Training Contract Advice
I have been applying for training contracts for a while now and have been unsuccessful. I understand that the competition is fierce, and so I would like to ask for advice. I hoped to hear another point of view and understand what else I can do. I think a good starting point will be outlining my background.
I graduated in 2021 from a top 30 law school (Russell Group) with a first class. I really enjoyed my time at university, but it is not a highly regarded school for law. My degree integrated a year abroad which I did in Hong Kong. I also interned in Singapore (one month in-house legal internship), and studied law in Paris (summer course, competitive placement).
I have taken part in extracurricular activities during university, which include the StreetLaw project, negotiation competition, mediation course (training approved by the College of Mediators and certified by The CPD Certification Service). I also gained some experience through one of my modules (family law) which focused on providing legal advice under the supervision of a family law solicitor to individuals who approached the university law clinic.
I think my A-Levels are part of what is hampering my chances as I scored an A, B, C, and D.
I understand that my background is not exceptional, and other candidates have stronger marks from more prestigious universities, along with better extracurricular activities.
What I would ask for, is an objective opinion on my potential chances of securing a training contract, and anything else I should be doing. I am presently applying for practice assistant roles, paralegal roles, and training contracts. I have also looked at the GLS (application in process).
The firms I would be interested in are White & Case, HFW, and Herbert Smith Freehills, Taylor Wessing, and Mishcon de Reya.
I am happy to provide more details if helpful. Any advice would be really appreciated.
I graduated in 2021 from a top 30 law school (Russell Group) with a first class. I really enjoyed my time at university, but it is not a highly regarded school for law. My degree integrated a year abroad which I did in Hong Kong. I also interned in Singapore (one month in-house legal internship), and studied law in Paris (summer course, competitive placement).
I have taken part in extracurricular activities during university, which include the StreetLaw project, negotiation competition, mediation course (training approved by the College of Mediators and certified by The CPD Certification Service). I also gained some experience through one of my modules (family law) which focused on providing legal advice under the supervision of a family law solicitor to individuals who approached the university law clinic.
I think my A-Levels are part of what is hampering my chances as I scored an A, B, C, and D.
I understand that my background is not exceptional, and other candidates have stronger marks from more prestigious universities, along with better extracurricular activities.
What I would ask for, is an objective opinion on my potential chances of securing a training contract, and anything else I should be doing. I am presently applying for practice assistant roles, paralegal roles, and training contracts. I have also looked at the GLS (application in process).
The firms I would be interested in are White & Case, HFW, and Herbert Smith Freehills, Taylor Wessing, and Mishcon de Reya.
I am happy to provide more details if helpful. Any advice would be really appreciated.
(edited 10 months ago)
KC
A first class degree from a strong university is a big positive so well done there, ditto the extracurriculars sound positive too.
The A levels are in truth not ideal but I think on balance the first class degree offsets this mostly on the academic side - some firms will simply operate to a "you need AAB" or similar when reviewing applications so you may find yourself simply screened out. This was the case when I was applying for contracts 15 years ago - firms may take a slightly more flexible approach now. Essentially you will be up against candidates with decent 2.1s, the odd first and straight As with the odd B on the A levels.
What legal work experience do you have? ie. vac schemes, paralegalling, informal work experience in legal departments where friends/family work? Gaining as much of this as possible is key.
Is there any particular reason you've singled out the firms you have as they are all very different? TC applications are very much a numbers game and I remember making about 30 in a year to get my offer and if I had my time again I would have made more. Are you making it through to interview stage or not?
Without knowing more at this stage - I'd say your chances are reasonable - not great, not terrible. If I was in your position I would be trying to obtain as much work experience as possible (ideally paid paralegalling if you can) + anything else to maximise your chances and make a decision on how many yearly cycles of applications you're willing to make before looking at any alternative careers or options.
A first class degree from a strong university is a big positive so well done there, ditto the extracurriculars sound positive too.
The A levels are in truth not ideal but I think on balance the first class degree offsets this mostly on the academic side - some firms will simply operate to a "you need AAB" or similar when reviewing applications so you may find yourself simply screened out. This was the case when I was applying for contracts 15 years ago - firms may take a slightly more flexible approach now. Essentially you will be up against candidates with decent 2.1s, the odd first and straight As with the odd B on the A levels.
What legal work experience do you have? ie. vac schemes, paralegalling, informal work experience in legal departments where friends/family work? Gaining as much of this as possible is key.
Is there any particular reason you've singled out the firms you have as they are all very different? TC applications are very much a numbers game and I remember making about 30 in a year to get my offer and if I had my time again I would have made more. Are you making it through to interview stage or not?
Without knowing more at this stage - I'd say your chances are reasonable - not great, not terrible. If I was in your position I would be trying to obtain as much work experience as possible (ideally paid paralegalling if you can) + anything else to maximise your chances and make a decision on how many yearly cycles of applications you're willing to make before looking at any alternative careers or options.
Original post by AMac86
KC
A first class degree from a strong university is a big positive so well done there, ditto the extracurriculars sound positive too.
The A levels are in truth not ideal but I think on balance the first class degree offsets this mostly on the academic side - some firms will simply operate to a "you need AAB" or similar when reviewing applications so you may find yourself simply screened out. This was the case when I was applying for contracts 15 years ago - firms may take a slightly more flexible approach now. Essentially you will be up against candidates with decent 2.1s, the odd first and straight As with the odd B on the A levels.
What legal work experience do you have? ie. vac schemes, paralegalling, informal work experience in legal departments where friends/family work? Gaining as much of this as possible is key.
Is there any particular reason you've singled out the firms you have as they are all very different? TC applications are very much a numbers game and I remember making about 30 in a year to get my offer and if I had my time again I would have made more. Are you making it through to interview stage or not?
Without knowing more at this stage - I'd say your chances are reasonable - not great, not terrible. If I was in your position I would be trying to obtain as much work experience as possible (ideally paid paralegalling if you can) + anything else to maximise your chances and make a decision on how many yearly cycles of applications you're willing to make before looking at any alternative careers or options.
A first class degree from a strong university is a big positive so well done there, ditto the extracurriculars sound positive too.
The A levels are in truth not ideal but I think on balance the first class degree offsets this mostly on the academic side - some firms will simply operate to a "you need AAB" or similar when reviewing applications so you may find yourself simply screened out. This was the case when I was applying for contracts 15 years ago - firms may take a slightly more flexible approach now. Essentially you will be up against candidates with decent 2.1s, the odd first and straight As with the odd B on the A levels.
What legal work experience do you have? ie. vac schemes, paralegalling, informal work experience in legal departments where friends/family work? Gaining as much of this as possible is key.
Is there any particular reason you've singled out the firms you have as they are all very different? TC applications are very much a numbers game and I remember making about 30 in a year to get my offer and if I had my time again I would have made more. Are you making it through to interview stage or not?
Without knowing more at this stage - I'd say your chances are reasonable - not great, not terrible. If I was in your position I would be trying to obtain as much work experience as possible (ideally paid paralegalling if you can) + anything else to maximise your chances and make a decision on how many yearly cycles of applications you're willing to make before looking at any alternative careers or options.
AMac86,
Thank you kindly for taking the time to respond, this is helpful.
LEGAL EXPERIENCE
In terms of legal experience, this is quite limited. My only legal experience was in the in-house team of a Singaporean “maritime company involved in shipping, floating infrastructure, deepwater oil & gas production, and new sustainable technologies.” My work mainly involved document review and legal research. During university, one of my modules also involved legal work. For example, I wrote letters of advice and attended meetings whilst recording my work on system akin to that which lawyers use at law firms. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of it.
FIRM SELECTION
I chose the noted firms for varying reasons. Please see these noted below:
• White & Case: International law firm offering a guaranteed international secondment with a brilliant international arbitration team (IA). IA is what I hope my practice to focus on. I really enjoyed this module during my time at university, and also had some exposure to it in Singapore. I also attended the Arbitration academy in Paris and found the subject fascinating, cementing my decision to pursue this area of the law.
• HFW: Another international law firm which offers its trainees an international secondment. I understand that they have a strong shipping practice, which will offer a great opportunity to develop as an international arbitration practitioner, as it is my understanding that these types of disputes are often resolved in IA.
• HSF: Another strong disputes practice, particularly on the international arbitration side.
• Taylor Wessing: Very talented individuals working at this firm. I have spoken to the Head of their Private Equity team and have heard remarkable things about them. It would be a privilege to work under someone like this. I have also heard that the culture is fantastic.
• Mishcon de Reya: Another strong disputes practice.
I am mindful that these reasons are not very detailed, but this is an outline of my motivations for applying for them.
GAINING LEGAL WORK EXPERIENCE
On the point of gaining legal work experience, I have been applying to paralegal and practice assistant positions with no luck. I have reached out to recruiters to assist also but have been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, I have not made it to the interview stage.
I have also applied for the Government Legal Scheme (GLS). I have recently completed their Verbal Reasoning Test, with results being announced between the 12 – 14 June. Do you think I will have a better chance at securing a role here?
Based on this information, are you able to provide any further details as to what you think my chances may be at securing a training contract?
An as aside, I also considered doing an LLM. If I was to do this, I would apply to universities such as UCL and LSE. If I did an LLM at one of these universities, and secured a distinction, do you think this would improve my chances when applying for training contracts?
Thank you again for taking the time to respond.
(edited 10 months ago)
KC,
What you need to maximise your chances is legal work experience, however you can find it. I wouldn't recommend doing an LLM unless you want to do it purely for your own academic interest, it won't make any difference to applying for training contracts - particularly as you already tick the degree level academics box already. From my perspective - it's an expensive waste of a year when you could be doing something much more useful to get that TC.
How many TC applications are you making/ have you made, and are you getting through to interview stage or not?
Re work experience this is what I would do (and mostly did):
1) relentlessly apply for vac schemes at firms that offer them - it's a number games, the application need to be good quality, but you also need to do as many as you can
2) continue applying for paralegaling/legal assistant/company secretarial roles - again as many applications as you can.
3) - do you have any contacts through friends or family who work in companies that have a legal team/function/solicitor and can arrange some work experience, or a paralegaling role for you that way? I had no background or contacts in law but managed to gain some incredibly useful work experience from family friends who wern't lawyers, but worked in an office where they could ask the legal team "can a friend come in for a week of work experience" - this then led to a summer working as a legal assistant for the legal team of a local company.
I wouldn't pin your hopes on wanting to work for a specific firm and qualifying in a specific department, particularly a relatively niche area like International Arb & the firms that offer is (Like W&C, HSF etc... tend to be those wanting top top academics. All big firms have talented individuals working for them and who the head of private equity is is frankly irrelevant to a trainee or NQ - You'll be working for associates or senior associates and how they treat you is far more important. Culture is important and it does differ between firms, but ultimately if you're looking to do international work at city firms the culture is going to be pretty hard nosed and involve regular long, stressful hours with demanding clients wanting another all-nighter pulled to get something done. Not to say training at a city firm isn't great experience (it is), but it has its costs and drawbacks too. Obviously when you're applying you need to find some hook to answer the "Why Firm X" question but the reality is as a trainee or an NQ it's much of muchness which city firm you work for within their broad categories.
Realistically - do you have a reasonably chance of training at a top city or US firm that offers Int Arb as a seat? Unfortunately I think the answer here is no. I have a former international arbitrator in my team and he has a Oxbridge first and top A levels, very sharp, very astute
What you do have a chance of is finding a training contract *somewhere* and that needs to be your mental approach. That means working on increasing the work experience mentioned above, and applying for as many training contracts as you can in London, or any other area you would like to work in that does commercial work, many of these firms will be smaller that what you might want, but unless you end up with multiple offers you can't be fussy. Apply to the big firms too, because you never know..., but apply, apply, apply.
It's really hard to put chances into numerical terms because we're all different, your CV might catch someones eye, an interview goes incredibly well, you only need 1 lucky break etc... There's a chance, not a good chance, not a remote chance, but a chance. I would give it your best shot for up to 2 years so you've had at least 2 rounds of application cycles to see how it goes before re-appraising whether you want to keep trying.
What you need to maximise your chances is legal work experience, however you can find it. I wouldn't recommend doing an LLM unless you want to do it purely for your own academic interest, it won't make any difference to applying for training contracts - particularly as you already tick the degree level academics box already. From my perspective - it's an expensive waste of a year when you could be doing something much more useful to get that TC.
How many TC applications are you making/ have you made, and are you getting through to interview stage or not?
Re work experience this is what I would do (and mostly did):
1) relentlessly apply for vac schemes at firms that offer them - it's a number games, the application need to be good quality, but you also need to do as many as you can
2) continue applying for paralegaling/legal assistant/company secretarial roles - again as many applications as you can.
3) - do you have any contacts through friends or family who work in companies that have a legal team/function/solicitor and can arrange some work experience, or a paralegaling role for you that way? I had no background or contacts in law but managed to gain some incredibly useful work experience from family friends who wern't lawyers, but worked in an office where they could ask the legal team "can a friend come in for a week of work experience" - this then led to a summer working as a legal assistant for the legal team of a local company.
I wouldn't pin your hopes on wanting to work for a specific firm and qualifying in a specific department, particularly a relatively niche area like International Arb & the firms that offer is (Like W&C, HSF etc... tend to be those wanting top top academics. All big firms have talented individuals working for them and who the head of private equity is is frankly irrelevant to a trainee or NQ - You'll be working for associates or senior associates and how they treat you is far more important. Culture is important and it does differ between firms, but ultimately if you're looking to do international work at city firms the culture is going to be pretty hard nosed and involve regular long, stressful hours with demanding clients wanting another all-nighter pulled to get something done. Not to say training at a city firm isn't great experience (it is), but it has its costs and drawbacks too. Obviously when you're applying you need to find some hook to answer the "Why Firm X" question but the reality is as a trainee or an NQ it's much of muchness which city firm you work for within their broad categories.
Realistically - do you have a reasonably chance of training at a top city or US firm that offers Int Arb as a seat? Unfortunately I think the answer here is no. I have a former international arbitrator in my team and he has a Oxbridge first and top A levels, very sharp, very astute
What you do have a chance of is finding a training contract *somewhere* and that needs to be your mental approach. That means working on increasing the work experience mentioned above, and applying for as many training contracts as you can in London, or any other area you would like to work in that does commercial work, many of these firms will be smaller that what you might want, but unless you end up with multiple offers you can't be fussy. Apply to the big firms too, because you never know..., but apply, apply, apply.
It's really hard to put chances into numerical terms because we're all different, your CV might catch someones eye, an interview goes incredibly well, you only need 1 lucky break etc... There's a chance, not a good chance, not a remote chance, but a chance. I would give it your best shot for up to 2 years so you've had at least 2 rounds of application cycles to see how it goes before re-appraising whether you want to keep trying.
I agree. Ditch the list and just apply. I applied to loads in the final year of my LLB. This was a very long time ago as I am old and I applied to 139 London firms that year and had 25 interviews - definitely in my case a numbers game and I got the offer in Feb., before I finished my LLB for after my post grad year so that was a huge relief. I don't suggest everyone has to apply to 139 firms and these days the process is longer than must application form and getting trains to London for interviews of my day, but you certainly need to put a lot of work into applications and just keep going with vac scheme and TC applications.
You graduated presumably in law in 2021. You could have had 2 years of qualifying work experience by now in some paralegal jobs and then qualified as soon as SQE1 and 2 ere passed so may be you need to forget about those very hard to get into top law firms, get a paralegal job in any kind of firm at all but making sure whatever it is count as QWE under the new system and then consider studying for SQE1 and 2 at the same time to get qualified that way.
You graduated presumably in law in 2021. You could have had 2 years of qualifying work experience by now in some paralegal jobs and then qualified as soon as SQE1 and 2 ere passed so may be you need to forget about those very hard to get into top law firms, get a paralegal job in any kind of firm at all but making sure whatever it is count as QWE under the new system and then consider studying for SQE1 and 2 at the same time to get qualified that way.
Original post by KC1976
An as aside, I also considered doing an LLM. If I was to do this, I would apply to universities such as UCL and LSE. If I did an LLM at one of these universities, and secured a distinction, do you think this would improve my chances when applying for training contracts?
Thank you again for taking the time to respond.
An as aside, I also considered doing an LLM. If I was to do this, I would apply to universities such as UCL and LSE. If I did an LLM at one of these universities, and secured a distinction, do you think this would improve my chances when applying for training contracts?
Thank you again for taking the time to respond.
My cousin attended a top 50 university for Law and achieved a first class honours degree. Then she did a LLM in Intellectual Property Law and obtained a Merit at Kings College London. Also she did the LPC as well. Now she is a paralegal, and will go onto become a City law firm solicitor in a few years.
So if I was you, apply to LLM programmes: Cambridge, LSE, UCL, KCL, QMUL and SOAS.
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