My journey to a TC-Non UK law degree

[ADKM]

Hey everyone. I know I’m very late to this party. But having read the stories of so many aspiring lawyers has inspired me to write about my journey so far and take accountability for my mistakes.

Here’s my journey so far:
1) applied to and got rejected from the spring vacation schemes at Sidley Austin & Weil; (application stage)
2) awaiting the outcomes of my applications to Kirkland and Shearman for their spring/summer vac schemes

As for developing my commercial awareness, I regularly listen to the FT news briefing podcast and also read TCLA’s weekly commercial awareness newsletters. I find these sources really interesting and easy to digest. Whilst I’m able to link commercial topics to wider trends (such as economic, social & political), I’m struggling to link them back to law firms, possibly why I faced application stage rejections.

Moving forward, I am in the process of applying to the Ropes & Gray vac scheme determined to not repeat the previous mistakes. After this, I’ll be applying to direct TC applications as I feel I have a considerable amount of legal experience through previous internships and my current job as a paralegal to demonstrate my interest in commercial law. I hope to learn from members on this forum. Thanks 😊

 

[ADKM]

Hi guys, I have a question for the ropes vac scheme open question

What are the three challenges that law firms face now and/or in the future and how is Ropes & Gray positioned to tackle them? I have a rough idea about how to tackle this question and I have identified three challenges which I feel can impact law firms-expansion, increasing the representation of underrepresented communities and retaining client base

My question is am I thinking in the right lines or do I need to address issues that might become ‘challenges’ for law firms in the future. How do u think I can best approach this answer? Can anyone please give me some advice? Any sort of tips/suggestions can help me a lot

 

[ADKM]

Life update!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this thread. I want to be more forthcoming about my experiences and that’s why I’ll do my best to provide timely updates on this thread in the hope of getting closer to achieving my dream. Here’s how this cycle has gone so far for me, I applied to 6 US law firms for their 2023 spring/summer vac schemes with the following results :

Sidley Austin-PFO post app
Weil-PFO post app
Kirkland & Ellis-PFO post app
Shearman & Sterling-PFO post app
Ropes & Gray-PFO post app

On the flip side though, I have 6 months of paralegal experience & recently have also secured a new paralegal role with DACB in their property team in Bristol. I’ve undertaken two forage virtual programmes from Weil & Ashurst. These experiences have given me insights about working in a law firm & how a law firm generates money. I’ve also made a conscious effort to build on my commercial awareness (I’ve recently taken the subscription to Watson’s Daily) and along with the FT news briefing podcast, TCLA weekly newsletters, I’ve been reading the news everyday to understand what’s going on in the financial world.

That being said, I want to leverage my experiences so far to make direct TC apps (will begin with Ashurst which I hope to complete by the end of next week)

My objective is to learn from my previous rejections and I’ll be very happy with myself if I am able to make incremental improvements. Hoping for the best for what’s to come. 😊

 

[Jaysen]

I really like the honesty and transparency here Aditya - please keep it up

 

[ADKM]

Thank you Jaysen. Means so much coming from you!

 

[Ali A]

Keep going Aditya! I am sure if you put the same effort into the Direct TCs you will see great improvement. If you have any questions or need help with applications, please do not hesitate to message me or anyone else on the forum!

Onwards and upwards!

 

[ADKM]

Thank you so much Ali. This forum has been amazing and I shall definitely reach out if I need any help

 

[JB Singh]

Hi Aditya

My name is Jaskaran and I am a fellow non-UK law degree holder like yourself. I also completed my LLB in 2020 and came to the UK to study LLM in International Business Law from Manchester Law School, MMU. I have completed my LLM now and looking for legal roles like Paralegal and Litigation Executive to gain legal experience here in the UK. I was really glad to have found this forum and read about your experience so far in the UK. It was quite reassuring to know that someone with a non-UK law degree got a job here. For my legal experience, I have 1.5 years of that working in the District Courts but I don't think that counts much. And like you, I am also volunteering at a Law Centre to help with PIP and UC claims. Since you were able to secure a Paralegal position twice, can you share some tips on the application process you followed and the platform that you used to pinpoint and find these jobs? Also, if you could share some tips for the preparation of the interviews as well, that would be really helpful.

I wish you the best in your journey and hope you get a training contract soon so I will have someone I can take inspiration form. .

 

[ADKM]

Hi Jaskaran, thank you for your kind words.

I am not the best person to give advice but from what I have learned so far is to value and appreciate everything you have achieved to get to a certain point in your life. This is the mentality with which I went into my paralegal interviews. I spoke about every experience I have gained in life (personal & professional) to justify my ambition of working for that particular firm and in that particular role. This way I was presenting my authentic self while displaying the skills I have accumulated over the past 2-3 years.

In your case, I would suggest you to keep this attitude, it would certainly help you. Don’t discard any experience you have had, your experience of working in trial courts is very relevant when looking for legal roles in the UK. You would have gained skills like communication, negotiation, organisation, drafting, attention to detail all of which are very important transferable skills. You can display you have these skills only if you value each & every experience you have accumulated up until now. Be positive and have faith in your abilities that you have the qualities to get the job you want. It might take time but you will eventually get what you deserve. All the best.

 

[ADKM]

Update!

Ashurst PFO, finished Macfarlanes application for direct TC and hoping to complete BCLP direct TC application by the end of this week

As for my Ashurst app, I just cannot wrap my head around why I’m being constantly rejected post the application/online test stage. I literally sacrificed my sleep preparing for this application, gave personal reasons as to why I want to work for Ashurst & thought even answered the commercial awareness question well. I’d be really grateful if anyone can read my application and help me understand why am I not even worthy of being progressed in this TC process 😥😥😭😭😭

I don’t even have any hopes for the other applications I’m preparing or going to prepare, sorry for the negative rant. I just feel so frustrated (at this point it’s not even dejection)

 

[ADKM]

BCLP PFO post app/online test for Direct TC! That was way too quick 😂
The march continues…

 

[hannah04]

Hi Aditya! I know its been a while since you replied to this thread but just wanted to hop on and say I think you're doing all the right things! This is a very intense and at times draining process and every rejection is disheartening. I'm currently applying for direct TCs and waiting to hear back on the outcome from my summer VSs. During my VS applications a few months ago I got rejected by 3 firms post app/online test after an excruciating wait to hear back - its so rough. I don't have much wisdom but what I can offer is to advise not to let your confidence waver! You clearly have a lot of interest and determination so I would say to keep at it!

 

[ADKM]

Hi Hannah! Thank you so much for your kind message. I wish you the best of luck with your VS outcomes/direct TC applications. I hope you secure an offer soon.

Good time to update the community about how I plan to spend July. I’ve submitted the direct TC application for Eversheds Sutherland, not yet heard back from them. I’ll submit the Morgan Lewis direct TC application (presumably by tomorrow), will work on some amendments for my Macfarlanes direct TC application and finally prepare two more applications to Paul Hastings and Trowers & Hamlins. That would be the end for me as far as this application cycle is concerned.

So far I’ve received excellent support from TCLA and the wider forum community. Im thankful to all of you. Hopefully for my remaining applications, something positive comes out of it otherwise I’ll take the time to rest, recharge, introspect and prepare in advance for the next application cycle 💪

 

[Sierra]

It only takes one!

 

[Louise59]

Hi Hannah! Thank you so much for your kind message. I wish you the best of luck with your VS outcomes/direct TC applications. I hope you secure an offer soon.

Good time to update the community about how I plan to spend July. I’ve submitted the direct TC application for Eversheds Sutherland, not yet heard back from them. I’ll submit the Morgan Lewis direct TC application (presumably by tomorrow), will work on some amendments for my Macfarlanes direct TC application and finally prepare two more applications to Paul Hastings and Trowers & Hamlins. That would be the end for me as far as this application cycle is concerned.

So far I’ve received excellent support from TCLA and the wider forum community. Im thankful to all of you. Hopefully for my remaining applications, something positive comes out of it otherwise I’ll take the time to rest, recharge, introspect and prepare in advance for the next application cycle 💪

Hi, good luck for the remaining of your application cycle! It's great to see how positive you are, keep going and I am sure you will receive positive answers .

I am currently preparing my application to Paul Hastings too!!

 

[ADKM]

Hi, good luck for the remaining of your application cycle! It's great to see how positive you are, keep going and I am sure you will receive positive answers .

I am currently preparing my application to Paul Hastings too!!

Thank you! Wishing you the best of luck with your Paul Hastings application.

 

[ADKM]

Hello everyone 👋 it’s been awhile since I last posted on this thread. This cycle has not gone according to my expectations, given it was my 1st full cycle of applying to law firms (I just made 1 application in my previous cycle). Unfortunately I have not been successful in passing even stage 1 of the TC process and I want to make a few reflections about why I possibly failed:

1) On reviewing my applications, I felt I was too descriptive in my answers without giving substantial reasons as to why I want to join a particular law firm. This approach ensured I wasn’t tailoring my applications to every law firm.

2) My reasons to join the firm was not convincing. While it was fine to mention a firm’s culture or their D&I initiatives, I did not realise my main reason to join a firm is for the work they do. Culture and other things though important, are not the main reasons for someone wanting to join a firm (it can be your 2nd best or 3rd best reason). I always gave Culture, D&I first preference which in hindsight could apply to a lot of firms (again I don’t think I was being specific).

3) I felt I was not being strategic in my answers. Whilst I thought I was selling myself well through describing my reasons, the fact that I was too descriptive meant I ate away words to link how my experiences would benefit a firm and what I could bring to them as a trainee. I believe I should be more concise and smart with the words I choose when writing ‘impactful’ applications.

The new cycle is just around the corner and these are the mistakes I have picked up from my previous applications. I am excited about this new beginning and hope to learn from my mistakes to taste success (how much only time will tell, I suppose 🤪)