TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23

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born&raised

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Hi! If anyone has done the AC for Freshfields previously - how would you recommend preparing for the article interview?

I have not done any case study or article interview before, so would you recommend doing specific M&A, Private Equity, or any other area of law prep? (not sure about this as it's an article interview and not a case study). Also, for broader commercial concepts (apart from news), is there any source I can refer to?

Would be super grateful for any help. Thanks! 😄
 

Legend

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Feb 24, 2023
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I successfully interviewed for a VS at Jones day this week. Unfortunately, I was put on their reserve list because all openings for their Spring and Summer vacations were already filled.

Does anyone experience or know of someone who was initially placed on reserve list but ultimately offered a VS at Jones Day? What are my chances?

Appreciate any insights and guidance here. Thanks very much.
@Jessica Brooker, appreciate your advice and guidance here. Thanks much.
 

Jessica Booker

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Hi! If anyone has done the AC for Freshfields previously - how would you recommend preparing for the article interview?

I have not done any case study or article interview before, so would you recommend doing specific M&A, Private Equity, or any other area of law prep? (not sure about this as it's an article interview and not a case study). Also, for broader commercial concepts (apart from news), is there any source I can refer to?

Would be super grateful for any help. Thanks! 😄
An M&A/PE equity case study won’t really be helpful for the article interview. Read and analyse articles from something like the FT or Economist instead.

Past articles (and I mean so past there is no chance of them still being used) have been on topics like privatising a national postal service, why data centres were popping up in a particular country, and a lack of supply of ships for shipping. None of those needed any M&A or PE knowledge.
 

Jessica Booker

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I successfully interviewed for a VS at Jones day this week. Unfortunately, I was put on their reserve list because all openings for their Spring and Summer vacations were already filled.

Does anyone experience or know of someone who was initially placed on reserve list but ultimately offered a VS at Jones Day? What are my chances?

Appreciate any insights and guidance here. Thanks very much.
I wouldn’t see this as being unfortunate - this is a positive as you have been deemed good enough to get an offer.

No one will be able to determine your chances though. This is down to so many individual variable factors, it’s impossible to know what your chances are. Even their grad rec team won’t be able to say.
 

hannah04

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Jan 9, 2023
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If a question asks for a commercial topic and why you have found it interesting are you meant to always link it to your experiences or can you just mention because the implications it creates and explain them is why you are interested? I am not entirely sure how best to structure the response for this type of question. Thank you
I think in terms of structure, I would briefly explain the topic and its implications, what it is about it that interests you, and why it relates to the firm. In talking about why its interesting to you you can definitely relate to your own interests and experiences, but probably no more than 1-2 sentences on this so as to leave room for your analysis
 

Legend

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Feb 24, 2023
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I wouldn’t see this as being unfortunate - this is a positive as you have been deemed good enough to get an offer.

No one will be able to determine your chances though. This is down to so many individual variable factors, it’s impossible to know what your chances are. Even their grad rec team won’t be able to say.
Thank you Jessica. Fingers crossed🥲
 

hannah04

Legendary Member
Jan 9, 2023
230
285
Thank you for the reply, really helpful! Would you say you have to link it to the firm specifically if it doesn't ask you to or just mention law firms in general and how this would impact them?
If it doesn't ask (I've only ever written answers where it asks how this impacts the firm), I would still maybe include 1 or 2 sentences at the end relating it to the firm specifically just to bring your answer together and it is an additional chance to impress that you are familiar with the type of work they do and that you chose the topic because your commercial interests align with the firm!
 

Jessica Booker

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Thank you Jessica. Fingers crossed🥲
They wouldn’t have a hold list if there wasn’t a chance of someone declining the offer or reneging on one. It could just be a long wait - I have known people to be offered from a hold list even a couple of weeks before the vacation scheme started.
 

Jessica Booker

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Graduate Recruitment
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Aug 1, 2019
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If a question asks for a commercial topic and why you have found it interesting are you meant to always link it to your experiences or can you just mention because the implications it creates and explain them is why you are interested? I am not entirely sure how best to structure the response for this type of question. Thank you
If your interests are forward looking rather than based on past experiences, then this is fine. There isn’t a set way to answer this question - it really need to reflect your personal interests/thoughts on the topic, rather than a specific structure.
 

born&raised

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Nov 30, 2021
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An M&A/PE equity case study won’t really be helpful for the article interview. Read and analyse articles from something like the FT or Economist instead.

Past articles (and I mean so past there is no chance of them still being used) have been on topics like privatising a national postal service, why data centres were popping up in a particular country, and a lack of supply of ships for shipping. None of those needed any M&A or PE knowledge.
Thank you so much @Jessica Booker! :D
 
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