TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Amma Usman]

What is Arbitrage?

Arbitrage is like spotting an opportunity to buy something cheap in one place and sell it for a higher price elsewhere, taking advantage of the price difference. It’s a way of making a profit with little to no risk.

For example, imagine you find a stock trading for 100 (in X currency) on one exchange, but at the same time, it’s trading for 101 on another exchange. If you quickly buy the stock for 100 and sell it for 101, you get the 1 difference.

Arbitrage works because markets don’t always price the same assets the same way in different locations or at different times.

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hello guys, i recently took the capp test for linklaters - my strengths are critical thinking and resilience but my lowest is commercial thinking - will i be able to meet their benchmark or is this really bad? (

Hiya @Law queries


Just wanted to add to what @trainee4u has already mentioned. I think @Jessica Booker would also have much more interesting things to say here, but I wanted to get something to you While the Cappfinity skills report and the Watson Glaser feedback can give you insight into your strengths and areas for development, I just don't think candidates can tell by reading those reports whether they've passed to the next stage. The Cappfinity report, in particular, is designed to be developmental. It generally highlights how you performed across different competencies (e.g., resilience, critical thinking, collaboration), but it doesn’t indicate a pass/fail threshold and any such thresholds are likely to be kept confidential by graduate recruitment. I've seen people with very different traits not get through, and I've seen people who've had similar attributes to the ones you received also get through to the next stage. Likewise, your Watson Glaser feedback report will give you a breakdown of your performance in each section (inference, deduction, etc.) but not necessarily whether you've met Linklaters' benchmark (which they also keep confidential).

For this reason, I don't think you can really read too much into your Cappfinity report. I think your best bet is to focus on what’s in your control next. If you have any questions about other firms you might apply to, feel free to ask. Hope that helps and offers some reassurance

 

[Amma Usman]

What is Liquidity?

Liquidity refers to how quickly and easily an asset can be converted into cash without affecting its price too much. Think of it as how "liquid" something is…just like water, it flows easily and quickly.

For example, cash is the most liquid asset because you can use it immediately. On the other hand, real estate is much less liquid because it takes time to sell a property and might involve a price discount depending on how urgently you need to sell it.

In financial markets, high liquidity means there are lots of buyers and sellers for an asset, making it easier to buy or sell without large price changes. Stocks of large companies (like Apple or Microsoft) tend to be highly liquid, while niche or smaller stocks may have lower liquidity.

Liquidity is crucial for investors because it determines how easily they can access their funds or exit a position.

 

[Law queries]

Hey!

I’d try not to worry too much just yet. From what I understand, the competencies on the Capp test are usually looked at collectively, not in isolation. So even if commercial thinking wasn’t your strongest, strengths like critical thinking and resilience still carry a lot of weight.

It’s not necessarily a dealbreaker to have one area lower than the rest, especially if the overall picture still reflects strong potential.

Hey!

I’d try not to worry too much just yet. From what I understand, the competencies on the Capp test are usually looked at collectively, not in isolation. So even if commercial thinking wasn’t your strongest, strengths like critical thinking and resilience still carry a lot of weight.

It’s not necessarily a dealbreaker to have one area lower than the rest, especially if the overall picture still reflects strong potential.

the cappfinity test results given to the candidate are worthless.

they always have two strengths and one weakness, but don't indicate whether the candidate performed poorly or well

Hiya @Law queries


Just wanted to add to what @trainee4u has already mentioned. I think @Jessica Booker would also have much more interesting things to say here, but I wanted to get something to you While the Cappfinity skills report and the Watson Glaser feedback can give you insight into your strengths and areas for development, I just don't think candidates can tell by reading those reports whether they've passed to the next stage. The Cappfinity report, in particular, is designed to be developmental. It generally highlights how you performed across different competencies (e.g., resilience, critical thinking, collaboration), but it doesn’t indicate a pass/fail threshold and any such thresholds are likely to be kept confidential by graduate recruitment. I've seen people with very different traits not get through, and I've seen people who've had similar attributes to the ones you received also get through to the next stage. Likewise, your Watson Glaser feedback report will give you a breakdown of your performance in each section (inference, deduction, etc.) but not necessarily whether you've met Linklaters' benchmark (which they also keep confidential).

For this reason, I don't think you can really read too much into your Cappfinity report. I think your best bet is to focus on what’s in your control next. If you have any questions about other firms you might apply to, feel free to ask. Hope that helps and offers some reassurance

Hey, thank you so much guys. I get the idea.
This did bring some relief, thanks again!

 

[Amma Usman]

Warranties and Indemnities: What Are They?

Warranties and indemnities are terms in contracts, quite common, especially in business deals like mergers and acquisitions.

Warranties are like guarantees from one party to another. When a company sells something, it might provide warranties to confirm that specific facts about the business are true. For example, a seller might warrant that there are no ongoing legal issues or that the financial statements are accurate. If it turns out that the warranty is false, the seller could be held liable for any damage caused.

Indemnities, on the other hand, are promises to compensate the other party if certain issues arise. For example, if a company sells a business and there’s a lawsuit that the seller didn’t warn the buyer about, the seller might indemnify the buyer, meaning they’ll cover the costs or damages.

In short: warranties are assurances about facts, and indemnities are promises to cover specific losses or damages.

 

[Amma Usman]

Due Diligence: What Is It?

Due diligence refers to the investigation or research done by a buyer before making a business decision, such as purchasing a company or entering into a partnership. It’s essentially a way to ensure that all relevant facts and risks are understood before proceeding.

For example, if a company is considering buying another, they’ll carry out due diligence to check financial records, legal compliance, existing liabilities, and any potential risks. This helps the buyer make an informed decision about whether to move forward with the deal and at what price.

 

[Legal Wizard]

Does anyone have an email address to HR for HFW (not their early careers contact but for general HR enquiries) - cannot seem to find it anywhere?

HR director is Charlie Keeling and email is Charlie.keeting@hfw.com

 

[👩🎓]

HR director is Charlie Keeling and email is Charlie.keeting@hfw.com

Thank you so much

 

[lolasparks]

Did anyone apply for Expedia group legal intern position?

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Andrei Radu ,

Please could I trouble you the same questions but for Skadden?

How would you describe Skadden’s’ position in the City of London? Who are the firm’s closest competitors in relation to (1) the firm’s core practice areas and (2) other US BigLaw firms in London? What makes Skadden unique compared to its competitors?

Many thanks

Hi @TonyStark since I have gotten this type of questions a number of times, I firstly just want to make some general observations as to how I think you should go about researching them.

My responses will be based on general knowledge based on reading the legal press, experience in commercial law, and sometimes some quick research using some of the sources I will list bellow. I think my experience and readings sometimes give me an opportunity to add substantial value through my input, but most parts of the answers I give will be based on the quick research I do. For the purposes of an interview or application, I think you should normally aim to do this research yourself, as it (i) will build useful skills and add depth to your understanding of the legal market; and (ii) will likely mean you can find more unique insights and form a more nuanced and accurate view of a given firm - I am unable to spend more than a 10-15 minutes on such a task.

Now go through the resources I would rely on and my research methodology:

1. First, I would start by using resources that can give me a broad overview of the firm, such as the TCLA, Law.com, and Chambers Student Firm Profiles. They will give you a good understanding of the 'type' of firm you are looking at, which will help a lot with narrowing the pool of potential competitors you are looking at.
2. Then, you should look at the firm's profile on Chambers UK and Legal 500 to identify what are the practice areas the firm has received good rankings for - you can generally assume those will be its areas of focus. After you have identified the main practice areas, you should look up the general rankings for each practice areas on Chambers UK and Legal 500 - this will help you identify the firms that are also well recognized for their expertise in those rankings. For US competitors, you will perhaps want to look at Vault and Chambers USA rankings as well to make more global comparisons - as in many cases, their client base for which they compete for UK mandates will greatly depend on their original client base in the US.
3. Finally, to differentiate the firm from other well-recognised firms in a practice area, use the legal press: articles on publications like The Lawyer, Law.com, Legal Business, Bloomberg Law, or The Global Legal Post (but also some podcasts such as The Lawyer podcast, Law, Disrupted, or Bloomberg Law) are very useful to look at comparisons between the best firms in different practice areas and sectors. For instance, in corporate M&A, you might find about the total value of deals a firm has advised on in a given period, the average value of deal they worked on, whether it has advised on lots of deals in a given sector, how much revenue the practice has generated, how much it has grown, whether it gained/lost partners through lateral hires etc - and how all of those date points compare to those of rivals. This research can definitely help in finding an a great answer to 'what makes us different' types of questions.

Once you have gathered all this information, you should be able to identify both competitors in core practice areas and more general US competitors; but, more importantly, this will make you able to discuss the firm in a much more convincing and impressive manner than if you had not undergone this research yourself.

Finally, to come back to your initial question, I will give you the input that I think would be perhaps the biggest value-add (particularly if you do not have time and/or access to some of the legal press resources I mentioned). Skadden is known to be an elite US firm (consistently ranked in the V10) with great Transatlantic capacities (having a middle to large US office, more well developed than of most other V10 players) and is probably the leading corporate M&A firm in this space. Corporate M&A is its core area of focus, as Skadden is perhaps the one firm that has actually shaped this practice area, pioneering core parts of the field. In modern rankings, it is consistently ranked as having the among the top 3 highest total values of deals the advised on, and in many cases it is the 1st. Regarding competitors in corporate M&A, in the UK we would be looking at mainly the MC firms (particularly Slaughter and May and Freshfields), whereas for US firms this would be Latham, Sullivan & Cromwell, Cleary Gottlieb and Davis Polk.

 

[Amma Usman]

Morning everyone, I have a bit of a silly question. How do you actually build your commercial awareness? I have signed up to newsletters such as Little Law and Non-billable which I am trying to be more consistent with my reading. I just realised that I have been passively reading without retain the information 🤣 Any tips to improve your commercial awareness and how to think more commercially are welcome 🙏

Not a silly question at all. Honestly, I felt exactly the same way when I started.

What worked for me was realising that it’s totally normal to find it difficult at first, especially with sources like the FT. I used to open those articles and feel completely lost. I didn’t understand half the terminology and couldn’t follow the logic of what was being discussed. So I decided to build things from the ground up.

I created a running list of terms I didn’t understand, even really basic ones like offer and acceptance, as well as economic ideas like interest rates, inflation, or monetary policy. I used resources like Investopedia and Finimize to break them down into digestible bits. Over a few months, I noticed a shift. I was no longer just reading articles, I was understanding them, because I had that foundation.

TCLA Academy is such a helpful tool as well. If I had access to it during my application season, I know it would have helped me even more.

One thing I’ve learned is that commercial awareness isn’t just about the headlines. It’s about understanding why something matters. Starting with foundational concepts like scarcity, supply and demand, and the basic economic problem, gives you the tools to link stories together and think critically.

You’re doing great by simply being aware of the challenge. Don’t worry about retention right away. Focus on understanding things little by little, and it will start to click.

 

[Amma Usman]

does anyone know how many VS places there are for milbank?

From their website, I’ve seen there are 12 TC spots, so I reckon their VS number is about that size, most likely more. Feel free to email Grad Rec to be sure Here’s their email: [email protected]

Link below…

London Careers FAQs

Shaping the legal landscape. Driven to deliver exceptional results for our clients, we push boundaries and challenge assumptions. That’s been core to our ethos since our founding in 1866. It fuels how we work and define ourselves, and it informs our growth and evolution as a firm.

www.milbank.com

 

[Amma Usman]

Anyone know if Mishcon sends out all ACs for summer at the same time? I see a few postings about ACs, but I haven't been rejected after the VI I completed over a month ago.

I wouldn’t worry too much. Sometimes progression emails or next stage invites can be delayed for all sorts of reasons, especially around capacity or internal scheduling. It’s not always a reflection of how you’ve done.

In the meantime, I’d really recommend using this period to keep building on key skills that will help you regardless of what happens next. For example, brushing up on commercial awareness, practising your interview skills, or even doing mock case study exercises. These will not only prep you for an AC if it comes, but also sharpen you for future applications down the line. Also, don’t underestimate how helpful it can be to reach out to trainees and lawyers at firms you’re interested in/even outside the firm. Their insight can really shape how you approach interviews and give you a more rounded view of the industry. It’s such an underrated part of preparation that often makes a huge difference.

You’re doing all the right things by staying proactive. Keep going…things often fall into place when you least expect it.

 

[Amma Usman]

Is it ok to ask for feedback on an AC even if I got the vac scheme?

This is definitely something that can be done, though it’s not something I see happen often. The firm will usually give you feedback on your vac scheme performance anyway, which some argue tends to be a more meaningful point for reflection.

At this stage, especially if assessment centres are still ongoing, recruiters are likely focused on processing those rather than giving feedback to candidates who have already secured a vac scheme offer. In some cases, the feedback at this point might be fairly minimal or even negligible, depending on how you performed.

That said, if you're genuinely curious and would find it helpful for your development, there’s no harm in politely asking. Just manage expectations in terms of how detailed a response you might get.

 

[Amma Usman]

The upcoming cycle is going to be my 2nd application since graduating. I've only been doing retail work and volunteering in this time. Is this something I am likely to be questioned on during interviews? IDK why but it feels like I've done nothing with my time, but I'm committed to law so I haven't felt the need to pursue graduate positions other than vac schemes. I've also had medical issues that made doing things and being active quite difficult, although I'd rather not disclose it to the firms I apply to.

This is something I'm always worried about for whatever reason, does anybody have personal experience or know somebody who has been in this position and succeeded?

Please don’t worry. Retail and volunteering experience are really valuable. They show transferable skills like communication, teamwork and resilience that law firms highly value.

For example, you could say something like, managing volunteering alongside part-time retail work helped you learn how to juggle multiple responsibilities while staying organised and reliable. That’s a key skill in law, where you often have to manage competing deadlines.

It’s all about how you frame it. Many people secure training contracts without legal experience by showing strong skills and self-awareness. You’re doing really well. Keep going.

 

[Mug Fan]

Morning everyone, I have a bit of a silly question. How do you actually build your commercial awareness? I have signed up to newsletters such as Little Law and Non-billable which I am trying to be more consistent with my reading. I just realised that I have been passively reading without retain the information 🤣 Any tips to improve your commercial awareness and how to think more commercially are welcome 🙏

I subscribed to the commercial awareness course on TCLA. The key with commercial awareness is to build it over time - eventually you start seeing/recognising the same themes cropping up and your CA feels organic and not crammed.

TCLA course gives you a 15 minute revision/quiz every day of the main stories going on and I found it really helped me!

I also listen to the 10 min FT podcast each day.

Little and often works for CA!

 

[Mango]

Anyone heard back from Amex post round 1 interview?

 

[CupOfTea17]

Hi guys!

This was my 1st application cycle and so far nothing come from it yet 😅
I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on what to do over summer and also during my PGDL (which i start in sept) which isn't just VS's as they seem hard to come by! Any knowledge about building legal experience or what stands out on an application which I can do in my own time would be amazing!
Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear 🤞❤️

 

[User5678]

has anyone heard from Browne Jacobson post TI today? (Losing patience now😭)

 

[jta227]

Does anyone have any good ideas/resources for temp legal jobs to do in the next 2 months? I’d have to take a month worth of annual leave in June/July for schemes and so getting a new job right now isn’t that feasible but would still like to be doing *something* relevant if possible.