Your QM Law For All Society Newsletter
We know how difficult it can be to stay on top of legal news, find law events to attend and keep track of upcoming application deadlines.
That's why we've done all the hard work for you!
Our newsletter, Unorthodox, connects both law and non-law students to the legal world. In this issue, you'll find everything you need to know about law, from our top three commercial news story to the latest legal opportunities and more.
Committee introductions
If you haven't already met us, our committee consists of seven dedicated non-law students.
Siru; History Finalist
Claudia; Second-year History
Tom; Second-year Modern Languages
Holly; Second-year Politics Lea; Second-year History
Ela; History Finalist
Anita; First-year History
What's going on in the world?
These are our top interesting stories in the legal and commercial world that you may want to follow up on!
1) Cineworld Closures
Due to a drop in demand and numerous delays in movie releases, Cineworld has announced it will be closing its cinemas in the UK and the US. Boris Johnson claims that it is 'unviable' to keep 127 cinemas in the UK open following more delays in movie release dates.
Why is this important?
Closure will put 5,500 UK jobs at risk. Cineworld employees contacted by the Guardian have said that the majority of employees are on zero-hour contracts. (zero-hour contract: the employer does not have to provide any minimum working hours and the worker is not obliged to accept any work offered.) This means that workers with less than two years' service may not be entitled to redundancy pay. Cineworld is represented by big names such as Magic Circle firm, Slaughter and May. Employment lawyers will now have to manage the implications for Cineworld employees.
What you should do
Think about the different legal practice areas that will be involved; employment, but also real-estate, tax and insurance. You should follow the story and find out whether Cineworld had prior plans which will now be affected by its closure. *Hint: its unsuccessful $2.3bn acquisition of Cineplex.*
2) Legal & General Demands Non-White Board Members at FTSE Firms
L&G has written to all FTSE 100 members telling them it expects the companies to have at least one Black, Asian or other ethnic minority director by 1 January 2022. This is in response to recent tragedies of institutional and structural racism.
Why is this important?
In response, law firms have to increasingly review the diversity of their own senior positions. It will be harder for clients to relate to law firms with a predominate make-up of privately educated white middle-class men. On a graduate recruitment level, this might lead to an increased recruitment of trainees from diverse backgrounds. Whilst this method is a good starting-point, it will be several years before we see the effects when the trainees reach senior positions. Law firms will have to consider laterally recruiting more diverse lawyers instead.
What you should do
Think about ways in which law firms could improve diversity at a senior level. A candidate got asked once how to improve gender equality at the firm so always be prepared for all types of interview questions! You could think about the pros and cons of CV-blind interviews; a programme to help expectant mothers become partners; or implementing a more stringent recruitment process. Good questions to ask law firms is how they're tackling diversity and inclusion at their firm.
3) A Series To Keep Up With Regularly!
Financial Times Innovative Lawyers section - a series of special reports covering Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific. Click here to explore.OpportunitiesHere are some great events to get to know more about law and interact with people in the legal profession.Click here to register for Herbert Smith Freehills graduate recruitment eventsClick here to register for Clifford Chance Black History Month eventsClick here to register for Macfarlanes Meet our Senior Partner event. Deadline 16-OctoberClick here to register for ICCA Bar Course Future Barristers Open Day on 21-NovemberClick here to register for Bright Network Legal Leaders event. Deadline is 26-October
Deadline reminders
Here are some reminders of upcoming first-year insight schemes, vacation scheme and open day deadlines:
* an asterisks besides the firm means the firm recruits on a rolling basis
Linklaters Winter Vacation Scheme: 15-October for second and third year students
Ashurt Winter Vacation Scheme: 19-October for third year students
Slaughter and May First-year Open Days: 18-December
Bright Futures Programme with Clyde and Co* (a nine-month programme for penultimate year non law students): 03-January
Feel free to get in touch with the committee regarding any queries about applications. Even if we can't answer your questions, we have an extensive network with campus ambassadors and trainee solicitors at these firms who will be glad to help you!Our top podcasts to tune in to
Harry Clark's podcasts. Harry Clark is a trainee solicitor at Baker McKenzie, founder and host of More From Law podcast, which aims to share information that will help aspiring lawyers get a head start in their legal career and keep current lawyers up to date with new insights. He also went to our president, Siru's, sixth form!
Norton Rose Fulbright's Smart Dust podcasts. These are podcasts on the world of technology, data and innovation from a legal perspective.
Legal Talk Network's Harry Clark podcasts. It takes topics which are frequently experienced and enjoyed by regular people and looks at it from a legal perspective.
Herbert Smith Freehills' Graduate podcasts on Soundcloud. Talks about various things the firm is involved in.
Upcoming NLALS events
Legal Fortnight (12-16 October). These are a range of events hosted by QMUL School of Law such as application advice with Hogan Lovells, assessment centre guidance with BCLP, interview skills with Slaughter and May and more including Bar and non-corporate law events! They are normally exclusive to law students, however, they have made an exception for our society. If you wish to attend these events, register here.
STEM at the Bar panel: 19-October. To register for this event, the link is in the bio of Bar Society's Instagram page.
Winners of our meet & greet eventThank you to everyone who came along to our meet & greet event. It was so great to meet you all and we hope you had fun playing Family Fortunes with us. A huge congratulations to the winning team, Legally Non-Blondes who beat Triple Jeopardy by over 100 points!! Well done, you smashed it.
We hope to see you all at many more of our fantastic events this year. We would like to dedicate a section of our newsletter to our members. We want to celebrate any of our members' achievements so please let one of the newsletter creators know (Ela or Anita) and we'll include it in our upcoming issues. Achievements like obtaining work experience, vacation schemes, mini pupillage, or just anything you are proud of that you may want to share!
We hope to see you all achieve great things :)If you haven't already, please join our WhatsApp group chat to be connected with other non law students in a similar position to you. We frequently share cool events to attend, advice and anything we think our members will find useful therefore don't miss out on being part of this community!
Our next issue will include:
Our top commercial news stories
Upcoming legal events to sign up to
More application deadline reminders
Top podcasts to be listening to
Upcoming society events
Our partnership with TCLA and its benefits
Advice of the day
Look out for our next issue as there's plenty more cool stuff coming!
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