in an interview, if youre asked how many firms you've applied to, what is a good response?
I was asked this at the
Ashurst AC, so here are my two cents:
1. They are looking for a strategy and hopefully some level of congruence among them. For example, all MC firms are considered great for well-rounded training in most popular commercial law subjects. However, if you have really enjoyed equity and trusts/private client (like I did during my PGDL) work, you might gravitate towards Mac and Mishcon.
2. I would suggest actually naming the firms and keeping them between 5-8 to show the depth of research and perhaps elaborate on some firm-specific events (Legal Cheek may be a good example, but events hosted by the firms themselves are much more valuable).
3. It is likely they are also hoping to check whether you are able to identify some of their competitors. This ties back to the first point, where your applications are expected to show some sort of strategy in which you should be able to do a competitor analysis based on practice areas, firm reputation, Chambers Rankings etc.
Hope this helps, and good luck!