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What makes a good vacation scheme application?

Vacation schemes are a great way to get first-hand experience of working in a law firm. Even better, if you perform well and impress your colleagues, you’ve got a very good chance of being offered a training contract at the end.  

Competition for vacation scheme places can be fierce, but with some thorough planning and research here’s how you can make your application stand out from the crowd. 

  1. Do your research 

It sounds obvious, but before you start your application you need to research the firm. This means finding out in which areas of law the firm practises, what the culture is like and how the firm markets itself. If you want to go the extra mile, you could also try finding out what the firm’s future plans are and how it intends to make them happen. Having this knowledge will help shape your answers to the questions on the application form and will help you to tailor your responses accordingly. 

2. Answer the question 

Before you start writing, read through the entire application form; this will help focus your mind on the questions to hand, as well as give you an idea of exactly how much work there is to be done! Read and re-read each individual question and think carefully about what the firm is asking of you, rather than what you would like the firm to be asking you! Precision and attention to detail are important attributes in a lawyer and so a recruiter will want to see that you have answered the question at hand. 

3. Numbers game 

Sending out hundreds of applications with the same answers copied and pasted into each form isn’t advisable. But, at the same time, applying for vacation schemes and training contracts is still a bit of a numbers game. There’s a balance to be struck between spending enough time tailoring your application to each firm and applying to enough firms to give yourself a good chance of succeeding. Think carefully about where this balance lies for you.  

4. Clear, concise and correct

Write your responses to the application form questions in simple language. At larger firms in particular, recruiters will read through hundreds, if not thousands, of applications and so you will do well to get your message across clearly. It hopefully goes without saying that there shouldn’t be any spelling, grammar or punctuation mistakes in your application form. It’s a good idea to write your answers in Word first to make sure they’re correct. 

5. Check, check and check again 

Proofread your work. Once you’ve finished a draft, wait for a couple of hours, or even overnight, before you look at it again. A fresh pair of eyes is more likely to pick up on mistakes. If you prefer reading over things in hard copy, print off your application form to give yourself the best chance of spotting errors. Ask a friend or a family member to read over your work too. 

6. Timing is everything

Send in your application ahead of time. Some firms review on a rolling basis and applying earlier will mean that the recruiter will have more time to read through your application properly. What’s more, an application that has been written and researched in plenty of time is more likely to read better than one which has been thrown together at the last minute!

7. Tailor made

Be sure to tailor your application to the firm you’re applying. You can do this by mentioning something specific to the firm or linking your in each of your answers. Each application is different and each firm will be trying to elicit slightly different information from you. A recruiter will be able to spot an application form which has been copied and pasted several times over. 

Applying for vacation schemes can be a lengthy process, but by investing enough time and energy into your applications, you will reap the benefits in the long run. Good luck and don’t give up! 

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Kennedys Virtual SQE Insight Event

Are you looking to find out more about Kennedys SQE training programme before making an application?

Kennedys is hosting a virtual insight event on Thursday 15 December from 12pm – 1pm for students who are interested in the SQE Training Programme and are looking to make an application this year.

Hear from the Early Careers team about the recruitment process and also our SQE trainees who will give an insight into the programme and their training experience so far. There will also be a Q&A session.

Kennedys will be running this event via Microsoft Teams Live in order to host an unlimited amount of candidates.

Registration closes on Monday 12 December. Upon registering, Kennedys will send you the link to the event.

 

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What is an international secondment?

An international secondment is a period of time spent abroad, usually working in an overseas office of a law firm. International secondments can be undertaken during your training contract or after qualification.  

For trainee solicitors, an international secondment will usually last six months, but for more senior lawyers it is not unusual for international secondments to last a year or more. 

The benefits of an international secondment are manifold. You’ll gain experience and develop your knowledge of a certain practice area whilst also learning how an overseas office of your employer law firm operates.  

Overseas offices are often smaller than their headquarters in the UK, so it is likely you will receive high levels of responsibility and become a key member of your chosen team.  

Another advantage of an international secondment is the opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture of another country or city. Many secondees also make the most of being on a particular continent and travel to exotic destinations at weekends and during holidays.  

One thing’s for sure: you’ll definitely become popular among your friendship group when you’re on international secondment! 

Some law firms, such as White & Case and Watson Farley & Williams  offer their trainee solicitors a guaranteed international secondment during their training contract.  

Other firms which have plentiful international secondment offerings are Stephenson Harwood, Clifford Chance and HFW. Consult our international secondment winners table to find out more.

If spending a seat abroad is high on your priority list, start your research now.

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‘People are at the core’: ESG-focused Butterworth named TLT senior partner

TLT has elected a new senior partner, with head of pensions Sasha Butterworth set to assume the role at the beginning of 2023.

Taking over from Andrew Glynn, who has vacated the position after seven years, Butterworth will assume a range of new duties within the firm. These include chairing both the renumeration and promotions committees.

Speaking to Legal Business, Butterworth outlined her priorities going forward: ‘People are at the core of everything we do. One of our initiatives is TLT World, which means that people can work where they want and how they want, as longs as they are meeting client needs. We have some people in the office all the time, some who work completely from home, and some who do a mixture of both. We are completely committed to that model going forward, and I am just looking to continue the great work done by my predecessor Andrew Glynn.

‘We have also started to integrate the new routes to solicitor qualification. We have had our first cohort of legal apprenticeship and graduate legal apprenticeship candidates begin their programmes; my secretary is one of them. I’m sad to lose her, but it shows how great she is! The legal solicitor apprenticeship is now open to external candidates, and the graduate solicitor apprenticeship is only open to internal candidates for the moment.’

Another of Butterworth’s duties will be leading TLT’s responsible business agenda. Earlier this year, the firm had its commitment to reach net zero by 2040, verified by the Science Based Targets initiative. On the subject, she added: ‘Responsible business is another key thing for us. We recently received ISO 14001 certification, which is basically the gold standard for sustainable business. We are also committed to reaching net zero by 2040, which is a really ambitious target.’

In addition to her senior partner responsibilities, Butterworth will continue to act as head of pensions and maintain a practice that includes advising on the pension aspects of outsourcing from the public sector and reducing scheme liabilities with medically underwritten buy-ins.

‘I’ll be focusing on key pensions clients,’ she confirmed. ‘I won’t have the complete caseload I have now, but I will be doing around 50% alongside my new duties as senior partner.’

[email protected]

This article first appeared on Legal Business

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What factors should I consider when choosing a law firm?

Despite having the common goal of qualifying as a solicitor, everyone will have slightly different priorities when choosing where to do their training contract.  

Whether your aim is to get as much client contact as possible, work on headline-making deals or earn a sky-high salary, it’s important to find out exactly what each firm has to offer before you apply.  

In this blog we set out some of the most important considerations when choosing a law firm: 

 

Practice area 

One of the first and most important things to consider is whether the firm actually has a department or team practising the area of law you’re most interested in.  

A firm can win countless awards and be making headlines daily, but if it doesn’t have a property department and you want to be a property lawyer, it’s probably not for you.  

Equally, if you’re interested in a niche area of finance or corporate law, you will need to check first that the firm practises that particular type of law. 

Some law students and prospective trainees will know from the outset that they want to be a corporate or finance lawyer and may set their sights on the City, international or US firms. These firms often have plenty of advertising and marketing materials available and are relatively easy to find. 

Other prospective trainees will know that they want to be a family or employment lawyer, or even an art or sports lawyer. A bit more research might be needed to find firms which specialise in these areas.  

Whichever area of law you think you’ll want to qualify into, it’s best to go into your training contract with an open mind.  

Law in practice can be very different to what you study at law school. It’s definitely worth waiting to see which area of law you actually enjoy working in day to day before you make your final decision. 

Consult The Legal 500 to see which firms practice in your preferred areas of law. 

 

Inclusiveness 

It’s no good if a law firm is a specialist in its field if it isn’t inclusive. You will want to be confident that you can bring your whole self to work, regardless of socioeconomic background, ethnicity, sexuality or just your personality.  

Despite the legal industry having a bit of a fusty reputation, most law firms have made inroads and now have much more diverse and inclusive workforces than in previous decades. 

Many firms also have plenty of diversity initiatives in place – whether it’s a LGBTQ+ networking group or a parent lawyer society.  

If you’re wondering how you’ll fit in at a firm, consult our inclusiveness winners table to see which firms came up trumps in this arena. 

 

Approachability 

The key to a successful training contract is often the supervision. And that supervision needs to come from someone who is approachable.  

Supervisors can be senior associates, partners or any solicitor who is qualified and more senior than you, but a good supervisor should be getting you involved in their work, answering questions and giving you regular feedback so that you can improve.  

Look out for firms that have an ‘open-door policy’, which means that you can freely knock on a senior lawyer’s door to ask a question, no matter how silly it may seem! 

 

Client contact 

Dealing with clients is a huge part of being a solicitor. During your training, you will learn how to manage and communicate with clients. This might be through observing your supervisor or by meeting with clients directly. 

Bear in mind that at larger firms, it’s unlikely you’ll be having high levels of contact with clients in your junior years. This is because big firms tend to have big clients, and the deals they’re involved in can be complex. Client contact at these firms will be largely reserved for partners and senior lawyers. 

At mid-sized and smaller firms you are much more likely to be put in front of a client early on. This could include drafting emails, calling a client or even attending client meetings, with (or sometimes even without) your supervisor. 

Compare how trainees rated their firms for client contact here. 

 

Salary 

There’s no getting away from the fact that how much you get paid might influence where you want to work.  

Some US and City law firms pay eye-wateringly high salaries which are sure to grab your attention as you browse their websites and brochures. It goes without saying that you’ll be required to work very hard in return for these competitive packages. Still, it’s nice to know that your hard graft is valued.  

Always consider the NQ salary when making your decision. NQ salaries are often significantly higher than trainee salaries and if you’re hoping to stay on at the firm post qualification, this is the amount you can expect to be paid longer term. 

Smaller firms will not pay as much as their City counterparts. The trade-off however is probably (though not always!) a much better work/life balance and earlier responsibility. 

Salary is a very important thing to consider when choosing where to apply. No amount of money will make up for you feeling unhappy when you’re working day and night, but feeling like your hard work is not adequately compensated can feel equally frustrating. 

Consult our salary winners table to find out how much you can expect to get paid at each firm. 

 

Work/Life balance 

Yes it’s fulfilling, but law can be an intense career path. Tales of missing out on birthdays, dinners and even holidays because of work deadlines are not uncommon and, although perhaps more frequent at larger firms, lawyers at all types of firms will likely encounter late nights at one point or another. 

Some law firms have a better track record of promoting a healthy work/life balance than others. Year on year we are told by trainees at certain firms that their colleagues respect that they have a life outside of work. If this is high on your agenda, have a look at our work/life balance table. 

Work/life balance is something that is likely to greatly impact your training experience and is not something to take lightly. 

 

Social life 

OK, so social life may not be your top priority when choosing a law firm. But in reality it’s good to know that your colleagues are going to be a sociable bunch who enjoy a drink at the pub or a game of football on a Thursday evening.  

The Future Lawyers Training Contract comparison table is an easy way to narrow down the firms which fit your criteria. 

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Partner promotions: Cleary Gottlieb makes up two in London as BCLP unveils 21-strong round

Cleary Gottlieb has made up nine new partners in its latest round of promotions, two of which are in London, while Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) has included five UK lawyers in its latest cohort.

The promotion of Chrishan Raja and Naomi Tarawali to partner in Cleary’s London office is indicative of firm’s steady approach. Raja, a capital markets lawyer, has experience representing Barclays, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and UBS, while the disputes-focused Tarawali specialises in representing financial institutions, funds and sovereigns. The 2022 round matches last year’s efforts in the City, which saw Henry Mostyn and Gareth Kristensen welcomed into the equity, though in total, the latest class falls short of the 11 partners made up across the firm in 2021.

Speaking to Legal Business, Cleary M&A partner Tihir Sarkar (pictured) said: ‘In the UK we’re 23 partners so we’ve increased by 10%, which is significant. For us to do two is slightly unusual. It’s a reflection of practice groups where we’ve identified the right candidates. The UK-focused disputes practice started from scratch about 10 years ago, and Naomi is our second home-bred associate-to-partner candidate [James Brady-Banzet was made partner in 2019]. That shows the growth and continued importance of the disputes practice. On the capital markets side, we haven’t made up somebody for quite some time. Historically, it’s been a very important practice for Cleary Gottlieb, so we’ve bolstered our English law capabilities with Chrishan.’

Globally, the firm promoted a further three partners in New York, as well as two in Paris and one each in Hong Kong and Frankfurt.

On Europe, Sarkar added: ‘Europe is a big part of our DNA. We opened in Paris soon after we opened in New York, so we’ve been in continental Europe for a long time. If you look at the standard of our lawyers and matters in Paris, Brussels and Rome, we feel we have got one of the strongest European franchises. We need to continue to keep replenishing those areas.’

Meanwhile, BCLP has announced 21 new partners. The new cohort, which is spread across 13 offices, will take up their new positions on 1 January 2023.

Seven of the class are based in the UK, including five in the capital. Corporate and M&A lawyer Tom Bacon, real estate specialist James Banks, commercial litigator Benjamin Blacklock, construction-focused Kimberly Roberts, and tax lawyer Andy West have all made the grade this year. They are joined by a further two new partners in the Southampton office: Eleanor Penton, who focuses on real estate finance; and Emma Sadler, who advises on non-contentious real estate issues.

Though sizeable by the firm’s standards, this year’s class did not surpass the cohort of 2021, where the firm unveiled 25 new additions to the equity in November last year, the largest promotion round in its history.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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‘It means business in London’: Vinson & Elkins takes Hogan Lovells’ Higson as City corporate head

Hogan Lovells’ London M&A partner Ben Higson has been appointed as Vinson & Elkins’ London head of corporate.  

He takes up the role after 15 years at Hogan Lovells, including eight years as head of the corporate team. He also served as an elected member of the firm’s global management board between 2014 and 2020.

Higson’s experience includes energy, infrastructure, natural resources and diversified industrials transactions. He recently advised Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation on its $735m acquisition of Bahia Minerals and ExxonMobil on its $1.75bn disposal of the North Sea assets of Mobil North Sea and other projects.

Speaking to Legal Business, Higson said: ‘Vinson & Elkins is clearly one of the world’s leading firms in energy and infrastructure, and has always been in that position, so there was a natural synergy with the practice that I already had.  

‘Energy and infrastructure is an area that is continually evolving and what Vinson & Elkins has achieved in following and staying ahead of the trends is impressive. It is at the forefront of some of the cutting-edge deals including those supporting the energy transition and moving from a carbon-heavy to a carbon-neutral world.’

Kaam Sahely, V&E’s co-head of corporate, added: ‘During 2022, we have seen increasing demand from our private capital and strategic clients for our experience in infrastructure transactions across the digital, transportation and energy sectors, including specifically energy transition.

‘Ben’s experience in these areas together with his ability to lead deal teams make him a perfect fit.’

Higson’s arrival follows that of former colleagues Roberta Downey and Angus Rankin, who joined V&E’s international construction disputes practice as partners from Hogan Lovells in October 2021. 

Higson concluded: ‘We will be looking to build the practice up at partner level as well as associate level. For people doing this type of work, the firm presents a really attractive proposition and I hope with me joining the market will see that Vinson & Elkins means business in London.’ 

[email protected]

This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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How much does a barrister earn?

Barristers are self-employed and are paid by their clients (usually law firms) for each case that they work on.  

The exception to this is pupils, who are paid a ‘pupillage award’ by  chambers during their training year. 

Pupils 

Pupillage awards can vary greatly depending on the location and specialism of the set. 

Pupils in top commercial sets can expect to receive up to £75,000 in their pupillage year, whereas at family and criminal sets, pupillage awards start from around £30,000. 

From 1 January 2023, the minimum pupillage award will be £20,703 for 12-month pupillages in London and £18,884 per annum for pupillages outside London. 

Qualified barristers 

It’s widely known that being a barrister can be a lucrative career path. In reality though, the amount that barristers earn depends on their level of seniority and in which area of law they practise.  

In 2020, according to the Bar Standards Board, 2% of barristers earned £1m and above, whilst 11.88% earned less than £30,000.  

The largest proportion of those surveyed (22.26%) were earning between £90,000 and £150,000. 

It’s worth noting that these are gross figures and are exclusive of chambers’ fees, clerks’ fees, insurance, travel costs, tax and more. 

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What is a vacation scheme?

A vacation scheme is a period of one or two weeks spent at a law firm as part of the training contract application process.  

A vacation scheme is essentially work experience, the difference being that you will be assessed throughout for your suitability to get a training contract at that firm. It’s also likely that you’ll have an interview at the end of the scheme. 

During the scheme you’ll be given real work to do, and you should tackle these tasks as if you were a trainee. Don’t worry if you don’t have any legal knowledge yet; the firm will not expect you to be an expert on the law! Instead, they will be looking to see what your thought process was and, most important of all, that you approached the task with enthusiasm. 

It is essential that you are on your best behaviour throughout the vacation scheme. This applies just as much to your time at your desk as during a social event with your fellow vac schemers. Your prospective future colleagues and supervisors will be watching you! 

Having said that, you need to be yourself too. Of course the firm wants to see if you’ll be a good lawyer, but they also want to see that you’re someone that other people will want to share an office with. If you come across as arrogant, laid back or even too intense, you might give off the wrong impression. Be friendly and engaging, ask questions and take an interest in what’s going on around you. 

Remember that doing a vacation scheme is a two-way process. It’s as much a chance for you to find out if you like the firm as it is for them to work out if you’ll be a good fit. 

Vacation schemes are an integral part of the training contract application process and are very important. Many firms now recruit solely from their vacation scheme so this could be your one and only chance to show them what you can do. 

If you’re lucky enough to nab a spot on a vacation scheme, work hard and take every opportunity to find out as much as you can about the firm. 

Our vacation scheme deadline table has all the dates you need. Start researching now! 

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Womble Bond Dickinson and BDB Pitmans table merger

Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) and BDB Pitmans are continuing to pursue a strategy of development through consolidation, having confirmed they are in talks over a potential merger.

After RollOnFriday broke the news of the merger talks on 21 October, the firms said in a joint statement: ‘Leading transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson and leading UK firm BDB Pitmans confirm that they are in early discussions around a potential merger. Both firms regularly review opportunities to advance the best interests of their clients and their respective firms. Womble Bond Dickinson and BDB Pitmans are focused on where they see the greatest opportunities for a merged business, including those offered by complementary practice areas and office locations.

‘As discussions are ongoing, both firms have no further information to share at this time.’

Staff at both firms are well acquainted with the merger process, given their respective strategies in recent years. WBD in its current form was established in 2017, when national firm Bond Dickinson (itself the result of the 2013 union of Dickinson Dees and Bond Pearce) joined up with its US strategic ally Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. A year later, partners of Bircham Dyson Bell and Pitmans voted for a £50m merger and move to an alternative business structure, establishing BDB Pitmans in its current form.

Any deal that is struck would not represent a merger of equals, given the disparity in size between the two firms. With offices both sides of the Atlantic, WBD’s latest revenue figure reached £379m after a 2% increase, while UK-only Pitmans’ came in at £53.3m following a 3% fall. The benefit to WBD is likely to come from the boost a tie-up would have on its UK business, which this year generated £113.8m. For Pitmans, a merger would grant access to a network of US offices previously unavailable to the national firm.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.