Ask Willkie Farr & Gallagher Anything!

[andrecsaa]

Hi @WillkieGemma and @Andrei Radu

@Andrei Radu, could you share a little bit about the work you did in the litigation team during the vacation scheme (if you spend time in this team)?

@WillkieGemma aside from the competition litigation team, do trainees take part in all kind of litigation or are allocated focused in a single practice, like white-collar crime, enforcement, compliance and investigations, civil fraud and asset recovery, employment disputes? Or do trainees usually work more on a sector-focused like financial disputes or commercial disputes?

Also, if there is an opportunity to focus on single practices, does the London office offers seats in private funds, and compliance, investigations and enforcement?

Thank you!

 

[WillkieGemma]

Hi @WillkieGemma and @Andrei Radu

@Andrei Radu, could you share a little bit about the work you did in the litigation team during the vacation scheme (if you spend time in this team)?

@WillkieGemma aside from the competition litigation team, do trainees take part in all kind of litigation or are allocated focused in a single practice, like white-collar crime, enforcement, compliance and investigations, civil fraud and asset recovery, employment disputes? Or do trainees usually work more on a sector-focused like financial disputes or commercial disputes?

Also, if there is an opportunity to focus on single practices, does the London office offers seats in private funds, and compliance, investigations and enforcement?

Thank you!

Hi @andrecsaa - we have a competition litigation team and a litigation team, which are independent of each other. The work of each team can be found in the brochure here: https://www.willkie.com/-/media/files/careers/grad-rec-brochure-2024.pdf As with associates, trainees do not specialise in one area during a seat, they will receive a broad range of work within each practice group. We do not have any employment law capacity in London however.

thanks
Gemma

 

[andrecsaa]

Hi @andrecsaa - we have a competition litigation team and a litigation team, which are independent of each other. The work of each team can be found in the brochure here: https://www.willkie.com/-/media/files/careers/grad-rec-brochure-2024.pdf As with associates, trainees do not specialise in one area during a seat, they will receive a broad range of work within each practice group. We do not have any employment law capacity in London however.

thanks
Gemma

Thank you Gemma. The explanation and the brochure were very interesting and informative.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @WillkieGemma and @Andrei Radu

@Andrei Radu, could you share a little bit about the work you did in the litigation team during the vacation scheme (if you spend time in this team)?

@WillkieGemma aside from the competition litigation team, do trainees take part in all kind of litigation or are allocated focused in a single practice, like white-collar crime, enforcement, compliance and investigations, civil fraud and asset recovery, employment disputes? Or do trainees usually work more on a sector-focused like financial disputes or commercial disputes?

Also, if there is an opportunity to focus on single practices, does the London office offers seats in private funds, and compliance, investigations and enforcement?

Thank you!

Hi @andrecsaa I spent a week in PE and the a week in the competition litigation team. A significant portion of my work involved research tasks, as I would look up relevant past caselaw, regulatory decisions, and articles on some procedural and substantive elements of disputes the firm was working on. My supervisor and other team members would always brief me on the larger context of the facts and the proceedings, which meant that I learnt a lot and made some of the more admin-heavy tasks a lot more interesting (as I understood the specific role my work was playing in the broader dispute). At the end of a research task I would normally get to draft a short memo on my findings, which definitely felt quite rewarding and enjoyable. I also got to attend meetings between associates and partners who were discussing submissions and elements of case theory, which was a fascinating experience, as sometimes they would spend a long time going back and forth in poking holes and defending their arguments.

 

[andrecsaa]

Hi @andrecsaa I spent a week in PE and the a week in the competition litigation team. A significant portion of my work involved research tasks, as I would look up relevant past caselaw, regulatory decisions, and articles on some procedural and substantive elements of disputes the firm was working on. My supervisor and other team members would always brief me on the larger context of the facts and the proceedings, which meant that I learnt a lot and made some of the more admin-heavy tasks a lot more interesting (as I understood the specific role my work was playing in the broader dispute). At the end of a research task I would normally get to draft a short memo on my findings, which definitely felt quite rewarding and enjoyable. I also got to attend meetings between associates and partners who were discussing submissions and elements of case theory, which was a fascinating experience, as sometimes they would spend a long time going back and forth in poking holes and defending their arguments.

It was really interesting and gave me some light on the actual chance of learning from the tasks and structure of the VS at Willkie, especially the meetings where the associates and partners got you involved in the cases.

Thank you so much @Andrei Radu!

 

[gazdgazd11]

Hi, I would like to confirm whether Wilkie prefers work experience in bullet points to prose? I believe that the graduate recruitment advised bullet points in the past, is that correct? Thank you in advance

 

[WillkieGemma]

Hi, I would like to confirm whether Wilkie prefers work experience in bullet points to prose? I believe that the graduate recruitment advised bullet points in the past, is that correct? Thank you in advance

Hi @gazdgazd11 my preference is for candidates to clearly explain what they did, how they did it and how they added value or what their achievements were in each role. Often bullets read like a job description and give no insight into anyone's contribution to a role.

 

[gazdgazd11]

Hi @gazdgazd11 my preference is for candidates to clearly explain what they did, how they did it and how they added value or what their achievements were in each role. Often bullets read like a job description and give no insight into anyone's contribution to a role.

Thank you Gemma! I appreciate your swift reply.

 

[WillkieGemma]

Thank you Gemma! I appreciate your swift reply.

No probs

 

[Bumblebeeee]

Hi Gemma, I wanted to check with you if there are policies about re-applying as other law firms mention about it. For applicants who failed on the video interview stage this year, can they still re-apply for next years/cycle of Willkie's vac scheme.

Thank you in advance.

 

[WillkieGemma]

Hi Gemma, I wanted to check with you if there are policies about re-applying as other law firms mention about it. For applicants who failed on the video interview stage this year, can they still re-apply for next years/cycle of Willkie's vac scheme.

Thank you in advance.

Absolutely!

 

[Kavina]

Hi Gemma, will our responses in the VI be compared to our written application? I am wondering whether you are looking for us to differentiate our VI responses to the written application, if we were asked a similar question e.g. Why are you applying to Willkie.

 

[WillkieGemma]

Hi Gemma, will our responses in the VI be compared to our written application? I am wondering whether you are looking for us to differentiate our VI responses to the written application, if we were asked a similar question e.g. Why are you applying to Willkie.

Hi @Kavina they shouldn't be exactly the same, no. For instance, if you've said in your written that you are interested in x practice area, I've got no problem with you mentioning the same practice area, but you should elaborate on your reasoning - it shouldn't be exactly the same.

 

[emma.d]

Hi Gemma, do you anticipate that you may take longer than 15 working days to get back to video interviews due to a busier workload? Also, do you look for consistency across all 4 of the questions or if there was one really strong answer, for example, would that compensate for a weaker answer? I feel like I messed up the ending of one of them but then my other three were relatively strong.

 

[dinodon]

In the job description section, are we supposed to describe the role in paragraphs, or would a bullet point CV style description suffice?

 

[Jessica Booker]

In the job description section, are we supposed to describe the role in paragraphs, or would a bullet point CV style description suffice?

Just in case Gemma is off for the Christmas break, she provided some useful insight into her thoughts on this question here:

Ask Willkie Farr & Gallagher Anything!

Hi @WillkieGemma and @Andrei Radu @Andrei Radu, could you share a little bit about the work you did in the litigation team during the vacation scheme (if you spend time in this team)? @WillkieGemma aside from the competition litigation team, do trainees take part in all kind of litigation or...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[WillkieGemma]

Hi Gemma, do you anticipate that you may take longer than 15 working days to get back to video interviews due to a busier workload? Also, do you look for consistency across all 4 of the questions or if there was one really strong answer, for example, would that compensate for a weaker answer? I feel like I messed up the ending of one of them but then my other three were relatively strong.

Hi @emma.d

No, I'll get back to everyone within 15 working days. Although applicants should bear in mind that, taking into account bank holidays and weekends, if the vi deadline was today, 15 working days would be 17 Jan. For applications submitted on 20th December, 15 working days would be 15 Jan.

 

[WillkieGemma]

Just in case Gemma is off for the Christmas break, she provided some useful insight into her thoughts on this question here:

Ask Willkie Farr & Gallagher Anything!

Hi @WillkieGemma and @Andrei Radu @Andrei Radu, could you share a little bit about the work you did in the litigation team during the vacation scheme (if you spend time in this team)? @WillkieGemma aside from the competition litigation team, do trainees take part in all kind of litigation or...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Thanks Jess - I've covered this in previous answers on the forum, so your link answers everything! Thank you.

 

[addy2004]

Hi Gemma,

I hope you're having a lovely Christmas period so far.

I wanted to ask for your advice on how to best prepare for the video interview please. I understand that we only have 90 seconds per answer - from your experience, how do the stronger candidates stand out and perform well in this short period of time?

I also would like to ask, more generally, how you would recommend preparing for the video interview, especially as I understand it is quite commercial-based?

Thank you for your time, and I wish you a happy new year!

 

[WillkieGemma]

Hi Gemma,

I hope you're having a lovely Christmas period so far.

I wanted to ask for your advice on how to best prepare for the video interview please. I understand that we only have 90 seconds per answer - from your experience, how do the stronger candidates stand out and perform well in this short period of time?

I also would like to ask, more generally, how you would recommend preparing for the video interview, especially as I understand it is quite commercial-based?

Thank you for your time, and I wish you a happy new year!

Hi @addy2004 - do have a look at the webinar my trainee Xanthe and I delivered alongside Jaysen: https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/willkie-farr-gallagher.8 - that gives far more info than a written answer ever could!