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The Student's Guide to the Leading Law Firms and Sets in the UK

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The Student's Guide to the Leading Law Firms and Sets in the UK 2021 The student’s guide to the leading law firms and sets in the UK e-Edition chambers-student.com Connect with us on cbaK We welcome applications from the most talented people from all backgrounds. We are convinced that only the highest-performing teams – which maximise the power of different opinions, perspectives and cultural references – will succeed in the marketplace. www.traverssmith.com 10 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2AL +44 (0) 20 7295 3000 Preparation and Applications What are legal recruiters looking for? p.16 Making successful applications p.19 We welcome applications How to succeed at interviews and assessment days p.21 from the most talented Pro bono and volunteering p.24 Vacation schemes p.26 people from all backgrounds. Vacation scheme deadlines p.29 Training contract deadlines p.32 We are convinced that only the highest-performing teams – which maximise the power of different opinions, perspectives and cultural references – will succeed in the marketplace. www.traverssmith.com 10 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2AL +44 (0) 20 7295 3000 What are legal recruiters looking for? chambersstudent.co.uk What are legal recruiters looking for? Preparation & Applications Preparation Competition for training contracts and pupillages is Law firms’ preferred universities fierce. To get one you will need not just an excellent Over nine years we’ve tracked the universities academic record, but the experiences to prove you can feeding the legal profession. plunge into the professional world more deftly than your • 76.5% of trainees at the leading 130+ firms are rivals. Applying directly out of university with one or two Oxbridge and Russell Group graduates extracurricular experiences under your belt works for • London universities topple Oxbridge for graduate some, but our research has shown that a lot of success- earnings in law ful candidates have done a fair bit more than that. And • Non-law graduates earn 6% more than law grads it’s no bad thing if you’ve already taken several steps up • Regional firms prefer regional universities the career ladder by the time you start a traineeship or pupillage. Most firms and sets in this guide require recruits to have Before starting to apply you need to make sure your CV at least a 2:1. You may already be applying for training and experiences square with what recruiters want. A contracts and vacation schemes in your second year, so structured approach to gaining the right experiences and if most of your first-year marks are thirds or 2:2s, you’ll a healthy dose of self-confidence can improve anyone’s struggle. If you get a First that will definitely impress (at prospects. least on paper); having a 2:2 will make your application round a pretty joyless occasion. Many recruiters will tell you that they take exceptional circumstances into ac- How impressive is your degree? count, but these circumstances do truly need to be ex- Having a law degree is no reason to assume entitlement. ceptional – e.g. the star student who suffered a serious From the top sets at the Bar to the little-known solicitors’ accident as finals loomed. Confirmation of this by means firms on the high street, non-law graduates are just as of a letter from your tutor (or, better still, a doctor’s note) able to secure training positions as their LLB peers. In the might assist. In addition, you will need something awe- very few cases where employers prefer law grads they some to overcome that 2:2 – a year or more in a great job, a will specify this, so unless you hear differently, conver- further degree, or impressive voluntary work might cut it. sion route applicants may proceed with confidence. Many Of course, none of these is a guaranteed fix. “If you have recruiters tell us just how highly they regard staff with average or less than average grades, you’re really going to language skills and scientific or technical degrees, par- struggle,” one recruiter told us. “I sometimes feel that no ticularly where their clients’ businesses will benefit, and one warns students about that early enough.” humanities degrees require many of the research, ana- lytical or communication skills needed by lawyers. For an overview of firms’ academic entry criteria (includ- ing minimum A-level grades) check out our table of Ap- Non-law graduates are just as employable as LLBers. plication and selection criteria. In fact we did a giant study of 2,500 trainee grads over three years and found non-law graduates to earn more. The average NQ salary for non-law students is £72,551, Extracurricular activities 6% higher than the average NQ salary earned by law Addicted to Instagram or obsessed with TikTok dances? grads: £68,406. Find out more in our Trends affecting the Get over it. To succeed in your aim of becoming a lawyer, legal profession online article. you will need to devote a large chunk of your free time at university and thereafter to undertaking worthwhile, Many solicitors’ firms and barristers’ chambers subscribe constructive pursuits. Take advantage of the practically to the idea of an unofficial pecking order of universities; unlimited opportunities on offer. Every university has so- at some the bias is undeniably evident. If you worry that cieties. Better still: set up your own event, society, club, your university isn’t one of the best-regarded, then you business or social venture. Being able to show you are should make sure you get the best degree result possible entrepreneurial and can achieve concrete results work- and work on enriching your CV in other ways. ing on projects is increasingly important to recruiters. But you cannot undertake these pursuits just as CV fodder. Do something you are genuinely interested in; recruiters are always telling us they want to see that individuals have a passion for the things they have done. 16 chambersstudent.co.uk What are legal recruiters looking for? Some kind of legal experience, whether it’s organising Commercial awareness events for your university law society or shadowing your ‘Commercial awareness’ will quickly become an annoying aunt’s neighbour’s lawyer-friend, is crucial, since you buzz-phrase of the recruitment process, but ignore it at need to convince prospective employers that you’re se- your peril. Firms want to know that you understand their rious about the profession. “If you haven’t been in a firm business and its clients, and the threats and opportuni- before, you’ll have a hard time convincing us,” says a man- ties they face. Consider how the big political and eco- aging partner. “It’s far better to see that candidates have nomic stories affect how businesses and other organi- experienced what lawyers do and still want to do it.” You sations operate. Here are some obvious places to start: can get experience later on through open days and vaca- Brexit; Covid-19 and lockdowns; efforts to boost the UK tion schemes, but it’s never too early to start, not least economy; climate change and sustainability; the housing because vac schemes and open days are now devilishly market and its foreign investors; tax avoidance and off- hard to get onto. shore finance; emerging markets; the potential of univer- sal basic income; globalisation; regulation in the financial Firms want to see that you will devour the services sector; the ever-expanding reach of AI in busi- work they do and have ideas on where the ness. Drill down on the sectors that interest you: energy, & Applications Preparation business is headed – recruiters are looking technology and the media are particularly busy sectors at the moment. for future partners, after all. Read our practice area guides on page 61 Read the Finan- Non-legal extracurriculars can be just as useful to show cial Times, The Economist (both have great podcasts too) that you play well with others. It also gives you something or any newspaper’s business section. This will get you to write about when an application form says: ‘Discuss a primed on business jargon. BBC Radio 4 also has some time when you worked with a group to achieve a com- podcasts that will broaden your knowledge, including mon goal.’ Relevant work experience is vital to almost Evan Davis’ The Bottom Line. If it gets too intense, Private every successful job application, so search hard for suit- Eye provides a lighter take on current affairs. Chambers able positions. Many universities run law-specific career Student’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages are seminars in association with solicitors’ firms or barristers’ definitely worth following for daily updates on how the chambers. Be savvy, go along and find out as much as wider world affects the law. And on our website you’ll find you can by talking to trainee solicitors and recruiters. a handy page listing legal blogs to follow by sector. Networking is a key tactic you should be employing. Go online for our Nine networking tips. Students looking to go into criminal and family law should be aware of recent legislation and current issues and be Making your mark will be even more difficult in the wake able to discuss the major cases that have hit the head- of Covid-19, so be sure to make the most of every oppor- lines. Anyone interested in administrative and public law tunity you can find. Do your networking online, look for issues will have a full-time job keeping up to date with virtual firm events and demonstrate that you can adapt to all the various developments in that field; Radio 4’s Law the most challenging circumstances imaginable.
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