TCLA General Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

[CJCH]

Deloitte, KPMG, PwC

Hi, does anyone know which firms do not have competency questions, but instead rely on online tests (apart from Linklaters)?

The GLD also doesn't have competency questions, in case you're interested in in-house TC.

 

[aspiring_solicitor]

Has anyone heard back yet on the HSF innovation open day?

No, I haven’t yet.

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

Hi everyone! As I've posted before, I am currently a Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) Future Trainee, having accepted a Training Contract earlier this year (and to be clear am posting in a purely personal capacity).

The firm are doing open days shortly--applications close in 2 weeks!!! If you're interested please do check out and I'm happy to give my views and thoughts.

11 November: Virtual Open Day
8 December: London Open Day
14 December: Guildford Open Day
16 December: Cheltenham Open Day

Open Days

<p>Come along to an open day to find out more about life at our firm. </p>

www.charlesrussellspeechlys.com

 

[AvniD]

Hi guys,
I'm meant to have started applications again this year but my motivation is SO low after coming so close to securing a TC this summer... has anyone been through this and how did you manage keep yourself motivated? This will be my 4th cycle of applications and I feel like a bit (lot) of a failure for not managing to have gotten a tc yet

Hi @Lawbour , I'm sorry to hear that you've been feeling low. Maintaining my motivation was something I struggled with the most while making applications. It was made so much worse by the fact that I was coming off of one of the lowest points in my life where I had to return to India without a job after completing my LPC.

Although I didn't know it at the time, in retrospect, there were some things I did that helped me motivate myself to stay the course-

• Clueing in family and friends- the people I was closest to always knew how I was feeling and where my mind was at. On days that I was feeling low, they would show me kindness and encourage me to be kind to myself too. Telling my inner circle how I was feeling without any attempts to make things sound better than they were was probably the best thing I did to seek and receive their support during periods of low motivation.
  
  
• Journaling- the way I journaled was a little different as I had an Instagram blog that I used to document my journey to a TC. I would blog about challenging days with the same honesty that I'd use to blog my highlights. That honesty served as such a cathartic output about the frustrations and disappointments I was facing during my journey and helped me process them.
  
  
• Taking a break- I would routinely take a break from applications to spend time with my family or engage with my interests or just do things that relaxed me. For me, these were painting, kickboxing, creating for my blog and binge-watching TV (I think I finished 17 seasons of Grey's Anatomy in about 2 months 😅). Doing this allowed me to stay in touch with who I was beyond an 'aspiring solicitor' and helped put rejections, failures etc. in perspective.
  
  
• Thinking about the bigger picture- Talking about putting things in perspective, I always tried to treat my rejections as redirection because it didn't make sense to let one rejection determine the course of my career path. I also tried to not focus on toxic timeframes like pressuring myself to get a training contract by 2024, 2025, 20XX because I didn't think it mattered in the big picture, which was having a career in commercial law rather than a job a commercial law.

I really hope this helps you with your motivation- you've got this!

 

[lawyering]

Hi, if talking about something a trainee or partner said at an event within an application, would I need to capitalise the title 'Trainee' or 'Partner'?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi, if talking about something a trainee or partner said at an event within an application, would I need to capitalise the title 'Trainee' or 'Partner'?

Generally no, but it does depend on the context in how it is written.

This article may explain the difference: https://proofreadmyessay.co.uk/writing-tips/when-to-capitalise-job-titles-in-writing/amp/

 

[lawyering]

Generally no, but it does depend on the context in how it is written.

This article may explain the difference: https://proofreadmyessay.co.uk/writing-tips/when-to-capitalise-job-titles-in-writing/amp/

Ah thank you so much for this @Jessica Booker it's a great help!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

For those who have secured paralegal roles how do you get paralegal experience as most paralegal roles to require at least 1 year of paralegal experience. Also, I am already part of Flex Legal but have had no luck with them. I want to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A but don't know how to get the experience as a paralegal in this area if anyone can help me out will be really appreciative thank you.

 

[SamTam99]

For those who have secured paralegal roles how do you get paralegal experience as most paralegal roles to require at least 1 year of paralegal experience. Also, I am already part of Flex Legal but have had no luck with them. I want to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A but don't know how to get the experience as a paralegal in this area if anyone can help me out will be really appreciative thank you.

I got a paralegal role at a silver circle firm straight out of uni with zero previous paralegal experience so it’s definitely do-able. I guess what they’re looking for is you demonstrating the relevant skills/competencies from other previous work experience/vac schemes/volunteering/extra-curriculars etc 😊

 

[AvniD]

For those who have secured paralegal roles how do you get paralegal experience as most paralegal roles to require at least 1 year of paralegal experience. Also, I am already part of Flex Legal but have had no luck with them. I want to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A but don't know how to get the experience as a paralegal in this area if anyone can help me out will be really appreciative thank you.

I read a post on LinkedIn by somebody who had secured a Paralegal role without any previous experience and this is essentially what they flagged as working for them-

1. Look for roles that require you to utilise any language skills that you may have- these roles do come up often in corporate, immigration, family law etc.

2. Apply for roles asking for previous experience anyway- just ensure that you support your application with evidence of the skills/qualities they're asking for you to demonstrate. Think of any courses, legal events, internships, volunteering experience etc. that may help you evidence your application.

3. Get in touch with recruiters- apart from applying directly through a firm's job board, you could also consider getting in touch with recruitment agencies via email or LinkedIn with your CV. This may help you open up your applications to a wider pool of firms.

I hope this helps!

 

[Celestie]

Just because we are big fans of dogs at TCLA, please welcome Dennis to the TCLA family. Dennis will be my office buddy when I am working on TCLA matters!

 

[Jessica Booker]

View attachment 3630

I knew it was going to be hard work, but I don't think I have ever had as little sleep or as much panic in such a short period of time as I have had since he has come into my life 😴

 

[Abii]

For those who have secured paralegal roles how do you get paralegal experience as most paralegal roles to require at least 1 year of paralegal experience. Also, I am already part of Flex Legal but have had no luck with them. I want to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A but don't know how to get the experience as a paralegal in this area if anyone can help me out will be really appreciative thank you.

I'm a paralegal, I have been for 2 years now. I secured my first paralegal role just after completing a masters in an unrelated area of law and I am not LPC qualified, I am an in-house paralegal focusing on commercial legal matters and have been for two large globally recognised brands. I had very little experience prior to undertaking the first of these roles, I had a short term legal internship. One thing I will say is paralegal roles are competitive, incredibly so, I know one of the paralegal roles I secured had over 2k applicants! Best pieces of advice highlight any transferable skills, apply quickly as jobs get taken down quickly due to high applicant numbers and just keep applying, I hate to think how many applications I've sent that never even got a response.

Corporate and M&A are very specialised areas and very popular, perhaps widen your search to include all corporate and commercial areas.

I have used recruiters in the past, however both roles I secured were direct applications I made with the companies myself, I've found recruiters more useful as I have gained more experience, less so at complete entry level.

 

[lawyering]

Hi! I'm preparing for a situational interview and I'm struggling to answer the following questions:

- A trainee is being rowdy at an event. How would you approach this?

- A first seat trainee is being quite rude to support staff and this is beginning to rub off on you and other trainees. You hear support staff complaining about the "trainee's attitude". How would you respond?

- It's 1am and you're the only one in the office for a partner. Another partner gets in touch with you to say that they have a hearing tomorrow at 9am and need your immediate assistance with bundling. How do you manage this situation? Would you call anyone in to help you?'

- Is it ever acceptable to miss a deadline?

Would be grateful for anyone's thoughts on these!

 

[AvniD]

Hi! I'm preparing for a situational interview and I'm struggling to answer the following questions:

- A trainee is being rowdy at an event. How would you approach this?

- A first seat trainee is being quite rude to support staff and this is beginning to rub off on you and other trainees. You hear support staff complaining about the "trainee's attitude". How would you respond?

- It's 1am and you're the only one in the office for a partner. Another partner gets in touch with you to say that they have a hearing tomorrow at 9am and need your immediate assistance with bundling. How do you manage this situation? Would you call anyone in to help you?'

- Is it ever acceptable to miss a deadline?

Would be grateful for anyone's thoughts on these!

It's best to follow your instinct with these questions- try to put yourself in these situations and think of legitimate reasons for why you would or would not act in a certain manner as a response. Would you like to share any thoughts you may have about how you would like to answer these questions? That way I can support you more pointedly

 

[Asil Ahmad]

I got a paralegal role at a silver circle firm straight out of uni with zero previous paralegal experience so it’s definitely do-able. I guess what they’re looking for is you demonstrating the relevant skills/competencies from other previous work experience/vac schemes/volunteering/extra-curriculars etc 😊

I read a post on LinkedIn by somebody who had secured a Paralegal role without any previous experience and this is essentially what they flagged as working for them-

1. Look for roles that require you to utilise any language skills that you may have- these roles do come up often in corporate, immigration, family law etc.

2. Apply for roles asking for previous experience anyway- just ensure that you support your application with evidence of the skills/qualities they're asking for you to demonstrate. Think of any courses, legal events, internships, volunteering experience etc. that may help you evidence your application.

3. Get in touch with recruiters- apart from applying directly through a firm's job board, you could also consider getting in touch with recruitment agencies via email or LinkedIn with your CV. This may help you open up your applications to a wider pool of firms.

I hope this helps!

I'm a paralegal, I have been for 2 years now. I secured my first paralegal role just after completing a masters in an unrelated area of law and I am not LPC qualified, I am an in-house paralegal focusing on commercial legal matters and have been for two large globally recognised brands. I had very little experience prior to undertaking the first of these roles, I had a short term legal internship. One thing I will say is paralegal roles are competitive, incredibly so, I know one of the paralegal roles I secured had over 2k applicants! Best pieces of advice highlight any transferable skills, apply quickly as jobs get taken down quickly due to high applicant numbers and just keep applying, I hate to think how many applications I've sent that never even got a response.

Corporate and M&A are very specialised areas and very popular, perhaps widen your search to include all corporate and commercial areas.

I have used recruiters in the past, however both roles I secured were direct applications I made with the companies myself, I've found recruiters more useful as I have gained more experience, less so at complete entry level.

Thank you very much for this great advice all of you but I have been looking and all the paralegal roles now require previous experience and am in contract with recruitment consultants also. If anyone knows any paralegal roles that don't require previous paralegal experience in that area then will really appreciate it. I am looking to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A private equity and corporate in general, litigation and banking and finance. I am just so frustrated as I am not getting any luck with paralegal jobs.

 

[Abii]

Thank you very much for this great advice all of you but I have been looking and all the paralegal roles now require previous experience and am in contract with recruitment consultants also. If anyone knows any paralegal roles that don't require previous paralegal experience in that area then will really appreciate it. I am looking to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A private equity and corporate in general, litigation and banking and finance. I am just so frustrated as I am not getting any luck with paralegal jobs.

Apply anyway! Pretty sure the roles I have asked for more experience than I actually have, I know my previous role certainly did, it asked for 2+ years paralegal experience and I had no paralegal experience and only 2 months as a legal intern.

I understand the frustration, I've been there particularly when I was trying to secure my first paralegal role. As I said it is a very competitive market, and the areas you are seeking a role in are some of the most competitive! I think I would likely struggle to get a role in those areas and I have 2+ years experience in commercial and a legal internship with an investment bank under my belt!

 

[TC fiend]

Thank you very much for this great advice all of you but I have been looking and all the paralegal roles now require previous experience and am in contract with recruitment consultants also. If anyone knows any paralegal roles that don't require previous paralegal experience in that area then will really appreciate it. I am looking to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A private equity and corporate in general, litigation and banking and finance. I am just so frustrated as I am not getting any luck with paralegal jobs.

Hey Asil, do you speak any foreign languages? Try approaching DA Solutions or Language Matters (or a similar agency). I landed my first paralegal job that way and managed to use that as a stepping stone to my current paralegal job. I had a foreign LLB and an English LLM with zero work experience under my belt so it is definitely possible.

 

[atrumregina1]

Sorry if this is not the correct forum but I feel so useless and demotivated to even apply. The more I see what TCLA has to offer, the more I feel that I am uneducated and don't really deserve a TC because my applications won't even matter. Anybody else feeling like this?
I have applied 4 times and now starting to understand I am not even close to becoming a "good candidate". Any help to motivate myself to do this is welcome

 

[psr23]

For those who have secured paralegal roles how do you get paralegal experience as most paralegal roles to require at least 1 year of paralegal experience. Also, I am already part of Flex Legal but have had no luck with them. I want to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A but don't know how to get the experience as a paralegal in this area if anyone can help me out will be really appreciative thank you.

For those who have secured paralegal roles how do you get paralegal experience as most paralegal roles to require at least 1 year of paralegal experience. Also, I am already part of Flex Legal but have had no luck with them. I want to get a paralegal role in corporate such as M&A but don't know how to get the experience as a paralegal in this area if anyone can help me out will be really appreciative thank you.

I got my first role through Flex, I had previous pro Bono experience but no paralegal experience. I was advised to fill my profile with buzzwords (research, drafting etc), where I had transferable skills, as they literally use the buzzwords to search for profiles when they’re looking to fill roles. Also update your profile as often as you can because profiles that appear at the top of their search are the ones that have been updated most recently. I thought the role they offered me didn’t sound great at first , but it’s actually turned out to be a fab role in financial services litigation with lots of responsibility and transferable skills