Hiya
@jojo23
Great questions! I'll take these in order.
First, I generally recommend that applicants avoid reusing part of their answer to 'Why commercial law' answer in their answer to 'Why this firm'. I think these questions serve different purposes:
- 'Why commercial law' is all about your broader motivations—why you’re drawn to the challenges and opportunities that are really distinctive of working in commercial law.
- 'Why this firm' is your chance to show you’ve done your research and understand what makes this firm unique. This is where you demonstrate why it stands out to you beyond just being a commercial law firm.
That said, I think it's possible to
reframe your points so that your answers don't sound repetitive. For example, if you mention you're interested in working on cross-border deals in your answer to why commercial law, and you want to mention a similar point in your 'why this firm' question, then reflect on why the firm's cross-border expertise really stands out here. Are there certain sectors or matters they've advised on which are particularly tricky from a cross-border perspective? Does the firm's cross-border expertise extend beyond transactions to include regulatory or disputes capabilities? These are just some points to reflect on in order to ensure that your answer to the two questions seem distinct.
Second, comparing firms can work, but I usually suggest focusing on what excites you about this firm specifically. Drawing explicit comparisons can be tricky to get right. Instead, you can mention experiences that shaped your interest in a practice area or sector and then highlight why this firm is particularly appealing. Here's one way that I approached this in my own application:
- “By attending open days at several US-headquartered firms with life sciences expertise, I became interested in the way commercial lawyers often assist in areas such as drug discovery and development, often working closely with key regulators and leading life science researchers. Firm X's work in this area particularly stands out to me because of its unique combination of both transactional and regulatory expertise in the life sciences, as seen in [specific example and brief explanation of why the deal/case is commercially/legally interesting]..."
This kind of comparison shows thoughtful engagement with certain sectors/practice areas without explicitly comparing the firm you're applying to with other firms you might've interacted with.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your application! I'm also sure that
@Andrei Radu and
@Amma Usman would have much more brilliant insights to add here.
