General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[Jessica Booker]

That is completely understandable but the waiting times for some firms are very long. It would be more reasonable to have a policy where applicants can at least be updated by an automated holding email.

The problem with this is that firms don't often have a clear answer on what to update you on. Things are very much up in the air for corporate organisations at the moment. This means many are not committing to things and trying to sit it out so they can make an appropriate decision rather than a quick one that is later the wrong one.

As someone who is super impatient, my advice is learn to try and be more patient about these things and learn resilience around not hearing back. Your career as a lawyer is going to be filled with instances where you are waiting on something and can't do anything until someone gets back to you. In areas like Litigation, things can be drawn out over decades with little movement/progression.

 

[Christina_1213]

Anyone waiting on Ashurst ?

I know people who got offers today

 

[Emma3377]

I know people who got offers today

was this for TC or VS?

 

[Camilla]

Interview at Edwin Coe yay! Anyone have any experience with this firm?

 

[Christina_1213]

was this for TC or VS?

VS

 

[Andre]

The problem with this is that firms don't often have a clear answer on what to update you on. Things are very much up in the air for corporate organisations at the moment. This means many are not committing to things and trying to sit it out so they can make an appropriate decision rather than a quick one that is later the wrong one.

As someone who is super impatient, my advice is learn to try and be more patient about these things and learn resilience around not hearing back. Your career as a lawyer is going to be filled with instances where you are waiting on something and can't do anything until someone gets back to you. In areas like Litigation, things can be drawn out over decades with little movement/progression.

I would not say that waiting for over 6 months to hear back without any acknowledgement is super impatient. As I have previously suggested, a holding email would be appropriate because, as I am sure you understand, these applications mean a lot to individuals and the constant waiting and uncertainty has a negative impact on peoples' well being.

Indeed, I have worked both in litigation at global law firms as I am foreign qualified and I also currently work in a corporate organisation, therefore I am well versed at being patient and resilient. I just think it would be appropriate, as some firms have done, to let individuals know that they are still in the process of reviewing or to give an approximate timeline.

 

[AH9891]

I would not say that waiting for over 6 months to hear back without any acknowledgement is super impatient. As I have previously suggested, a holding email would be appropriate because, as I am sure you understand, these applications mean a lot to individuals and the constant waiting and uncertainty has a negative impact on peoples' well being.

Indeed, I have worked both in litigation at global law firms as I am foreign qualified and I also currently work in a corporate organisation, therefore I am well versed at being patient and resilient. I just think it would be appropriate, as some firms have done, to let individuals know that they are still in the process of reviewing or to give an approximate timeline.

I only heard back from a firm (silver circle) at the end of January with an AC invite after applying there last year in April and am still waiting to hear back from one firm I applied to last cycle in July which apparently is still reviewing. So in the grand scheme of things, I think they will come back to us when they can. I’m sure it’s not their intention to stress people out and everyone does what they can. Yes, it’s frustrating, but it’s just part of the process unfortunately, which undoubtedly has its flaws, but I suppose it is what it is

 

[futuretraineecity]

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has applied for the Freshfields open day on the 15th of April?

hi, I applied for this but haven’t heard anything

 

[Andre]

I only heard back from a firm (silver circle) at the end of January with an AC invite after applying there last year in April and am still waiting to hear back from one firm I applied to last cycle in July which apparently is still reviewing. So in the grand scheme of things, I think they will come back to us when they can. I’m sure it’s not their intention to stress people out and everyone does what they can. Yes, it’s frustrating, but it’s just part of the process unfortunately, which undoubtedly has its flaws, but I suppose it is what it is

That is interesting and thanks for sharing. I do not dispute that they will eventually come back to us but I am merely stating that a holding email would be a change for better, especially when you wait for so long.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I would not say that waiting for over 6 months to hear back without any acknowledgement is super impatient. As I have previously suggested, a holding email would be appropriate because, as I am sure you understand, these applications mean a lot to individuals and the constant waiting and uncertainty has a negative impact on peoples' well being.

Indeed, I have worked both in litigation at global law firms as I am foreign qualified and I also currently work in a corporate organisation, therefore I am well versed at being patient and resilient. I just think it would be appropriate, as some firms have done, to let individuals know that they are still in the process of reviewing or to give an approximate timeline.

I didn’t mean to cause any offence - sorry if the post has done so.

Unfortunately it is rarely as straight forward as this though. Sometimes your systems are not sophisticated enough to easily update people, sometimes you just don’t have capacity to update people and you have other more important and necessary work, while unfortunately things like this are a “nice to have” rather than a requirement.

I get it isn’t best practice and that it can lead to a lot of negativity towards the firm’s reputation. I know more than most as a lot of my corporate client work is try to anticipate/proactively stop these issues.

 

[D]

The way I approached waiting for law firms:

It's always a No until it's a Yes.

It's never a No until its a No.

I think I may have lost my mind.

 

[Rfn38]

it’s not the pay that’s the issue. It’s the fact that they will need someone to do the job while you are out for such a long period of time. It also makes it a lot more difficult for other team members to take time off. Most employers won’t give you unpaid leave unless there is a legitimate excuse - that won’t be going to work for another employer.

you’ll also need to declare to the paralegal firm that you are working for competitors (which would also probably block their approval).

this is even more unlikely if you are still in a probation period for the firm too.

Yes of course it is not about the pay, but unpaid leave is the only way she can work as a paralegal and complete 3 VS's in this case. I do work as a paralegal and sometimes even getting a week off might get problematic, but would you say that she should not ask and enquire because it is unlikely?

 

[Daniel Boden]

To those still waiting on Gibson Dunn post 2nd round interview, I got this email yesterday:

Hi Daniel,

Apologies for the time it is taking to get back to you.

We have had a number of interviews, and are making decisions over the next few days. We aim to come back to you next week; I will be in touch with an update in any event.

Thank you for your patience.

Best,
Rowina

 

[Ifmhouse4]

hi, I applied for this but haven’t heard anything

Hopefully, we are successful!

 

[Jessica Booker]

The way I approached waiting for law firms:

It's always a No until it's a Yes.

It's never a No until its a No.

I think I may have lost my mind.

No - this is a sensible approach to take.

I'd add until it is a final yes, look for other opportunities.

 

[Roland]

Hey was this for TC? When did you apply?

If you applied for a direct TC with Dentons and assuming you've already done their WG test, perhaps expect them to get back to you around June time as they prioritise vac schemers. That's what happened to me last cycle.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Yes of course it is not about the pay, but unpaid leave is the only way she can work as a paralegal and complete 3 VS's in this case. I do work as a paralegal and sometimes even getting a week off might get problematic, but would you say that she should not ask and enquire because it is unlikely?

If they need 4+ weeks off, there is a risk that they say no. If the individual is still within probation period, their employment could be terminated anyway.

They need to ask the following before they can even work out whether the unpaid leave is a problem or not:

"Is it possible for me to be employed by another firm while I am still employed by you?"

That is likely to be much more of an obstacle than the unpaid leave.

 

[Jade]

Did anyone else find the Vinson Elkins AC weird??

 

[W]

Did anyone else find the Vinson Elkins AC weird??

What made it weird?

 

[Andre]

Did anyone else find the Vinson Elkins AC weird??

Why was it weird?