How confident are you in your knowledge of the core LLB/PGDL subjects, including Contract, Tort, Trusts, Land, Criminal, and Public Law?
TCLA is teaming up with BPP for a free interactive event designed to refresh your fundamentals, especially for those interested in or planning to take the SQE. We'll practise multiple choice SQE questions, with prizes for the highest scoring participants!
Register Here
If you have completed any more commercial law related modules such as company law, I would also revise some of the material for that. Just to be sure, I would perhaps add some of the basics of EU Law if you have already taken the module and are going to a Competition-law focused firm. However, in practice I have only come across and have only ever heard about people coming across contract law questions. As such, I would dedicate most of my revision time to that.
I think they already reached the second stage a while back so you still could, but chances are slim, so would be better to just wait for the next cycle to maximise your chances...
SAME , I was told by my programme coordinator that it’s supposed to be strengths based questions so not to worry about cases. I just generated some example questions and practicing answering them linking Kennedys to my answers every time. I
Firms are well aware that lots apply right before the deadline, if you're good enough you're good enough, so I'd say give it a go
ah thank you thats really helpful!! i'm just gonna try get it over and done with i think good luck !!
Still too early for Forsters to send it, they'll probably send it by like 2ish... Also, Baker is also supposed to send out the invites for the test
Thank you so much @Andrei RaduHey @AS24, I hope you are well too and all the best for the new year!
For your first question, I think you should still aim to cover the same three basic 'Why commercial law', 'Why firm' and 'Why you' in the cover letter, though perhaps with an increased emphasis on the 'why you' part. To avoid repetition, I would consider doing a combination of the following:
For your second question, I do not think this linking experiences with skills is a strict requirement, but I would advise you to do it nonetheless. It shows off your commercial awareness and makes the relevance of your achievements and interests evident. A recruiter should never have an issue with seeing this even if they weren't necessarily expecting it; but if they expected it and you did not include it, that could be a serious issue. However, I would keep it brief (one or maximum two sentences at the end of a paragraph) and have the experiences themselves as the main focus.
- Use a more concise and to the point style in the application form answers and a more narrative style and structure in the cover letter. You can see the form as you needing to deliver on some very specific tasks, while the cover letter more as you telling your story and presenting your profile.
- Furthermore, it is generally thought you can use examples from personal experiences and hobbies a lot more in the cover letter than in the application form answers, where you should focus more on work/academic examples. The use of personal experiences might be particularly useful in the cover letter if you decide to also give a short description as to how your motivations have historically progressed and led you to this point.
- To the extent that you cannot avoid repeating some of the same examples, try to focus on different parts of the experiences. For instance, if this was some kind of work experience, you may describe one relevant task in the form answer and one in the cover letter.
- To the extent that you cannot avoid repeating some of the same substantive points (I expect you should be able to find a number of different why Orrick reasons, but you might have the same basic points for why commercial law), try to elaborate on them in a different manner. For instance, say one of your reasons for why Orrick is their expertise in the VC/tech space. In the application form answer you could focus on Chambers rankings, deal figures and client base, while in the cover letter you could discuss one of their transactions at length.
I would try and opt for firms with watson glaser and verbal reasoning tests instead. I found tests like arctic shores and ashurst test difficult even with the disability adjustments added. Also check out Amelia’s insta, she is a clifford chance trainee and she posts advice for disabled candidates. She also targeted firms without gamified assessments, Clifford chance has Watson glaser as their test. https://www.instagram.com/ndlawyerproject/. You can ask for extra time for gamified tests, try and practise brain teasers and job test prep has a test pack too
