freely available ones in around two days before my first WG. For VIs, you generally have at least 3-4 days, and more commonly a week’s heads-up. Since most of their questions are relatively predictable, I do not think there is a lot of value to be gained by preparing more than around 8 hours – which you should be able to fit in the timeframe. For ACs, you will almost always have at least have a week’s heads-up, and normally more than that. Once again, I think there is a limit as to how much you can prepare, and I would not expect anything over 30-40 hours of preparation to add a lot of additional value.

Finally, I just wanted to say you should definitely not be worried of sending too lengthy messages. The more detailed you are about your questions and situation, the more through our advice can be – and we’re here to help 😊!

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi future trainees, its nice to meet you all and already I feel encouraged reading about your journeys. I had a few specific questions:

@Andrei Radu What do you think you did differently in your 2nd cycle that led you to success? And was there a particular part of the application cycle you found challenging (beyond the rejections in your first cycle) and how did you overcome it? ​

@Ram Sabaratnam Since Cooley has a focus on lifesciences, did you have any experiences in this field that you were able to speak about? I would also love to know whhat "type" of person they are looking for. To me, Cooley is a mysterious firm with only the Meet Cooley event, so I would love to know more about how the firm views itself and defines itself from other lifescience focused firms.

@Kay Aston If i'm correct, I believe that the CC process has a Watson Glaser as the first hurdle, were you quite good with taking these tests and do you have any tips? Currently i'm really struggling with recognising assumptions.

Finally for any of the community assistants, do any of you have tips in terms of when to start prepping for future stages (ie. VI, AC, WG). Currently i'm focusing a lot on appliicatons with keeping up with the news/commercial awareness bits. But at this stage I have not started thinking about competency/motiivational questions. Would love to hear what the process was like when you guys were applying!

Apologises for the lengthy message and thank you in advance for your advice!

Hey @futuretcholder, thanks for sending your query through the forum!

It’s really great that you’ve started thinking about the next steps in the law firm application process! Most firms schedule interviews and assessments (such as the WG) deadlines within a short time frame, so being reasonably prepared beforehand maximises your time and efficiency.

I have included a few tips below:

• Commercial awareness is a non-stop habit candidates and lawyers need to build, so it’s great that you‘re on top of this. In addition to reading the news, I would also recommend brushing up on particular economic and business concepts. This is because commercial awareness encompasses a broad deal of facets. Often times, law firms will ask candidates at an AC stage the difference between a share purchase and asset purchase, the meaning of synergy, the impact of inflation on a private equity firm, and so on. I remember being questioned at an AC on the typical structure of an M&A deal and a commercial lawyers involvement in such transactions. Here, I was able to touch on areas such as due diligence, but the feedback I received made me understand that I needed to do more. I needed to learn more as these are soft skills that are often unspoken about. Further, the experience made me realise that in addition to reading the FT or Finimise every morning, I needed to understand some specifics about their clients‘ operations. Through this, I realised that I was able to connect more dots when I eventually read stories on the FT. It’s also an area that I can say I am always working to build and improve on, as things in the global economy change relatively swiftly. Being able to discuss these changes at an AC will showcase your ability to adequately connect client experience with global considerations - something commercial lawyers do on a daily.

• Practicing assessments regularly is another consideration. For example, if you are drawn to a lot of firms which require one to complete the WG, you would want to work on practicing them as often as you possibly can. I know there are often difficulties with accessing tests from the actual WG provider, but TCLA’s WG crash course personally helped me. Additionally, if you go on multiple firm’s websites, you will find practice tests. Using those practice tests combined, you would have worked on improving your strategy with about 5 or more different tests. Clifford Chance is one firm I remember seeing a practice WG on their website. So set aside some time every week dedicated to focusing on learning the nuances of the test. Another good approach that links to this point is to not ‘time’ yourself for the first few attempts. This allows you to really think about what each section is asking of you, improving your overall efficiency for future assessed attempts.

• With the competency/motivational questions, I would say take some time to understand what draws you to a career in law first, then commercial law specifically, followed by a career in a specific firm. These are the standard motivational questions as interviewers will often want to ensure candidates know enough about the profession to want to specialise in it. I was once asked at an AC why I wanted to be a lawyer, then why a commercial lawyer. This required me to touch base on the differences in the type of practice areas, clients, and work that different lawyers deal with, as well as any past experiences I had because this shows ‘demonstrated’ interest. To be honest, this is not an easy question to answer. For me, it was very overwhelming. I knew why I wanted to become a commercial lawyer, but I found it hard to put this on paper, much less communicate it orally. So, I literally took a week out and solely focused on understanding myself and my CV more. Through this, I built on my ‘WHY’ and could better translate this across rooms during an AC or interview.

So in a nutshell, these are my main tips. Feel free to let me know if you have any more questions on this, and I’ll happily follow up!

Best, Amma

 

[futuretcholder]

Thank you @Amma Usman and @Andrei Radu this was so helpful, I really appreciate iit
Do you guys have any advice when it comes to talking about a deal within the 'why commercial law' question?

In my last application I submitted for Sidley in August I talked about how "The firm’s representation of X in acquisition of X interested me, as it comprises 18 brands, with regulatory and antitrust considerations that can impact the transaction’s completion. Such high-profile, multifaceted transactions reflect the work that I aspire to engage in as a burgeoning lawyer at Sidley."

Now that I'm reading it back, I feel like its a little biit vague, I think I wanted to convey that Sidley works on. really complex deals like this one because the deal involved 18 brands, but I don't think it came across the way I intended to... (lol) I think it was a good start that i mentioned the regulatory issues but I could've mentioned how this has become more diffiuclt recently with harsher merger control conditions. How do I show that this deal makes this firm special?

I would be really grateful for any tips and advice

 

[Kay Aston]

Hi future trainees, its nice to meet you all and already I feel encouraged reading about your journeys. I had a few specific questions:

@Andrei Radu What do you think you did differently in your 2nd cycle that led you to success? And was there a particular part of the application cycle you found challenging (beyond the rejections in your first cycle) and how did you overcome it? ​

@Ram Sabaratnam Since Cooley has a focus on lifesciences, did you have any experiences in this field that you were able to speak about? I would also love to know whhat "type" of person they are looking for. To me, Cooley is a mysterious firm with only the Meet Cooley event, so I would love to know more about how the firm views itself and defines itself from other lifescience focused firms.

@Kay Aston If i'm correct, I believe that the CC process has a Watson Glaser as the first hurdle, were you quite good with taking these tests and do you have any tips? Currently i'm really struggling with recognising assumptions.

Finally for any of the community assistants, do any of you have tips in terms of when to start prepping for future stages (ie. VI, AC, WG). Currently i'm focusing a lot on appliicatons with keeping up with the news/commercial awareness bits. But at this stage I have not started thinking about competency/motiivational questions. Would love to hear what the process was like when you guys were applying!

Apologises for the lengthy message and thank you in advance for your advice!

Hi @futuretcholder , thanks for your question,

You are correct that CC send the WG after you submit your initial written application, so it is part of the first hurdle in that sense! Your WG score is assessed alongside your written application, but it is great that you're thinking about how to maximise your score here, because it's definitely something you can prepare for.

I think the most important thing for the WG is to really understand what each section is asking from you, and to reframe your thinking completely for each section. It sounds like you understand this well and have identified that you struggle with assumptions (which is the section that a lot of people struggle with!). This means that you can take the time to really practice assumptions questions, and make notes to help you understand better for the real test. It's also a good idea to make a 'cheat sheet' with a few cues for each section to help you get into the right way of thinking.

The next step is practice, practice, practice! Lots of firms have free WG tests that you can take, I personally paid for a service where I could practice lots of questions by section too (Job Test Prep). Although I don't think that this is necessary to do well, I did like being able to study each section and then practice questions relating to just that section. Finally, there are tons of helpful resources on YouTube, and here on TCLA, relating to each section, so definitely take a look at those!

Hope this was helpful, happy to discuss further!

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi future trainees, its nice to meet you all and already I feel encouraged reading about your journeys. I had a few specific questions:

@Andrei Radu What do you think you did differently in your 2nd cycle that led you to success? And was there a particular part of the application cycle you found challenging (beyond the rejections in your first cycle) and how did you overcome it? ​

@Ram Sabaratnam Since Cooley has a focus on lifesciences, did you have any experiences in this field that you were able to speak about? I would also love to know whhat "type" of person they are looking for. To me, Cooley is a mysterious firm with only the Meet Cooley event, so I would love to know more about how the firm views itself and defines itself from other lifescience focused firms.

@Kay Aston If i'm correct, I believe that the CC process has a Watson Glaser as the first hurdle, were you quite good with taking these tests and do you have any tips? Currently i'm really struggling with recognising assumptions.

Finally for any of the community assistants, do any of you have tips in terms of when to start prepping for future stages (ie. VI, AC, WG). Currently i'm focusing a lot on appliicatons with keeping up with the news/commercial awareness bits. But at this stage I have not started thinking about competency/motiivational questions. Would love to hear what the process was like when you guys were applying!

Apologises for the lengthy message and thank you in advance for your advice!

Thanks so much for your question @futuretcholder - Cooley is relatively new to the London market, so I completely appreciate your question.

When trying to apply for training contracts, I often found it challenging to articulate how my background was relevant to the law firms I was applying to. This was primarily because I hadn’t worked directly with any lawyers and so I struggled to appreciate the role that lawyers played in the work I had previously undertaken.

My own interest in life sciences grew while working part-time at a university hospital, surrounded by researchers engaged in lab work and university collaborations. It was by speaking with Cooley trainees at two law fairs, as well as associates at other life sciences focussed firms, that I began to notice the connections between their work and my time working with STEM researchers. These conversations highlighted the crucial role lawyers played in helping researchers secure funding, navigate regulatory frameworks, and manage intellectual property. They also shaped my decision to prioritise firms like Cooley, given its strong reputation in life sciences and healthcare.

If you’re still unsure, I’d really encourage you to consider applying to the Meet Cooley events this year. They are a great way to deepen your knowledge of the firm, whilst also seeing how Cooley’s work might be interesting to someone with your own unique background and experiences.

In addition to its focus on life sciences, there are several other factors worth considering when trying to understand what sets Cooley apart from other US-headquartered firms with life science expertise.

• EC/VC Focus: Cooley’s London office excels in its EC/VC offerings, particularly when it comes to helping high-growth companies secure venture funding and providing strategic advice as they scale. The firm was a pioneer in this area, having advised on one of the first venture funds on the West Coast in the US. You may have also come across the London office’s attempts to strengthen its reputation in EC work. You can read more about this here. Finally, several EC/VC partners and associates in Cooley’s London office are qualified in both England and Wales, as well as in various jurisdictions in the US. Joining the firm would allow you to work with experienced EC/VC lawyers who have a strong multi-jurisdictional focus.
  
  
• Technology Capabilities: Cooley is also well-known for work on technology transactions. This partly owes to the firm's strong ties to key tech hubs, notably Silicon Valley. The London office has leveraged its reputation in this area to build out its technology practice. The firm takes particular interest in advising technology clients through their entire life cycle, from founding to IPO and beyond. One particular thing to note is that the technology transactions team often works closely alongside Cooley’s other teams, including its full-service cyber, data, and privacy offerings. If you’re a future trainee interested in gaining exposure to the more regulatory aspects of tech transactions, the firm is an excellent place to go.
  
  
• Robust Disputes Practice: Cooley is also notable for its strong disputes practice, particularly in product liability, which sets it apart from other life sciences-focused firms like Goodwin and Ropes & Gray, which are more transactional-heavy. In recent years, the firm has made impressive hires in areas such as international arbitration, competition litigation, and IP and cybersecurity litigation. If you’re still deciding between transactional and disputes work, Cooley offers excellent exposure to both, particularly as they relate to the life sciences and technology sectors, allowing you to engage with clients facing a wide range of legal challenges.

I hope this gives you a clearer picture of Cooley and what makes the firm distinct! Please feel free to reach out if you have any more questions—I’m happy to help.

 

[Amma Usman]

Thank you @Amma Usman and @Andrei Radu this was so helpful, I really appreciate iit
Do you guys have any advice when it comes to talking about a deal within the 'why commercial law' question?

In my last application I submitted for Sidley in August I talked about how "The firm’s representation of X in acquisition of X interested me, as it comprises 18 brands, with regulatory and antitrust considerations that can impact the transaction’s completion. Such high-profile, multifaceted transactions reflect the work that I aspire to engage in as a burgeoning lawyer at Sidley."

Now that I'm reading it back, I feel like its a little biit vague, I think I wanted to convey that Sidley works on. really complex deals like this one because the deal involved 18 brands, but I don't think it came across the way I intended to... (lol) I think it was a good start that i mentioned the regulatory issues but I could've mentioned how this has become more diffiuclt recently with harsher merger control conditions. How do I show that this deal makes this firm special?

I would be really grateful for any tips and advice

Hey @futuretcholder, thanks for your question. I hope you’re doing well!

I believe it‘s not always necessary to talk about a deal within the ‘why commercial law’ section, as you would want to cover in-depth why you want to enter this profession specifically, over others. There may not be enough words to cover the specifics of a deal, so this is something you would want to include in the ‘why Sidley’ question instead. When answering ‘why commercial law,’ you should state any experiences in the profession that sparked your interest in the industry. For example, if you attended an open day at Sidley, you could touch on a deal you heard about to strengthen your answer. However, as a warning, you wouldn’t want to mention deals without fully explaining why they interest you. This is because, as a candidate, you would want to be wary of linking your motivation for a field to a particular deal unless it absolutely and specifically relates to the work or practice area of a firm. Again, even this requires more explanation. You could explain what it is exactly about a deal within a particular practice area that draws you to it. For instance, if you’re drawn to Latham’s Project Finance and Development practice, within which there is a subset Africa practice, you might note that the firm worked on the Mozambique LNG project, recognized as the largest project financing transaction in Africa at the time. But that’s just step two. Step three would involve explaining why the Africa practice appeals to you. Do you have any work or personal-related experiences with Africa-related energy work? Why does it appeal to you? Why do you want to explore it further? Why specifically at Latham do you want to explore this? Other firms may also do Africa deals, so it’s important to demonstrate specific interest. As you can see here, we’ve mentioned a deal and strengthened it with specificity to the chosen practice area.

Regarding the second part of your question, I like how the answer shows good research on Sidley. To strengthen this, you could go into more detail with the steps I’ve included above. A lot of firms also do antitrust work, high-profile, and multi-faceted transactions, so specificity would further enhance your answer. Additionally, consider rephrasing words like “burgeoning” to more neutral tones, as these could come across as overly flowery.

Hope this helps.

 

[rras]

Hi, thanks for your introductions and tips so far!
I just had a couple of questions following on from the 'why law' application discussion. I have struggled in past applications really structuring my answer to this question, both in written applications and interviews. I was wondering if you could share some good ways to think about getting your points across?
Also, as someone who's had experiences (via internships) in a few different industries such as investment management and the civil service, how would it be best for me to describe my eventual decision to enter the legal profession without it coming across as confused/indecisive.
I was also wondering Andrei Radu if you might be able to share an example of what a TCLA law firm profile looks like before I commit to buying a premium membership?
Thanks for all your help!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi, thanks for your introductions and tips so far!
I just had a couple of questions following on from the 'why law' application discussion. I have struggled in past applications really structuring my answer to this question, both in written applications and interviews. I was wondering if you could share some good ways to think about getting your points across?
Also, as someone who's had experiences (via internships) in a few different industries such as investment management and the civil service, how would it be best for me to describe my eventual decision to enter the legal profession without it coming across as confused/indecisive.
I was also wondering Andrei Radu if you might be able to share an example of what a TCLA law firm profile looks like before I commit to buying a premium membership?
Thanks for all your help!

Hi there, and thanks for the questions!

For you Why Law question, while I don't think there is a single right way to go about structuring this answer, the approach that made most sense for me was to firstly (though of course, this depends on the word count limit), split my answer between a 'why do I want to be a lawyer' section and a 'why do i want to be a commercial solicitor' question. For both of them, I'd start by firstly stating the more abstract reason for my interest - the aspect or law, or of commerce, that attracted me intellectually. After that, I would go on to discuss a more practical example (using the STAR structure) of when I got to experience the aspects of law/commerce I was attracted by, and how this confirmed my interest.

For the career change question, I think the best approach would be to discuss your previous career choices as being motivated by driven by aspects of those industries that are also common to commercial law. For the investment management, you could say what attracted you to it was being involved in work that entails learning about many different business and markets. For the civil service experience, you can say you were motivated to work on a client-facing advisory role. The same would apply for any other work experience - just find what it has in common with the job of a commercial solicitor. The, taking all of that together, you can describe your decision to enter the legal profession as the result of a longer process in which you discovered the different elements that you want to see in your ideal job - and how you eventually realised that it was only corporate law that had all of them/most of them.

For the TCLA profile - fortunately, the Davis Polk profile is freely accessible to give you an idea of how we write about law firms. You can find the link to the profile here: https://classes.thecorporatelawacademy.com/courses/law-firm-profiles/lectures/56022911.

 

[rras]

Hi there, and thanks for the questions!

For you Why Law question, while I don't think there is a single right way to go about structuring this answer, the approach that made most sense for me was to firstly (though of course, this depends on the word count limit), split my answer between a 'why do I want to be a lawyer' section and a 'why do i want to be a commercial solicitor' question. For both of them, I'd start by firstly stating the more abstract reason for my interest - the aspect or law, or of commerce, that attracted me intellectually. After that, I would go on to discuss a more practical example (using the STAR structure) of when I got to experience the aspects of law/commerce I was attracted by, and how this confirmed my interest.

For the career change question, I think the best approach would be to discuss your previous career choices as being motivated by driven by aspects of those industries that are also common to commercial law. For the investment management, you could say what attracted you to it was being involved in work that entails learning about many different business and markets. For the civil service experience, you can say you were motivated to work on a client-facing advisory role. The same would apply for any other work experience - just find what it has in common with the job of a commercial solicitor. The, taking all of that together, you can describe your decision to enter the legal profession as the result of a longer process in which you discovered the different elements that you want to see in your ideal job - and how you eventually realised that it was only corporate law that had all of them/most of them.

For the TCLA profile - fortunately, the Davis Polk profile is freely accessible to give you an idea of how we write about law firms. You can find the link to the profile here: https://classes.thecorporatelawacademy.com/courses/law-firm-profiles/lectures/56022911.

Thank you so much Andrei, that's all super useful- especially in terms of how to structure my 'story' for why I've chosen to pursue law.
Just off the back of that, when you talk about picking an abstract reason that attracted me to law, I understand how that would flow nicely with an intellectually stimulating topic such as a particular case or commercial trend. If I wanted to answer the question based instead on a particular characteristic of commercial law- such as any of the crossovers you mentioned: client-facing, working across different markets, or something like the fast-paced nature of the career, would you recommend approaching it with a different structure? Hopefully that question makes sense! I'm just trying to work on making my answers as concise but impactful as possible

 

[Andrei Radu]

Thank you so much Andrei, that's all super useful- especially in terms of how to structure my 'story' for why I've chosen to pursue law.
Just off the back of that, when you talk about picking an abstract reason that attracted me to law, I understand how that would flow nicely with an intellectually stimulating topic such as a particular case or commercial trend. If I wanted to answer the question based instead on a particular characteristic of commercial law- such as any of the crossovers you mentioned: client-facing, working across different markets, or something like the fast-paced nature of the career, would you recommend approaching it with a different structure? Hopefully that question makes sense! I'm just trying to work on making my answers as concise but impactful as possible

Glad you've found some of my input useful ! As for your question about starting your answer from a particular characteristic of commercial law, I can broadly think of 2 structures you may employ:

• Option A: Firstly, you can begin by explaining a relevant concrete experience using the STAR structure; secondly, as you are writing you 'Result' part of the experience, you can tie it to a point as to an aspect about the experience you liked which is also present in commercial law; and thirdly, explain why that aspect you enjoy is an important part of the role of a trainee/commercial solicitor, and that it therefore motivates you in pursuing this career path.
• Option B: In the first section, you can simply explain how a particular characteristic of commercial law (say, the client-facing one) is an import part of the job; secondly, you can explain the abstract reason why you are interested in that particular aspect (for example, "I am interested in a client-facing role because I find the process of providing value to people by resolving their complex problems to be both enjoyable and fulfilling"; then thirdly, you can illustrate this more abstract motivation with some concrete experience, such as the civil service role you mentioned.

However, one thing to keep in mind is the following: once you move away from abstract motivations for why commercial law and you start reasoning from more particular characteristics, you might find it increasingly difficult to differentiate your motivation from what may also apply to other career paths. For instance, aspects like client-facing, fast paced, and involving different markets apply equally to industries like investment banking and consulting. However, the outcome you want to end up with is that your reasoning applies to nothing else rather than commercial law. As such, while you can still start from particular characteristics, you will need to probably mention more than one, and will need to ensure that when you take all the characteristics you mentioned in conjunction, you will not find them equally in other fields besides commercial law.

 

[futuretcholder]

Hi everyone, I just submitted my Ashurst application for WVS and I realised I had made two small typos. Do any of you know if a typo is an automatic rejection even if the content of the application is good

 

[👩🎓]

Hi everyone,

What would your advice be for answering "how do you see yourself contributing to our firm" (it is tied into the question of what has inspired you to pursue a training contract with us).

Any advice would be highly appreciated - thank you.

 

[hmevey]

Hi, this chain has been really insightful! I have a few questions myself
1. Do you have any tips for the work experience section of each application - I have been writing a general description of the tasks that I do at each role and the skills they have taught me but since many of these firm applications only have set questions and do not ask for a cover letter/cv, I feel that i may need to brush up on this section. Is it necessary to link the work experience to commercial law/ use STAR to describe tasks?
2. Before applying, would you recommend a substantial amount of research? I generally do about 2-3 hours of research for each firm and then work on my application. I fear that doing too much and it not fully applying to the application may waste my time as if i get a rejection thats many hours of work that I will never be asked about
3. How to deal with constant rejection- I am one year post grad and just now realising I want to commit to a career in commercial law. Whilst doing my law degree at Uni- my interest was wavering so I didnt fully commit to each application cycle. This is the first where I am investing my time and energy but I have received 3 rejections already for straight TC's and I cant help but feel discouraged.
4. Leading on from 3- I graduated with a mid 2:1 and I know alot of the bigger firms (which i am applying for) attract top candidates who get 1sts from oxbridge etc. I got mainly 2:2s in my first year but amped it up in my final two years only getting 2:1s and a few 1sts. One of my final 3rd year grades was a 2:2 and it was my only for two years- I am not sure why. Will this negatively affect my chances?

Thank you for your time so far ! I hope you can help

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi everyone, I just submitted my Ashurst application for WVS and I realised I had made two small typos. Do any of you know if a typo is an automatic rejection even if the content of the application is good

Hi @futuretcholder

First off, well done for getting your application in! I know how nerve-wracking it can be to submit, and it's great that you’ve already taken that step.

Regarding the typos, I’ve actually made similar mistakes in the past, and still managed to get through to the next stage. From my experience, a few small errors shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Recruiters generally assess applications holistically, focusing on the substance of what you’ve written, your motivations, and experiences. It’s unlikely that two small typos would lead to an automatic rejection if the overall content of your application is strong.

That being said, now that it's submitted, there’s not much to be done. Try not to stress too much about it—it’s better to focus on preparing for any potential interviews or the next stages. Fingers crossed for a positive outcome! Good luck

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi everyone,

What would your advice be for answering "how do you see yourself contributing to our firm" (it is tied into the question of what has inspired you to pursue a training contract with us).

Any advice would be highly appreciated - thank you.

Hey

Although I haven’t had to answer this exact question for an application, I did have to answer something similar during an interview. I also remember thinking that it felt quite tricky to answer a question like this since I hadn’t worked at the firm yet. But when they ask how you’ll "contribute," they’re not expecting you to outline massive changes—they’re more interested in how your skills, experiences, and personal qualities align with what the firm is looking for in a trainee. The key here is to be realistic and show how you can add value by drawing on what you already bring to the table.

That being said, I think it's worth keeping two things in mind when answering a question like this:

1. Firm-Specific Knowledge and Cultural Fit
Show that you’ve done your research by highlighting key aspects of the firm—whether it’s their practice area strengths, presence in certain regions, culture and values, or even the size of the firm and its trainee cohort. Tailoring your answer to these elements shows genuine interest and will allow you to highlight your research into them. Since the question is also linked to the broader question of why you've chosen to pursue a training contract with them, reflecting on a firm's unique qualities will allow your answer here to standout.

2. Reflect on Your Skills and Experience
Think about what unique skills, experiences, or perspectives you bring that match key aspects that differentiate the firm. If the firm has a strong presence in a particular sector or practice area, you can discuss how your background or interests would allow you to stand out or contribute. For example, a friend of mine with significant paralegal experience in disputes linked this effectively to a disputes-focused firm she applied to. Similarly, when I applied to certain US-headquartered firms, I highlighted my experience working in lean teams, emphasising how this developed the proactive, independent skills particularly valued by such firms, given their quite small trainee intakes.

By linking your research about the firm with your own skills, experiences, and backgrounds, you should be able to convincingly answer this question and concretely discuss what you can contribute as a trainee. Good luck!