Herbert Smith Freehills App

[Lauren]

Hi, Herbert Smith Freehills doesn't seem to have any word limits on its work experience section. I was wondering how many words roughly I should write? For example, I know that Clifford Chance wants as much detail as you can give whereas Hogan Lovells wants really succinct answers, any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[R203]

Hi Lauren! I kept mine to not more than 250 words! An average of about 150 - 240 words per work experience.

Could I ask - what do you mean by "succinct" for Hogan Lovells? Is there a specific way I should approach the Hogan Lovells work experience section? Thank you!

 

[Lauren]

Thank you! Last year when I applied, I kept the Work History section to 150 words max and the Open Days and Voluntary Work section to about 50 words max. I managed to get to an assessment centre last year so if you would like any further advice about Hogan Lovells please feel free to get in touch!

 

[Helena]

Thank you! Last year when I applied, I kept the Work History section to 150 words max and the Open Days and Voluntary Work section to about 50 words max. I managed to get to an assessment centre last year so if you would like any further advice about Hogan Lovells please feel free to get in touch!

Just a head's up Lauren, HSF have brought in a new policy this year regarding applications. I'm not sure if you applied to them last year, perhaps you were referring to HL. However with HSF you now have to wait two years before reapplying if you completed an AC! Brutal, but this is the case which I struggled to find information on website. Check with Grad Rec just in case but I had an email back from Rebecca Worrall confirming this, explaining that this is a new policy introduced this cycle.

 

[Lauren]

Hi Helena, I was referring to HL not HSF, thank you for letting me know though! : )

 

[CL20]

I've kept my HSF work experience entries to 60-150 words.

 

[Soliha]

I've kept my HSF work experience entries to 60-150 words.

How long after the test did you hear back?

 

[CL20]

How long after the test did you hear back?

I heard back about the test after six days.

 

[Lawyerwithadream]

Thank you! Last year when I applied, I kept the Work History section to 150 words max and the Open Days and Voluntary Work section to about 50 words max. I managed to get to an assessment centre last year so if you would like any further advice about Hogan Lovells please feel free to get in touch!

Hi Lauren,
Did you write full sentences for the work experience section?

Judy

 

[Lawyerwithadream]

Hi, Herbert Smith Freehills doesn't seem to have any word limits on its work experience section. I was wondering how many words roughly I should write? For example, I know that Clifford Chance wants as much detail as you can give whereas Hogan Lovells wants really succinct answers, any advice would be greatly appreciated

Were you able to go back and forth in your application, because for some reason I'm not :/

Judy

 

[Daniel Boden]

Were you able to go back and forth in your application, because for some reason I'm not :/

Judy

Once you get to the end of the application you can cycle back through it

 

[Lawyerwithadream]

Once you get to the end of the application you can cycle back through it

Great, thank you

 

[nymi]

with the question of "Introduce us to a topic you know about and explain why it interests you" do we have to place a focus on the commercial news or could it be about any general legal topic that may interest me?

 

[D]

with the question of "Introduce us to a topic you know about and explain why it interests you" do we have to place a focus on the commercial news or could it be about any general legal topic that may interest me?

The question is worded in such a way that it allows you to speak about any topic of your choice. You may consider that it would be wise to pick a topic that relates to a particular focus of the firm, you may not.

From the first-year scheme I attended last year, GR mentioned that this question was "an opportunity to write persuasively", so, I'd ensure your topic is well researched, well thought out, and written in a way you believe is convincing. I also chose this opportunity to make some minor links to the firm.

 

[nymi]

The question is worded in such a way that it allows you to speak about any topic of your choice. You may consider that it would be wise to pick a topic that relates to a particular focus of the firm, you may not.

From the first-year scheme I attended last year, GR mentioned that this question was "an opportunity to write persuasively", so, I'd ensure your topic is well researched, well thought out, and written in a way you believe is convincing. I also chose this opportunity to make some minor links to the firm.

Great, thank you so much ! This helps a lot

 

[jan28]

with the question of "Introduce us to a topic you know about and explain why it interests you" do we have to place a focus on the commercial news or could it be about any general legal topic that may interest me?

I wrote about high altitude trekking and got to AC

 

[Jaysen]

with the question of "Introduce us to a topic you know about and explain why it interests you" do we have to place a focus on the commercial news or could it be about any general legal topic that may interest me?

For this question, I'd highly recommend choosing any topic that genuinely interests you/you can passionately write about. If that happens to be a commercial/legal topic, then great - but it also doesn't have to be.

Personally, the answers to this question that have stood out to me the most have been on topics that candidates were personally interested in outside of the domain of commercial law or mainstream areas like Brexit/legal tech (which would come up over and over again).

I would also highly recommend this thread from @Hazal: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....ing-tip-2-discussing-commercial-stories.1280/. Back in the day, she wrote about Netflix for this question and it remains one of the strongest answers I've read!

 

[nymi]

I wrote about high altitude trekking and got to AC

Thank you !

 

[nymi]

For this question, I'd highly recommend choosing any topic that genuinely interests you/you can passionately write about. If that happens to be a commercial/legal topic, then great - but it also doesn't have to be.

Personally, the answers to this question that have stood out to me the most have been on topics that candidates were personally interested in outside of the domain of commercial law or mainstream areas like Brexit/legal tech (which would come up over and over again).

I would also highly recommend this thread from @Hazal: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....ing-tip-2-discussing-commercial-stories.1280/. Back in the day, she wrote about Netflix for this question and it remains one of the strongest answers I've read!

Thank you for the reply, Jaysen ! This is very helpful.
I am thinking of writing about legalisation and regulation of drugs, thereby making it harder to obtain. This is the topic which is quite personal to me since I have lost a loved one because of illicit drug use. However, while mentioning in the law firm applications, I sometimes feel that it is too controversial and maybe looked down upon by the recruiters.

 

[Jason S]

Thank you for the reply, Jaysen ! This is very helpful.
I am thinking of writing about legalisation and regulation of drugs, thereby making it harder to obtain. This is the topic which is quite personal to me since I have lost a loved one because of illicit drug use. However, while mentioning in the law firm applications, I sometimes feel that it is too controversial and maybe looked down upon by the recruiters.

As someone who is interested in this, here’s a few points I would consider.

1) Drugs are already illegal. To what extent is your idea ‘introducing a new law’.

2) Legislative prohibition has never worked. From Alcohol in 1920s America, to governments literally murdering drug users/dealers, when demand for narcotics exists, it’s very difficult for policy makers to reduce consumption rates. Furthermore, how would legislation serve to make drugs harder to obtain? Given the inherent legal status of drugs, the entire supply chain is operated by criminal enterprises who, obviously, have no regard for the law. What’s would an addition to preexisting legislation actually do about that? Even more so in a western country where certain personal liberties cannot be infringed upon - if this is the jurisdiction you wish for this new law to be implemented in.

3) Worth considering wether more legislation would be counter-intuitive. Drugs in the black market aren’t subject to quality control, resulting in more dangerous product being available (either incredible potent or cut with types of poison) - unlike the legal alternative where drugs would be regulated and “safer”. Also, in some countries where have relaxed the war on drugs (e.g Portugal) and treated drug addiction as an illness rather than a criminal act, consumption rates have decreased. Also takes away a lucrative trade from the hands of criminal organisations. This could certainly be a point raised by an interviewer!

Don’t be afraid to go with controversial though. If it’s something you believe strongly about, and you feel you have an air tight argument then go with it!

Edit- Thought this was under the post regarding the question “introduce a new law”. Some of my points still stand though haha