Career Manoeuvrability - Post TC

[TikiTaka18]

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well, and regardless of the outcome of your apps/interviews, you are keeping strong and putting your health first.

I find myself in a predicament:

Let's say I'm offered a TC at Travers Smith (just as an example); what does this mean in terms of my future prospects? How easy would it be for me to move to another, 'more elite' firm upon qualification or later down the line?

I have no intention of speaking ill of any firm but, not long ago, a lawyer told me that, upon qualifications, the bigger law firms wouldn't be impressed with a TC at Travers or firms of a similar class. Due to the person's status relaying this information to me, I'm inclined to consider their opinion seriously.

I hope you all can appreciate that (1) I want to take up a TC at a firm due to the fierce competition for TCs, but (2) I'm not sure what the repercussions of doing so with X firm are?

I don't want to be pressured into accepting a TC with one firm just because it's my only offer. So, is it better for me to not accept the TC with such firms and re-apply?

What are your suggestions/opinions?

Sorry for the long thread!

Tiki

 

[whisperingrock]

Its better to be a qualified lawyer than a TC applicant.

I also don't see what your contact's issue with Travers is or firms like it. It's a great firm.

Maneuverability is going to come down to your background, what area you qualify in, if you have any client or past work experience that is relevant to the firm you're trying to go to, etc.

 

[TikiTaka18]

I also think Travers is an excellent firm which is why I applied there for a TC.

My contact didn't explain their reasons. I was flabbergasted, considering that Travers and similar firms have a great reputation in the City.

Appreciate your input!

 

[KS94]

I also think Travers is an excellent firm which is why I applied there for a TC.

My contact didn't explain their reasons. I was flabbergasted, considering that Travers and similar firms have a great reputation in the City.

Appreciate your input!

I think it comes down to individual firm's preferences to be honest. There is no blanket approach to this (providing you're not hoping to become an NQ at an MC firm after training at a regional firm!).

 

[Matt_96]

I also think Travers is an excellent firm which is why I applied there for a TC.

My contact didn't explain their reasons. I was flabbergasted, considering that Travers and similar firms have a great reputation in the City.

Appreciate your input!

I don't think you need to take your contact's advice seriously. Travers is an excellent firm. All the guides say so, and training there if you can get in would give you great exit opportunities. The advice you were given seems suspicious to me.

Could they have had a bad experience with the firm? Maybe Travers is weak in their practice area and they are casting that onto the firm as a whole? Maybe they think Travers isn't doing enough for social mobility - or perhaps, cynically, trying to be too diverse? In an age where you'd be lucky to get a training contract anywhere, let alone be picky about whether you work at a firm higher in the rankings than the Silver Circle (of which there aren't many) I think those comments say more about your contact than it does about Travers, honestly.

 

[TikiTaka18]

I suspect that you are right in that my contact may have had a bad experience or may have been misinformed when they were a TC applicant.

I'm glad these forums exist; otherwise, I'd have nowhere to turn to to get help. It's easy to be misinformed, especially when it comes from someone in the legal industry.

Thanks for everyone's input so far! Already feeling a lot better.

 

[M&A]

Please PLEASE don't listen to your contact and take the offer!! I concurr with everything that @Matt_96 has already told you, so I'm not going to repeat the points. Congratulations on your TC!!

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hey all,

Feel like I should throw my hat in the ring here - not in any loaded way/ attacking OP at all, just because I feel it might be worthwhile. Whether Travers in this example is actually anecdotal, or whether it's a 'stand in' for [insert silver circle firm here], doesn't actually particularly change my position.

It's worth bearing in mind that commercial law has internal rivalries/ politics/ oneupmanship in the same way everywhere else does ("Oh, you're at college? I'm at Uni"... "Oh, you're at uni? I'm RG"... "Oh, you're normal RG? I'm Oxbridge?"... "Oh, you're Oxbridge? I'm X college or Y college"...) - it's highly likely that OP's contact's advice has been jaded by this. Travers is a highly-regarded firm with a 200-year pedigree, so I think the position that the contact has taken to infer that they're a bit of a non-entity is perhaps driven by this, at least in part.

I generally speaking agree with the advice given - especially with @danieljonesqb's slight nuance in regards certain departments. If you're dead set that you're looking to qualify into a certain practice are, for which Travers (or whomever) isn't particularly well-known, common sense dictates that you may have a tougher time lateraling (is that a word?) to another firm PQ. That would be the same at any firm, not limited to Travers. With that said, I'm actually quite good friends with a lawyer who trained at Travers, wanted to qualify into an area where Travers didn't have a big practice area in and lateraled to another firm whose practice area in that specialism is ranked as one of the best in the City - so this is far from a blanket rule.

However, if it's in a practice area for which Travers is well-regarded, you shouldn't have any problems and I'd tend to disagree quite strongly with OP's contact's advice here. This is especially true for PE work: I know for a fact that plenty of Travers lawyers have lateraled to American firms and have been well-regarded there. There's also a reason that Latham wanted to merge with Travers back in the naughties when they first came to the City and were knocked back 👀

In terms of advising OP whether they should accept or decline a TC offer, that's impossible. It's a gut instinct thing - if they feel they would be better off training elsewhere, I would discourage them from formally accepting a TC only to subsequently decline it as the space could go to someone who's desperate for it. Equally, there's no doubt that there is a large risk factor involved in this - the TC market is fierce and I would advise being extremely confident that you will secure a TC elsewhere at somewhere perceived as 'better' before making the decision.

 

[Jessica Booker]

If there is a specific firm(s) you are aiming for, put both firms’ names into LinkedIn (TS + the other firm), the word associate and see what kind of results come up. That will give you some indication of whether people do move between the firms in question.

I would only turn down a TC if you had worked out you really couldn’t work for the firm. I wouldn’t turn down a TC in the hope you may get a better offer. You only really do this when you have two offers on the table.