TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

[Tony Stark]

Well done can I ask when you completed the WG? I did it yesterday morning and feel like it didn't go too well

I did about two hours ago.

 

[Rob93]

Hi everyone!!! I have two questions i was hoping to get help for. I have a few ideas but i do now know if they are the main ones or even accurate.

1) why do law firms keep track of non-billable hours.

- is it because law firms want to be efficient i.e. if they see that a lawyer is doing a lot of non-billables they can reallocate the work. Also, to check if the non-billable work is actually non-billable (.e. mistakes in categorising)​

- Maybe to consider increasing fees - so higher hourly rates?​

- So lawyers can assess the time it takes them to do non-billable work​

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2) What are the adv/disadv of thought leadership?

- Adv (demonstrates client responsiveness, awareness of clients opportunities and threats, expertise, build and attract client relationships, building reputation)​

- disadv (other firms can use that information? costs to develop it?) - i really don't know what else could be a disadvantage​

(edit) I want to also include accuracy - like if they are inaccurate in analysis (especially because mostly lower levels do the research etc..) then that could damage the reputation of the firm. But I do not know if this is accurate or even a good thing to say because the interviewer might feel personally attacked if I say they may not be accurate 😂​

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Re: tracking non-billable activities, I think all those points are fair but efficiency probably a big one - might be useful to think of it in terms of profitability. If you notice that your attorneys are spending oodles of time on admin, you might want to bring on extra administrative or paralegal staff or invest in tech solutions or outsource some stuff so that lawyers can do more fee work (or simply have more time to themselves, though that may be fanciful)

Re: thought leadership, I don't think there's a huge downside. The commentary is usually general enough that it wouldn't give competitors a lot to work with, and frankly most competitors would be independently forming their views on the topic anyway and likely arriving at similar conclusions. Also the legal profession as a whole has a sort of academic quality around knowledge-sharing and developing best practices so I don't think this is a substantial concern - any insights a firm wants to keep proprietary they simply won't publish.

 

[Rob93]

Has anyone been rejected by Weil post-VI? It's been nearly three weeks and I want them to just put me out of my misery

 

[S87]

Hi guys,

I always struggle to relate the firm' s deals to my professional experience. For example, I mention the firm's work with a construction company and connect it to my legal experience in construction law but the feedback is always "you can add more". I am a bit lost!

 

[Donuttime]

Also would it be ok to write a thank-you email to the partners/GR interviewing you?

Not necessary

 

[refy]

Hi there! Anyone interviewed with Slaughter and May and would be able to give me some tips on how to prepare and how it went? Thank you very much
This is for vac scheme

Hi! I had my interview this week. I think it’s very difficult to prepare for the interview as they could really ask you anything - but I would say make sure you know your CV very well and are able to back up every decision you’ve made in your academic/career journey. Make sure you remain calm if you face any challenging questions and think before you speak (I feel like I rambled 😅).

 

[Rob93]

Hi guys,

I always struggle to relate the firm' s deals to my professional experience. For example, I mention the firm's work with a construction company and connect it to my legal experience in construction law but the feedback is always "you can add more". I am a bit lost!

I personally hate talking about deals on applications like no I do not have a personal connection to this big loan facility or megamerger.

However. If you're going to do it, I think the 'add more' does come down to making it in some way personal beyond like 'I did some stuff in this area' - what about it excited you, how do you see the work at the firm exciting you, how is a particular deal (out of many deals in that sector) interesting or unique in your view, and why?

 

[Rob93]

I personally hate talking about deals on applications like no I do not have a personal connection to this big loan facility or megamerger.

However. If you're going to do it, I think the 'add more' does come down to making it in some way personal beyond like 'I did some stuff in this area' - what about it excited you, how do you see the work at the firm exciting you, how is a particular deal (out of many deals in that sector) interesting or unique in your view, and why?

I think a challenge here is that without very expensive subscriptions to industry publications it can be very difficult to get high-quality detail on particular deals - the FT does not devote its ink to exhaustively scrutinising the legal nuances of things, and firm publications are often along the lines of 'it was very complex because of [whatever] and we innovated in [some way]' but there's not great visibility of what the challenges or solutions were. If you can find that info, though, and you're *actually interested in it* and can say something reasonably insightful, that's another way to build it out

 

[S87]

I think a challenge here is that without very expensive subscriptions to industry publications it can be very difficult to get high-quality detail on particular deals - the FT does not devote its ink to exhaustively scrutinising the legal nuances of things, and firm publications are often along the lines of 'it was very complex because of [whatever] and we innovated in [some way]' but there's not great visibility of what the challenges or solutions were. If you can find that info, though, and you're *actually interested in it* and can say something reasonably insightful, that's another way to build it out

Thank you Rob..I owe you a beer mate!

 

[Rob93]

I think a challenge here is that without very expensive subscriptions to industry publications it can be very difficult to get high-quality detail on particular deals - the FT does not devote its ink to exhaustively scrutinising the legal nuances of things, and firm publications are often along the lines of 'it was very complex because of [whatever] and we innovated in [some way]' but there's not great visibility of what the challenges or solutions were. If you can find that info, though, and you're *actually interested in it* and can say something reasonably insightful, that's another way to build it out

Last on this, if you really want to know more about a deal you could do worse than cold-calling partners or senior associates who acted on it. Not everyone will answer, but I don't think it would be that hard to find a lawyer willing to wax poetic about their own cleverness to an eager listener

 

[Arche172372]

I have a Mishcon VI to complete but have no interest in pursuing the firm anymore. It is best just to email grad rec or just leave it incomplete?

 

[ISABE11A]

Walker Morris AC invite! This is my first application cycle so I totally expected rejections all round, any advice would be really appreciated!

 

[Rob93]

I have a Mishcon VI to complete but have no interest in pursuing the firm anymore. It is best just to email grad rec or just leave it incomplete?

Best to email or if possible withdraw through their app portal

 

[JoeyTr]

I have a Mishcon VI to complete but have no interest in pursuing the firm anymore. It is best just to email grad rec or just leave it incomplete?

pls email the firm. some of us want the VI

 

[S87]

Last on this, if you really want to know more about a deal you could do worse than cold-calling partners or senior associates who acted on it. Not everyone will answer, but I don't think it would be that hard to find a lawyer willing to wax poetic about their own cleverness to an eager listener

I have to confess, I am one of those who, very now and then, gets an FT subscription (I guess I like to have a return on my money) but I do find hard to connect with people on Linkedin. I write a nice introduction and present myself in a professional manner and no answer most of the times. I also had an interview with one of W&C's partners and despite being unsuccessful I want to connect because she is a force to be reckoned with.

 

[thirdtimelucky]

Hi guys,

I always struggle to relate the firm' s deals to my professional experience. For example, I mention the firm's work with a construction company and connect it to my legal experience in construction law but the feedback is always "you can add more". I am a bit lost!

I’ve used deals as emphasis on more general points about a firm for example in cases where I want to highlight the “impactful” nature of some of the work (say financing a huge solar farm in a developing country) or when trying to flag the international scope I talk about a deal that crossed multiple-jurisdictions. But it’s really up to you how you use it and I don’t think it should be the main focus of your point if that makes sense. I’d probably focus on the construction elements that you enjoyed or how your experience means you want to go to a firm that has a good construction focus and maybe talk about a client of the firm?

 

[Rob93]

I have to confess, I am one of those who, very now and then, gets an FT subscription (I guess I like to have a return on my money) but I do find hard to connect with people on Linkedin. I write a nice introduction and present myself in a professional manner and no answer most of the times. I also had an interview with one of W&C's partners and despite being unsuccessful I want to connect because she is a force to be reckoned with.

With LinkedIn I think it will depend in part on how active the professionals are on that platform. If they're not really engaging with the platform as a whole you might have better luck with their firm email addresses. If you have a shared alma mater, try leveraging that - similarly, if you aren't trying to find out something so specific but would like to just talk to some practitioners in a given area generally, see if any of your current or former profs have connections they could leverage to your benefit

 

[refy]

anyone else still waiting on hsf and links for summer? 😅

 

[maw1887]

Is anyone still waiting for a response from Linklaters in terms of the spring vac scheme?

Hearing all these people getting ACs is making me sad cos I've heard nothing.

 

[RS31]

In an interview, how would you answer 'why law?' differently to 'why commercial law?' ?

I always answer it as two different parts and it works well for me. For why law I answer how I developed a certain skill set over my schooling years through activities including debate that made me keen to pursue the law. For why commercial law I point to my experiences with business and commerce (at internships or otherwise) and how that made me interested in the field