The Student Room Group

What uni do you need to work at Clifford Chance, or similar

Ideally, I want to work at one of the Magic Circle firms. I have been unfortunate with respect to not getting Oxford, and I have yet to hear from LSE.

If I was to take Warwick or KCL would this severely dent my chances of getting a job at one of the elite firms?

I take the IB and as I said not getting Oxford was unfortunate and not a lack of academic intellect. Basically, should I risk a year out (GAP YEAR) to re-apply for Oxford OR take one of KCL or Warwick... tthis assumes i dont get LSE ofcourse. and i think i deserve LSE.

nice to hear your thoughts, especially those who have had experience of the criteria used by magic circle firms.

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pshh...the majority of Law applicants deserve LSE/Oxbridge/etc...doesn't mean they get it though anyways

I was at KCL's open day the other day and they said that magic circle firms recruit from KCL alot because of the calibre of students they turn out, and big firms often hold dinner events for exclusively KCL students and other events...sure LSE/Oxbridge are a great help in getting a gd career but only if you do well there...if you got KCL and get a first or even anywhere and get a first then you have a good a v. good chance.
Reply 2
The MC firms are actually very diverse in the candidates they take in terms of where they studied by comparison to a number of other large City firms. Of the guys I study with on the GDL, none of those who are training with MC firms studied at top five universities, let alone Oxbridge or LSE. What really matters is your grades and extra curriculars in getting your application to the interview stage from my experience.
Reply 3
Warwick and KCL are top universities, of course they won't 'dent' your chances. Surely you can work out that the magic circle don't recruit exclusively from Oxbridge... there are probably more training contracts with those firms than there are Oxbridge graduates applying?!

Even by taking a look at trainee profiles on firms' websites you should be able to tell that they take graduates from universities a lot 'lesser' than KCL and Warwick.
I was on Clifford Chance's website the other day... MMMMMMMM... Don't blame you for coveting. Fourth floor devoted to gym facilities, i.e. swimming pool, etc: all free! Plus the 55K on qualification isn't bad... Ha ha.
I almost think this thread might actually be a joke...
Reply 6
Have a look on their website at the universities that they gove presentations at etc. Presumably they are particularly interested in those select few. I'm sure you will find that in addition to Oxford, KCL and Warwick make an appearance.
It's nice to think in the long term but don't for a moment get hung up on thinking that employers are solely interested in your academics (I've been there, they ain't buying it). Not to mention the fact that you will need to achieve at least a 2.i and have good A-level grades to make a decent enough application in light of all the applications they receive. For now, I think most people would suggest that your A-level house is in order.
Reply 7
CC and the rest of the MC are 'willing' to take any of top 20, obviously weighted towards certain universities. KCL law you'll be absolutely fine and Warwick does well too :smile:
Visiting_Babylon
I was on Clifford Chance's website the other day... MMMMMMMM... Don't blame you for coveting. Fourth floor devoted to gym facilities, i.e. swimming pool, etc: all free! Plus the 55K on qualification isn't bad... Ha ha.


Agreed!! That would pay the bills minus extortionate gym membership
As the urban legend goes, CC took a trainee who went to Thames Valley apparently...


Reputation of the university gets your foot in the door in the sense that it is one of the things they look at first (in addition to UCAS points, predicted 2.1 grade), meaning your application probably won't be binned straight away. After that initial sifting, the rest is down to you and how strong your application is, not your university's name...
Solemn Wanderer
On the subject of exercise facilities in law buildings, the squash court at the top of the US Supreme Court building is supposedly known as the 'Highest Court in the Land'!

Isn't legal humour great.


Definitely, I had not even heard about this squash court. Let's hope they get plenty of time to use it.
Reply 11
kidney thief
As the urban legend goes, CC took a trainee who went to Thames Valley apparently...


I heard that was Slaughter and May.. :wink:
Another classic story which has been twisted over the years!
Reply 13
I know of S&M interviewing a London Met student. Didn't take them though. Haven't heard of the Thames Valley story.
Grr... am I the only person on this forum that doesn't want to do a law degree in order to work at 'Clifford Chance, or similar?' From what I can see, it consists of doing boring boring boring commercial litigation matters, charging random companies silly money for sending an email and working all hours God sends - what happened to having a life?

I'm on a gap year working in the legal dept at a brokerage in the City which uses Clifford Chance for a whole heap of stuff - I've seen the invoices - it's insane. Also, they issue all trainees with blackberries that you're not allowed to switch off ever - even overnight or on holiday. :frown: There's a guy on secondment in my office from there who is a complete **** - because at CC secretaries do everything he can't do anything on a computer on his own without ordering me to do it, then attempting to blame me if anything goes wrong! He also makes random other (arguably more senior) people in the office do his scanning for him if he needs something when I'm away from my desk. I wouldn't mind helping anyone, but his attitude really gets to me.

I did get my own back though - he failed to realise that when you 'pp' a letter, you sign your own name on behalf of someone else, not writing out that person's name in block caps.... being merely a daffy school leaver, I just innocently stuck all the letters in their envelopes and sent them away heheh. Oops. It took four months for someone else to point that out...
Reply 15
Visiting_Babylon
I was on Clifford Chance's website the other day... MMMMMMMM... Don't blame you for coveting. Fourth floor devoted to gym facilities, i.e. swimming pool, etc: all free! Plus the 55K on qualification isn't bad... Ha ha.


That may be because you don't have time outside of work to do all that. If a firm is willing to provide you leisure facilities in the building and pay you 55k p/a as a NQ you have to assume they will own you, your body, your soul and your life for a long time.
Ethereal
That may be because you don't have time outside of work to do all that. If a firm is willing to provide you leisure facilities in the building and pay you 55k p/a as a NQ you have to assume they will own you, your body, your soul and your life for a long time.


I'll sell my soul to the Devil if it means I can retire before I'm 50. I was reading an article in The Times the other week, and this woman basically said, everyone in their 40s was working part-time and had all the obligatory nice car/house/etc.

I think a little perspective is needed generally, I mean people whinge and moan about the 12hr+ working days, but c'mon, wouldn't you rather be doing that than working a 12 hour shift in a factory? My father works for the Met, and when he was on serious crime, he'd work silly hour shifts... I've never met a policeman nor woman who moans about their hours or workload, and I know many!

I just think, well, it'll be worth it in the end. Call me shallow...
The whole point is that ignoring them etc is a sackable offence...

As for the rest of the stuff about him, it sounds like he was just fairly ignorant! I doubt he's indicative of your typical City lawyer.
Reply 18
Visiting_Babylon
I'll sell my soul to the Devil if it means I can retire before I'm 50. I was reading an article in The Times the other week, and this woman basically said, everyone in their 40s was working part-time and had all the obligatory nice car/house/etc.


Didn't you deny the existence of the Devil in another thread?

I think a little perspective is needed generally, I mean people whinge and moan about the 12hr+ working days, but c'mon, wouldn't you rather be doing that than working a 12 hour shift in a factory? My father works for the Met, and when he was on serious crime, he'd work silly hour shifts... I've never met a policeman nor woman who moans about their hours or workload, and I know many!

I just think, well, it'll be worth it in the end. Call me shallow...


I'm not condoning people who whinge and moan, I am merely saying that if a firm provides all that they clearly don't want you to leave the building.

As for shallow, well yes, I'd say money being a motivating factor is shallow. Answer me this though, what is the point of earning so much if you don't have the spare time to enjoy it, and you are going to die young because of the toll the job takes on your health?
Deary me you are antagonistic! Lawyer indeed... You don't need to be like that ALL THE TIME though...

I did deny the existence of the Devil, but I was not being deadly serious, when I said I'd 'sell my soul'. It's called figurative speech...

If you are working part time when you're 40, can you not enjoy your money then?