Case study for paralegal role

[MN]

Hi all!

I have a second stage interview for a paralegal position at Hogan Lovells next week. I have been told that there will also be a case study and written communication exercise for me to complete. Does anyone have any idea what exactly this involves?

Many thanks!

 

[George Maxwell]

Hi all!

I have a second stage interview for a paralegal position at Hogan Lovells next week. I have been told that there will also be a case study and written communication exercise for me to complete. Does anyone have any idea what exactly this involves?

Many thanks!

Hi @MN,

Firstly, congratulations for getting through to the interview stage! I know how competitive these roles are so it is a big achievement to be progressed to interview. I would be really interested to hear how it goes for you.

Secondly, I cannot comment specifically on the HL process for paralegal roles. However, regarding case studies in general, I can highly recommend @Jacob Miller's article here (which I used when I was applying and found that it really helpful!).

For written exercises, I would really emphasise the importance of structure. I personally often used an approach which employed subheadings (Issue/Analysis/Conclusion/Recommendation). I would also recommend using an executive summary at the start of your answer.

Hope this helps! Very happy to answer follow up questions you if you have any

 

[MN]

Hi @MN,

Firstly, congratulations for getting through to the interview stage! I know how competitive these roles are so it is a big achievement to be progressed to interview. I would be really interested to hear how it goes for you.

Secondly, I cannot comment specifically on the HL process for paralegal roles. However, regarding case studies in general, I can highly recommend @Jacob Miller's article here (which I used when I was applying and found that it really helpful!).

For written exercises, I would really emphasise the importance of structure. I personally often used an approach which employed subheadings (Issue/Analysis/Conclusion/Recommendation). I would also recommend using an executive summary at the start of your answer.

Hope this helps! Very happy to answer follow up questions you if you have any

Hi George!

Many thanks for your reply.

I know it is very dependent on the given case study, but how much do you suggest should be written? I have since done a mock case study to time and I found it very time pressured.

 

[George Maxwell]

Hi George!

Many thanks for your reply.

I know it is very dependent on the given case study, but how much do you suggest should be written? I have since done a mock case study to time and I found it very time pressured.

Hi @MN,

You are very welcome! That is a great question. This was a concern of mine when I faced written exercises.

Unfortunately, this will depend entirely on the scenario/question and on the amount of time that you are given. My experience was restricted to written exercises in the form of emails to a supervisor. I tried hard to keep my answer to a single page, and if not, to one and a half pages. This can be difficult as often you have to complete written exercises using software provided by the firm. Admittedly, I did write more on one of my vacation schemes because I felt that a longer answer better suited the exercise.

My advice is think about who you are writing to and what you are trying to achieve with your piece of work in the scenario. What would your audience respond best to and find most useful? I.e., if it is an email to a supervisor, do not make it very long, as they are likely to have limited time. If it were a (detailed) research note, this might be different.

I hope that helps. I do appreciate that this is fairly abstract advice, so may be of limited value. Do ask if you would like anything further clarified

 

[MN]

Hi @MN,

You are very welcome! That is a great question. This was a concern of mine when I faced written exercises.

Unfortunately, this will depend entirely on the scenario/question and on the amount of time that you are given. My experience was restricted to written exercises in the form of emails to a supervisor. I tried hard to keep my answer to a single page, and if not, to one and a half pages. This can be difficult as often you have to complete written exercises using software provided by the firm. Admittedly, I did write more on one of my vacation schemes because I felt that a longer answer better suited the exercise.

My advice is think about who you are writing to and what you are trying to achieve with your piece of work in the scenario. What would your audience respond best to and find most useful? I.e., if it is an email to a supervisor, do not make it very long, as they are likely to have limited time. If it were a (detailed) research note, this might be different.

I hope that helps. I do appreciate that this is fairly abstract advice, so may be of limited value. Do ask if you would like anything further clarified

Many thanks!

 

[yeaheun0830]

Hi all!

I have a second stage interview for a paralegal position at Hogan Lovells next week. I have been told that there will also be a case study and written communication exercise for me to complete. Does anyone have any idea what exactly this involves?

Many thanks!

Hi,

I have a second stage interview of a paralegal position at Hogan Lovells next week, and if you could share your experience of second stage interview and some tips or advice hopefully, it would be so helpful for me!