Hi, I have an AC coming up and am starting to prepare my commercial question response. Would it be okay to talk about Trump's tariffs and his re-election in general, even though the firm I have an AC it as a UK firm with no offices in the US? I was thinking of linking this back to the countries that the firm does have offices in given the US' power. Thank you!
Hey
@sarahfw ,
Yep - definitely!
So, the US is like this massive global trade hub, right? And tariffs have these crazy ripple effects on the global economy. As
@Ram Sabaratnam mentioned, they don’t just affect businesses in the US, they kind of spill over to other countries too. I think focusing on tariffs is a really solid choice because it keeps your response neutral and centered on the business, economic, and legal impacts. Plus, it's relevant to law firms. With regards your second point, I’d steer clear of talking about the election as a whole, since it's an easy way to accidentally veer into political territory, and you don’t want to risk clashing with your interviewer’s views. Keeping it neutral is definitely safer.
My thought process for approaching this in an AC would look a little something like this…
I’ve touched on it from a higher tariffs perspective.
Higher tariffs make everything more expensive for businesses. If they’re relying on imported goods or services, suddenly things like on-site operations become super costly; procurement, utilities, even stuff like kitchen services or electricity. And when costs go up like that, businesses that don’t have the technical know-how or resources to adapt could actually end up running into real trouble. Their cash flow slows down, profits take a hit, and if they’re not careful, they could even risk insolvency. It’s just a mess.
And here’s where it ties back to law firms. So, because of all these rising costs, businesses will probably be reaching out to tax lawyers more to help them figure out ways to restructure and save money. But at the same time, failing businesses mean less growth, right? So M&A activity is likely to slow down. That means law firms’ corporate teams will probably see fewer deals coming in, and even the tax lawyers in the firm that handle cross-border M&A will be less busy, since there’ll be fewer deals to advise on from a tax structuring standpoint.
I believe that by sticking to tariffs and explaining these kinds of knock-on effects, you’re showing that you really get how global economic changes can impact both businesses and law firms, all while keeping your answer professional and neutral.
Another point you could touch on is the
law firms as a business point. Often forgotten, but at their core, these global law firms are global businesses. So, the tariffs affect them just as it would any other corporation. The only funny point would be that they would be well-versed to handle the legal and business challenges, being a private practice firm with many practices..hahaha !!!
Best of luck on the AC!