General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[D]

Ah I see - which firms were these if you don't mind me asking?

Also what about employment references? Were these needed for every piece of work experience you listed?

It's probably not for me to discuss, as each firm will have their own individual preferences.

All firms will no doubt contact my references. After all, they do not ask you to put them on the application for no reason

 

[AY]

Hill Dickinson rejection post online test if anyone is wondering about hearing back etc.

 

[851eg]

Hill Dickinson rejection post online test if anyone is wondering about hearing back etc.

I also received a rejection this afternoon. For the London office, post WG test.

 

[yahyee96]

For Direct TC or VS?

VS. Also submitted an Open Day app which they rejected in early Feb and said they would be considering VS app in due course.

 

[yahyee96]

Did you apply to withers first a VS or TC?

For a VS! Seen somebody on LinkedIn having received an offer today so looks like they are offering out from the latest interviews now..

Will probably hear back next week now.

 

[bel123456]

if I accept a TC after a VS in my second year, would I still be able to apply for a TC at a different firm next year? I believe it is a no? Just clarifying though

 

[Jessica Booker]

Any sources for the general hints and tips?

remember for a deal to happen both parties need to actually “win”. In the world of law, if you negotiated your counterpart to the point they submitted to everything, reality is when it comes to things like due diligence, the deal wouldn’t go through and all your time would be wasted.

So you are going to need to compromise. What you need to do is work our quickly what your priorities are: your must haves, nice to haves and compromises. You are likely to have to move on all of those points though.

Also think about creative solutions. Rather than just moving a figure up or down, creative compromises will often be better.

don’t be unrealistic in your starting point - if you think the matter is worth £1 million and you are willing to buy it at that, there is little point starting at £100,000 - you have just lost all your credibility and the other party is just going to assume you will have really stupidly low starting points on other points you raise.

work as a team, but appoint roles in the team. You can’t all negotiate otherwise it’s just going to talk over one another. So do each of you take a particular point/do each of you take a particular role?

Keep an eye on the time and keep the conversation moving. If you aren’t moving on a point, try another point.

record what is being agreed.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Leading on from the subject of A level grades and equivalent a few pages ago - out of curiosity, how do firms check these? Do they just ask for scans of your exam certificates/check them in person or is there some sort of centralised database which they go to?

usually only original certificates only.

Education fraud is a massive issue and so firms will typically want the original certificates/copies for anything they need to see

 

[Jessica Booker]

Ah I see - which firms were these if you don't mind me asking?

Also what about employment references? Were these needed for every piece of work experience you listed?

If a a firm has a minimum academic requirement for a particular qualification, they will ask for it. If they don’t, then they don’t need to see it.

any employment on your application could need a reference to back it up.

 

[Jessica Booker]

if I accept a TC after a VS in my second year, would I still be able to apply for a TC at a different firm next year? I believe it is a no? Just clarifying though

ultimately there is nothing stopping you doing this unless you gain some form of financial benefit from the first firm.

best practice/the good thing to do is not apply once you have accepted a training contract though

 

[Mirela Mihova]

Received a Friday at 17:30 rejection from Skadden post AC interview and written exercise It hurts a lot as I genuinely thought this was my firm. I'm still waiting on Gibson Dunn and V&E post application but I am not super hopeful. Hence this might be the end for me during this application cycle ...

 

[FutureCity]

A good source for negotiation exercises:

 

[Holly]

Was that for VS?

Yes

 

[George Rowe]

Hey everyone - has anyone heard back from Fladgate post-app? They said they would let us know by 6 March if we will get a WG invite, but have not heard anything!

 

[thirdtimelucky]

How would you best answer "what is your greatest achievement?" ?

 

[Frank]

How would you best answer "what is your greatest achievement?" ?

by thinking what your greatest achievement is and what it denotes? These are all personal examples, eg if you went to a bad public school put skyrocketed yourself in top 1% at uni, to me it means resilience and ambition. It’s not rocket science, gl.
Ps: it doesn’t have to be from academia only, I gave you an illustration

 

[Jessica Booker]

How would you best answer "what is your greatest achievement?" ?

This is not a trick question.

I’d talk about my greatest achievement and why I thought it was my greatest achievement, what I gained/developed from experiencing it

 

[acceleratedlaw]

Hi has anyone done an AC for trowers and can give any advice or tips?? Thank you guyssss

 

[Abgaal]

Has anyone heard any responses from

Ropes & Gray
Milbank
Gibson Dunn
Goodwin Proctor

 

[WMA]

Hey guys, has anyone heard back from Browne Jacobson (Manchester)?