Brief Guide to Application Forms

Training Contract Application Forms – Last Minute Tips

July is the busiest month for deadlines for training contracts starting 2010 at the larger commercial firms. Hopefully having read your previous LawBritannia emails and have not left your applications to the last minute but if you have here are some last minute tips:

Give yourself plenty of time (1—2 days) to complete your first application form thoroughly.

Use concise and positive language.

Fill all forms in neatly and precisely to the firm's instructions.

Be honest. All firms check references.

Stress your past accomplishments and the specific skills used to achieve these.

Provide evidence of your skills that reflect the firm's requirements.

Don't draw attention to your negative points or lack of experience.

Leave out any references to unrelated hobbies or memberships of clubs unless they can impress

Make sure your application is up to date - firms become frustrated (and may give up) if they cannot contact you quickly

Ensure all dates are accurate including month and year with no gaps, or explain why there are any gaps

If handwriting your application, take a photocopy and practice.

Don't forget a Covering Letter!


Why Wait for a Careers Appointment

Here are some of our frequently asked questions about application forms:

Q. Would it be best to avoid disclosing the fact that I have previously applied to some law firms - I don't want my previous application to have a detrimental effect on my new application.

A. Some firms do ask applicants whether they have applied before and you should always try to be honest in answering this question. The quality (or not!) of your previous application will not make a difference to how your current application is viewed. Firms simply ask this question, so that when you come to interview, they can compare what you have done since your first application and quiz you on your choices of say, your course, since then. If you had done nothing to further your application with additional training and / or work experience then that might work against a new application but now you have your results of your LLM you have something to add.

And of course, as you were unsuccessful the first time make sure you take longer and harder to think about your applications. This section of our website will help you: http://www.lawbritannia.co.uk/ApplicationForms.htm

Q. How much legal work experience do law firms like to see?

A. Whilst there is no bench mark as to how much legal experience you must gain before securing a training contract you must see your application from the perspective of a firm. Questions about your decision to become a solicitor are guaranteed to come up in an interview and you will need to demonstrate that you have made an informed choice about your career choice and that you can demonstrate that you know what a lawyer actually does in the UK.

Legal experience is of great interest to legal employers and shows commitment to the sector, so highlighting this in your answer will greatly impress a firm. Firms offer vacation placements for two or three week's duration giving you the opportunity to find out more about life as a solicitor and also the firm. Schemes can run during the Summer, Easter and Christmas vacations and although we are sure you'd rather have a holiday these opportunities are useful not only to gain legal experience but also some firms guarantee an interview for a training contract if you have taken part in a vacation scheme. In addition, pro bono work (legal work done without charge) such as offering advice to charitable and community organisations, as with vacation schemes, is useful for developing your legal skills of analysis and interpretation, but also personal skills of argument and public speaking. You need tangible evidence that you have been proactive in your research.

Q. Do I need to have secured a place on GDL or CPE course BEFORE you apply for a training contract?

A. You do NOT need to have secured a place in the GDL before applying for training contracts. As many of the top firms offer funding for the GDL and recommend which law school you accept, many students would have already applied for places commencing 2006 and are basically hoping to receive an offer of a training contract and back payment of fees (some firms have already recruited).

You may be now too late for places on a full-time GDL course starting this year, there may be a few places left and you could also consider part-time study: http://www.lawcabs.ac.uk

Many students do take a gamble and pay for the GDL themselves - using the benefit of the law school's careers service to make training contract applications either before or during the GDL. For other sources of funding: http://www.lawbritannia.co.uk/Funding

Passing the required law courses including the Legal Practice Course does not guarantee that you will gain a training contract. Even if you have had much experience in your home country, finding a training contract can be a long and frustrating task. Just to give you an idea of what lies ahead, in 2002/03 there were 7919 students taking the LPC whilst there were only 5385 registered training contracts.

We have included these statistics not to put you off a career in law but to demonstrate to you just how well you need to market yourself to firms in order to stand out from the crowd. International students are and will continue to be highly prized in the legal recruitment market and LawBritannia exists to help you succeed.

Q. My covering letters all seem the same - should I mention firm's clients to make them more personal?

A. Certainly you can mention clients to show individual research on the firm but make sure you do not just tell them who their clients are. You will need to select clients that you are justifiably interested in perhaps from previous experience in your work history. Remember your covering letter is there to sell your experience and how it matches with the firm and not necessarily an opportunity for you to list their clients, work areas etc. all of which they already know.

What they really want to know is that you have thought about your experience and how that fits in with what they do - not only what they can offer you but also what you can offer them. If you are applying to similar firms then of course your letters may not vary that much so do not worry too much.

Also think about:
- What initially attracted you to the firm? Reputation - what does the legal press say about them, what do trainees you meet tell you?
- Have they won any awards, take part in any pro bono schemes that caught your eye?
- Have you had any experience or seen first hand what a lawyer actually does at this firm? What did you specifically enjoy about this experience?
- Have you had personal experience of the firm – through family or friends? What have they specifically told you about the firm that interested you?
- Has your law course or degree furthered your interest in a particular area of law
- Have you had any relevant experience that has developed skills that would be easily transferable to particular area of law at this firm?
- Are you from a country that the firm has offices or clients in?
- Have you met representatives of the firm at open days (for example).
- What was it about them that made you investigate further?
- Was there something specific that interested you about their website or brochure?

Do not forget LawBritannia is here to answer your questions: read our advice column and if your question is not answered contact us for free advice! www.lawbritannia.co.uk/Advice.htm

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Resources for Researching Law Firms

Before applying for training contracts you should spend as much time as possible researching firms to maximize your chances of a successful application and also to find the best firm for you. Each firm may be looking for different qualities in their trainees but all firms will be looking for applicants who are highly motivated with well-thought and thorough reasons for pursuing a career in law and more particularly with their firm.

Law firms storm the Sunday Times top places to work
Eleven per cent of The Sunday Times top 100 companies to work for in 2008 are law firms, four more than were on last year's list. The only magic circle representative was first time entrant to the list Linklaters, which just nudged in at position 93.

Law 100: the UK's most powerful lawyers
The inaugural list of the lawyers who have the most clout in shaping the rules we live by and who drive an industry worth more than £20 billion a year from The Times.

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Good News for Overseas Students

Good news for Indian Lawyers
A full-blown salary war has erupted in India in response to increased local and international competition for talent, resulting in pay increases of more than 50 per cent at most top Indian law firms in the last year.

UAE nationals set for first UK training contract
Clifford Chance and Trowers & Hamlins are teaming up with the government-owned investment company Dubai Holding to offer the first-ever training programme in English law for UAE nationals.

New combined law degree
The University of Dundee is introducing a bachelors law degree enabling dual-qualification in Scots and English & Welsh law.

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Chambers Student 2008: The student's guide to becoming a lawyer

The guide contains comprehensive information about the main areas of law, 150 leading law firms and over 50 barristers chambers as well as an indexed guide to universities and law schools, solicitors and barristers. With invaluable advice for those starting out - including how to get vacation work, funding and that vital training contract or pupillage and where to find information on the web - the guide takes the hard work out of making career choices. So what are you waiting for? Grab a copy now. https://www.chamberssecure.com/online_sales/detail_page.cfm?bookid=3

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Bewigged and Bewildered?
A Guide to Becoming a Barrister in England and Wales

Misunderstandings and jargon prevent many from seriously considering a career as a barrister in the belief that such a career is not for them or that they are not for it. Others know that they might want to become barristers but not how to go about it, or just want to know more about this somewhat mysterious profession. This book (by a barrister who was formerly a university law lecturer) clearly but informally explains the traditions, terminology and institutions of the Bar, and what it is actually like to be a barrister. With this aim, several barristers practising in different fields describe in detail a typical week in their life. Available now: http://astore.amazon.co.uk/lawbritannia-21/026-1154808-5854007?node=0&page=2

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Show Me the Money

City firms announce salary rises
Firms across the City have recently announced modest salary increases, but several have frozen pay. http://www.lawcareers.net/information/news/Detail.aspx?r=2028

CMS Cameron McKenna has announced its new salary rates for the current year, with newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers at the firm seeing a £2,000 uplift taking their basic pay to £66,000. The City firm’s new rates equates to a rise of around 3% on last year’s figure of £64,000 and puts the junior lawyers on par with those at firms including Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Meanwhile, first-seat trainees see their pay increase from £36,000 to £37,500, with second-year trainees pocketing £41,500 up from £40,000: http://www.legalweek.com/Articles/1131325/Camerons+boosts+newly-qualified+pay+to+66k.html

Two Scholarships Offered
Two students will be offered the chance to study for a GDL or LPC at Kaplan Law School in 2009/10, with full scholarships for their tuition fees. To enter, applicants must write a 1000 word essay on a contemporary legal topic. This, together with a current CV must be submitted to Kaplan Law School by the CAB deadline. Short-listed finalists will be invited to present their essays to a panel of experts who will award the scholarships at a formal presentation ceremony: http://www.kaplanlawschool.org.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=828

LPC fees on the rise
The country's major law schools - many of which have been speaking at the LawCareers.Net Basic Training events held across the country - have set new fees for the legal practice course (LPC) from September 2008: http://www.lawcareers.net/information/news/Detail.aspx?r=1995

If you are looking for funding for your course we have updated the information on our site for you, here you will find new information on funding opportunities from: Firm sponsorship , The Law Society , Law Schools and Scholarships . Visit http://www.lawbritannia.co.uk/Funding.htm for full information

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Training Contract Deadlines

The majority of deadlines for training contracts commencing 2010 are this month - make sure you do not leave your research or applications until the last minute the big deadlines rush is only four weeks away! 31/07/08

Addleshaw Goddard Asblaw Ashurst Baker&McKenzie LLP Barlow Lyde&GilbertLLP Berrymans Lace Mawer Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP Bevan BrittanLLP Bircham Dyson Bell Bird&Bird Bond Pearce LLP BrabnersChaffe Street LLP Browne Jacobson LLP Burges Salmon Capsticks CarterRuck Charles Russell LLP Cleary Gottlieb Steen&HamiltonLLP Clifford Chance Clyde&Co LLP CMS Cameron McKennaLLP Collyer Bristow LLP Covington&Burling LLP DechertLLP Denton Wilde Sapte Dickinson Dees LLP DLA Piper UK LLP DMHStallard Solicitors Dundas&Wilson LLP DWF Eversheds LLP Faegre&Benson LLP Farrer&Co LLP Field Fisher WaterhouseLLP Forsters LLP Freeth Cartwright LLP Freshfields BruckhausDeringer Goodman Derrick LLP Government Legal Service HalliwellsLLP Hammonds Harbottle&Lewis LLP Herbert Smith LLP HextallsLLP Hill Dickinson LLP Holman Fenwick&Willan

Howard Kennedy Ince&Co Kendall Freeman Lawrence GrahamLLP LeBoeuf Lamb Greene&MacRae Lewis Silkin LLP LovellsLLP Macfarlanes Manches LLP Mayer, Brown, Rowe&MawLLP McDermott Will&Emery UK LLP McGrigors LLP Mills&ReeveLLP Mishcon de Reya Morgan Cole Nabarro NortonRose Olswang Osborne Clarke Pannone LLP Paris Smith&RandallLLP Penningtons Solicitors LLP Pinsent Masons PricewaterhouseCoopersLegal LLP PritchardEnglefield RadcliffesLeBrasseur Schillings Shadbolt LLP Shearman&Sterling LLP Shoosmiths Simmons&Simmons SJ BerwinLLP Speechly Bircham LLP Stephenson Harwood Taylor Wessing TeacherStern Selby Thomson Snell&Passmore Travers Smith WalkerMorris Warner Goodman LLP Watson Burton LLP Watson, Farley&Williams LLP Weil Gotshal&Manges White&Case WithersLLP Wragge&CoLLP

Source: http://www.lawcareers.net/ This list is not exhaustive check the Training Contract and Pupillage Handbook for other firms plus other websites listed on www.LawBritannia.co.uk/Library . Some dates given relate to law students and firms may have earlier or alternative dates for students studying the Graduate Diploma in Law - check individual websites for more information.

Our best selling publication Training Contract Application Forms is also available for only £12.99 - can you afford not to buy one? www.lawbritannia.co.uk/ApplicationForms.htm

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Interested in qualfying in the UK? To find out which course you need to take and when visit our online guide to qualifying as a lawyer in the UK