Your QM Law For All Society Newsletter
Welcome to the second issue of our newsletter, Unorthodox Can you believe it's the second issue already? Time flies when there's a global pandemic going on! The clocks have turned back, and the world has felt like it's been restarting with the ongoing pandemic. It's like we've entered The Great Reset! Anyways, welcome again to our newsletter, Unorthodox. In this issue, you'll find everything you need to know about the legal industry, from our top commercial news story to the latest legal opportunities and more.
Last week's events We had a lot going on last week, therefore we would like to say a big thank you to all our members who have attended our events so far. It was amazing seeing all of you and we hope that you found our events insightful. We look forward to hosting more events for you all. Your love and support of NLALS is greatly appreciated! 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) Google's Antitrust Lawsuit The Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against Google, with monopoly-related charges. Why is this important? Google's search engine is a tool that people across the world use everyday, and sometimes it's hard to imagine a world where the search engine didn't exist. Google's influence is unavoidable, but the extent to which Google dominates in the search engine business has increasingly been questioned in recent years for being anti-competitive. Similar concerns were raised 20 years ago with Microsoft, with threats to divide the company up, but Microsoft managed to negotiate a settlement that kept the company whole. This left the firm rather unaffected by further antitrust enforcement despite the judge ruling that the Sherman Antitrust Act had been violated. So what's different this time? Well, this time around there's 'a rare political consensus in Washington' over reining in the power of Silicon Valley giants, as well as an increasing amount of criticism of tech and social media giants like Facebook over their own activities. In a world where technology is at the forefront of most developments, it's become even more important to ensure technology companies are being kept in check. What you should do As the case develops, consider what practices will be involved in this case. On October the 20th, lawyers from Williams & Connolly and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati were announced as leads on Google's defence team. For anyone interested in Antitrust (which is also called Competition Law in the UK), definitely stay updated on this case! 2) Brussels offers Japan more on financial services than the UK As it currently stands, the UK is set to strike a deal on financial services with the EU that offers less than what Japan has been able to negotiate. Japan's agreement with Brussels took effect in 2019, and is a model that should be implement by other nations according to Catherine McGuinness, who is the head of the City of London Corporation's policy and resources committee. The UK is counting on securing equivalence rights (market access privileges) to secure the future of the financial services agreements between the UK and EU, but this is proving difficult. The EU is erring on the side of caution due to the UK leaving the bloc, and claims the UK is overstepping by asking for more than the EU-Japan deal. Why is this important? The stability of the financial services is crucial for the UK economy, and so any signs of neglect of this service in trade deals between the UK and EU could be detrimental. In other news, Britain and Japan have come to terms on a post-Brexit deal, and on the 23/10/20 it was finally signed, marking the UK's first big post-Brexit deal. What you should do Stay updated on the progression of EU-UK trade deals, and consider how law firms with significant financial services clients (e.g. big banks) would be impacted by issues in the financial services sector. 3) The Great Reset Covid-19 has given us the opportunity to reconsider how we approach the future. Check out Time magazine's collaboration with the World Economic Forum, asking leading thinkers to give their thoughts on how to transform the way we live and work. Click here to explore. 4) A Series to Keep Up With Regularly! For quick daily fixes of information try Morning Brew!
Opportunities
Here are some great events to get to know more about law and interact with people in the legal profession:
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
Burges and Salmon Winter Vacation Scheme: 29-October for third year students
*Slaughter and May Winter Workshop: 30-October for third year and graduate students
*Hogan Lovells Vacation Scheme: 31-October for second year, third year and graduate students
Simmons & Simmons Evolve placement year: 14 November for non-law students
*Baker Mckenzie Spring Vacation Scheme: 1-December for third year or graduate students
Keating Chambers Virtual Mini-Pupillage: 1-December
Tanfield Mini-Pupillage: available all year around. Check their website for more info
Herbert Smith Freehills Vacation Scheme: 4-December for second year, third year and graduate students
Clifford Chance ACCEPT one day conference: 11-November for all non-law students
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
The Economist Money Talks: Weekly podcasts on the economy and business.
Financial Times News Briefing: These are a rundown of the most important global business stories you need to know about.
Business Casual Podcast by Morning Brew: Asking the biggest names in business questions that you may want to ask yourself.
Baker Mckenzie podcasts: A series which feature a partner and two to three trainees tackling assessment centre case studies
Reimagine Law Podcast. A podcast series hosted by QMUL which has been created to support those interested in a law career.
Allen & Overy: The Careers podcast. It explored the different routes of becoming a lawyer. The 1st episode is presented by a partner from a non-law background.
TOP TIP: Set your podcasts to go off when you turn off your alarm so you can listen while getting ready for the day!
Upcoming NLALS events
Women in law: Date TBC, look out for details of this event on our Instagram page
Tip of the day
This week QMUL Commercial Awareness society hosted a trainee panel discussion, here are some of their top tips!
When filling out the Work Experience section of your application, make sure you highlight the key skills/competencies the firm is looking for. If you have any legal work experience, does any of it align with their key practice areas?
When answering a question about why you want to join the firm, make sure the response is tailored as much as possible to the firm. If you can read a sentence and it sounds like you could be describing any other firm, it needs to be changed.
A focused approach to applications is much more effective than applying to 10+ firms. To help narrow down your choices and make well researched applications, consider what particular practice areas you're interested and use sites like the Legal 500 to see what firms perform best in those areas.
Our partnership with TCLA
The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) is an educational platform founded in 2018.
It is designed to turn good candidates into great candidates at all levels of the process. They detail how to write the top 1% of applications. They break down how to excel in case studies and partner interviews. They teach the fundamentals of commercial awareness. They have put hundreds and hundreds of hours into their training platform which equips aspiring solicitors with the knowledge and skills they need to break into the legal profession. As a member, you can benefit from a 20% discount on all TCLA premium subscriptions. This can be accessed through the coupon code: SOCPARTNER12
A premium subscription would include:
Access to TCLA’s private premium forum with over 75 past successful applications and cover letters
Access to TCLA’s past webinars
Detailed commercial breakdown for over 30 law firms
Access to all their courses including the most advanced course, TCLA’s Mastering the City Course, Understanding Private Equity, The Interviewees’ Guide to M&A, Becoming an Exceptional Candidate, Legal Tech Crash Course, Managing your Training Contract.
Silver and Gold members also receive additional resources, including additional reviews and access to Video Interview Simulator In our next issueOur 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
Advice of the day
Look out for our next issue as there's plenty more cool stuff coming!
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