Is it possible to get a TC without doing a vacation scheme?

[cianoshea321]

Hi folks,

I am looking at applying for a TC in a few london and global firms. I am a bit older than the other people who would be applying so I am wondering is it necessary to do a vac scheme before doing a TC or is it possible to secure a TC through the direct TC route? Does anyone have any ideas on which firms typically recruit solely from their vac scheme cohort?

thanks!

 

[RANDOTRON]

Hi folks,

I am looking at applying for a TC in a few london and global firms. I am a bit older than the other people who would be applying so I am wondering is it necessary to do a vac scheme before doing a TC or is it possible to secure a TC through the direct TC route? Does anyone have any ideas on which firms typically recruit solely from their vac scheme cohort?

thanks!

Hi there,

It is possible to secure a TC through direct TC route. Most firms offer this option. You can find out which firms offer this via a simple Google search. As for which firms typically recruit from their vacation scheme cohort, you may find the attached thread useful.

Hope this helps.

Please take this with a pinch of salt. Most of it is accurate, especially in the last section where firms are clear on their websites that they only recruit vac schemers, but things get more ambiguous in the first two sections. My main sources have been legal articles, but I've also combed through the TCLA forums to find where people have posted about speaking directly to grad rec and asking them this question. In a very few cases I've used Jessica's formula as a rough guide to work out how many places you could expect to be taken up by VS versus TC.

Be aware that in the second section, I've included a lot of American firms which technically have a direct TC route open (e.g. Akin Gump) but they only have 12 trainees, so you can expect pretty much all of those to have come from the VS. I just didn't want to say that you definitely wouldn't be hired if you applied directly, so these firms aren't in the last section.

Also, this is a work in progress. I've left out a lot of firms which hopefully will be added later. Please let me know if anything is wrong/has changed/you have extra info! Again, some of my information may be a bit outdated and stats change year by year, so this is only intended to be a rough guide. Thanks to @Adam Gilchrist for linking some useful sources.

Fair Proportion/All from Direct Training Contract

These firms recruit typically around half of their intake directly, ranging up to 100% for some firms.

• Allen & Overy
• Bristows
• Clifford Chance (*with caveats - see post below)
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Fried Frank
• Howard Kennedy
• Macfarlanes
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Paul Hastings
• Shoosmiths
• Slaughter and May

Mostly from Vacation Scheme

These firms recruit 50-100% of their trainees from vacation schemes, but direct TC routes technically exist.

• Addleshaw Goddard
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
• Ashurst
• Baker McKenzie
• Bird & Bird
• Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
• Burges Salmon
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Covington & Burling
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Eversheds Sutherland
• Farrer & Co
• Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Hogan Lovells
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Latham & Watkins
• Linklaters
• Mayer Brown
• Osborne Clark
• Pinsent Masons
• Simmons & Simmons
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom
• Sullivan & Cromwell
• Travers Smith
• Vinson & Elkins
• Weil Gotshal & Manges
• White & Case

Only from Vacation Scheme

• Clyde & Co
• CMS
• Davis Polk & Wardell
• Dechert
• DLA Piper
• Gateley
• Gowling WLG
• Herbert Smith Freehills
• Jones Day
• Milbank
• Mishcon de Reya
• Ropes & Gray
• Shearman & Sterling
• Sidley Austin
• Taylor Wessing
• Wilkie Farr & Gallagher