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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

Chris Brown

Legendary Member
Jul 4, 2024
595
1,962
Also 15 minute TI is longer than any of my VIs. No idea what they’ll ask us.

I’ll also have to do the call in my lunch break during my VS next week.
I am in a similar boat. None of my VI this cycle were 15 minutes long, so I am curious about what they could ask us, given this is for a Senior Partner Dinner and not a VS. 😅​
 
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andrecsaa

Valued Member
  • Dec 19, 2022
    102
    80
    Hi @Jessica Booker and TCLA team, how would you go about choosing between Dentons and BCLP as firms? I have done research into these firms already and know about things such as their international presence, practice areas and values but am not sure about the less publicised things such as career progression. They both seem like great firms, so it's difficult to choose.
    Try checking out RollOnFriday and Reddit, you’ll find some honest insights there. In terms of career progression, Dentons seems worse than BCLP.

    I know BCLP is great for anyone interested in real estate, planning, and construction. If these are your areas of interest, BCLP would be a great place to consider.
     

    lawstudent2

    Distinguished Member
    Dec 9, 2024
    63
    69
    When a firm has not given any indication of timetlines for hearing back is it ever appropriate to email and ask. I don't want to seem impatient but I have a summer job offer as a paralegal and need to commit to them within the next week or so, if I got accepted on to the vac schemes I'm waiting to hear from I wouldn't have enough holiday to take off for the full 2 weeks. I would chose the vac schemes over the summer job.
    Hi sorry but is the paralegal job just for the summer and how did you go about finding it? Very random ik but I don't have any VS this summer and am looking for opportunities like that and have been struggling to find them. Thanks, sorry ik not helpful to ur question.
     

    gazdgazd11

    Legendary Member
    Premium Member
    Feb 27, 2024
    179
    221
    Hi @Jessica Booker and TCLA team, how would you go about choosing between Dentons and BCLP as firms? I have done research into these firms already and know about things such as their international presence, practice areas and values but am not sure about the less publicised things such as career progression. They both seem like great firms, so it's difficult to choose.
    I will be so honest. I have a friend who trained at BCLP. He is a solicitor but wasn’t given the opportunity to stay at the firm. He’s really struggled to secure an NQ role as the market is apparently brutal. I don’t want to induce fear or anything but I’d defo take into account the retention rates :) good luck
     

    User5678

    Legendary Member
    Aug 16, 2024
    246
    337
    I will be so honest. I have a friend who trained at BCLP. He is a solicitor but wasn’t given the opportunity to stay at the firm. He’s really struggled to secure an NQ role as the market is apparently brutal. I don’t want to induce fear or anything but I’d defo take into account the retention rates :) good luck
    I agree, i have myself worked at BCLP for a year (did a placement year with them in my third year) and retentions are not good, i have seen this first hand. (best trainees were not being retained literally - a few i knew got picked up by Kirkland, PH PW CC and Fried frank tho). They are also closing their Hong Kong and Singapore offices, their trainee numbers have reduced and they made business admin staff redundant in london as well (a significant number) :). Great training tho (I would say one of the best) i will give them that!!
     

    Chris Brown

    Legendary Member
    Jul 4, 2024
    595
    1,962
    I will be so honest. I have a friend who trained at BCLP. He is a solicitor but wasn’t given the opportunity to stay at the firm. He’s really struggled to secure an NQ role as the market is apparently brutal. I don’t want to induce fear or anything but I’d defo take into account the retention rates :) good luck
    I agree, i have myself worked at BCLP for a year and retentions are not good (best trainees were not being retained literally). They are also closing their Hong Kong and Singapore offices.
    I went to their open day in Dec. Someone asked the partner about BCLP’s retention rates. The partner acknowledged that their retention rates are very low but tried to brush it off by yapping about their high quality training. It can’t be that good if people are bouncing at the earliest opportunity lmao. 😂

    I believe some people did move laterally to US firms like Kirkland & Ellis and Fried Frank, so I guess their training contract is respected and considered high quality by city law firms. It is odd though that their retention rates are very low. I guess it comes down to business needs. It’s sad for the NQs who don’t get retained. 🥲​
     
    Last edited:

    User5678

    Legendary Member
    Aug 16, 2024
    246
    337
    I went to their open day in Dec. Someone asked the partner about BCLP’s retention rates. The partner acknowledged that their retention rates are very low but tried to brush it off by yapping about their high quality training. It can’t be that good if people are bouncing at the earliest opportunity lmao. 😂😂​
    I literally amended my answer to mention the training and redundancy😂

    I was working there in December too, met a few open day attendees.

    You are correct, training is amazing, I trained in one team for a year and the training was top class

    PS- a lot of associates and partners have left as well!
     

    Chris Brown

    Legendary Member
    Jul 4, 2024
    595
    1,962
    I literally amended my answer to mention the training and redundancy😂

    I was working there in December too, met a few open day attendees.

    PS- a lot of associates and partners have left as well!
    Who knows, perhaps I was one of the few open day attendees that you met. 👀​
     
    Last edited:

    dlc3266

    Active Member
    Dec 30, 2024
    10
    25
    I agree, i have myself worked at BCLP for a year (did a placement year with them in my third year) and retentions are not good, i have seen this first hand. (best trainees were not being retained literally - a few i knew got picked up by Kirkland, PH PW CC and Fried frank tho). They are also closing their Hong Kong and Singapore offices, their trainee numbers have reduced and they made business admin staff redundant in london as well (a significant number) :). Great training tho (I would say one of the best) i will give them that!!
    Just curious, what metrics or aspects should I look at when evaluating a firm's quality of training? I understand that there are differences such as US firms' emphasis on on-the-job learning, but how would I go about establishing an objective ranking?
     
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