Thank you! Just got an email this morning saying that it'll be competency/ motivation & commercial awareness based, so hopefully not too wildly different from anything I've done before.
I'm not too familiar with capital markets and find it quite confusing - is there any way you could simplify the concept and the type of work they do? That would be extremely helpful. And with the commercial awareness, would I benefit from talking about something more finance-based/ a particular M&A deal for instance, or could I speak about something broader like the current tariff war & its implications on PH's clients? If the former is preferred, what kind of things can I speak about that won't just sound like I'm regurgitating knowledge on how a deal is funded/ operates? Thanks so much!
Hiya
@legallyrach
I'm sure
@Andrei Radu would have much more to add here, but I wanted to get something to you in the meantime.
Capital markets are platforms where businesses raise funds by issuing financial instruments like stocks and bonds to investors. In the UK, capital markets lawyers often advise both companies (the "issuers" who typically issue stocks and bonds) and financial institutions (the "underwriters", i.e. often the banks who manage the process, price the shares or bonds, and even promise to buy anything investors don’t). Capital markets lawyers will thus advise companies/institutions on everything from Initial Public Offerings, bond issuances, and other securities offerings. When I was applying I found this particular
Chambers Student article on capital markets really helpful.
While both capital markets and finance lawyers deal with financial instruments and funding, a firm's finance lawyers typically handle private financing arrangements and loans and can focus on a broader spectrum of financial transactions, including bank lending, project finance, and acquisition finance. This last point about finance is particularly important to bear in mind with respect to PH, given their sizeable strengths in areas such as leveraged finance and real estate finance.
In terms of preparation, I think it's a good idea to be familiar with both recent developments in capital markets (e.g. like how tariffs are affecting IPOs)
and one or two specific deals the firm has advised on. Showing that you understand how wider economic or political developments like tariffs (or any other development) impact these markets will signal strong commercial awareness. At the same time, being able to talk about recent deals
Paul Hastings has worked on and why you found them interesting helps demonstrate that you’ve done your research and are genuinely interested in the firm’s practice.
Hope this helps and good luck!