Dear Ms Arnold,

I am a penultimate year law with business student at X university. I am writing to apply for the Slaughter and May Summer Work Experience Scheme. 

As an avid debater, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of scrutinizing complex information and articulating arguments by critically analysing the intricacies of the issues. I was recognised as the best speaker in the International Singhania Model United Nations 2019. Participating in several such debating and negotiation competitions whilst studying business management during my IB, sparked my interest for commercial law. As a law and business student at university, I picked optional modules like contemporary legal issues in business management and European business context, where I focused on the practical applications of law in the commercial world. 

During my first year, I attended several open days with leading law firms like; Covington & Burling, Shearman & Sterling, Davis Polk and Linklaters. Understanding the work of a commercial lawyer through the open days furthered my interest in the field. The work experience programme with Fieldfisher was what motivated me the most to pursue a career in commercial law. I sat through the negotiations of a sustainability linked interest rate, helped review a secured term-loan facility agreement, and worked on corporate authorisations, for the financing of an M&A deal. I was intrigued to learn how upcoming market trends can impact standard transactions. Simplifying complexities and dealing with the evolving nature of work fascinates me most to the role of a commercial solicitor.  

My interest in pursuing a career at Slaughter and May was sparked when I worked on the Slaughter and May virtual work experience programme which motivated me to look into the firm’s practice areas. I found the firm’s ground-breaking work in the Corporate and M&A sector extremely commendable. The Lawyer Awards 2022 recognised them as the Corporate Team of the Year for their work on the £3.1 billion reorganisation of Daily Mail General Trust. As an M&A power house, the firm has been a trusted advisor to the most number of FTSE 250 clients as compared to any other law firm in the UK. Having participated in M&A workshops during Open Days and Virtual work experiences, I am well versed with the stages of an M&A transaction from negotiations, due diligence, to financing, and restructuring. The firm’s multi-specialist approach would enable me to assist on all these steps and not restrict my training to specific practices. The multi-specialist approach is truly beneficial, shown by the firm’s strong prowess in several different practice areas. It has secured a Band 1 and Tier 1 ranking from Chambers UK and Legal 500 respectively for its work in Banking and Finance, Insurance, Litigation and, Tax for two consecutive years. This makes it a truly full service firm and is quite attractive for an aspiring solicitor like myself who is motivated to achieve a well-rounded training programme. 

I believe I would thrive in the firm’s commitment-focused, collaborative and diverse culture. 

I contributed long hours leading several clubs and societies during high school and university. As the Marketing Head of Girl Up Singhania, I had created a work culture similar to that of Slaughter and May to incentivise members to provide better quality work. During a donation drive, aimed to help improve sanitation for children in orphanages, I designed a scheme where members would receive non-pecuniary benefits for bringing in higher number of collections instead of completing higher number of hours, much like the no-hours target approach that the firm employs. This policy enables lawyers to provide efficient and cost-effective service to its clients. I am also appreciative of the firm’s lock-step compensation model which commends loyalty and commitment. I have been passionate about music since childhood and I went on to learn and practice Indian classical music for 4 years. I am a truly committed individual and I take on opportunities with the motivation to achieve my fullest potential. I believe, this work ethic would be appreciated at Slaughter and May, a firm where long-standing relationships are valued and employee retention is important. 

Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Our thoughts

Positives

• Great concise opening and closing. No need for more than this.
• Covers the three key elements of a cover letter: why commercial law? why the firm? and why you?
• Correct sign-off. It's "Yours sincerely" as the applicant has specifically addressed the cover letter to an individual (Ms Arnold).
• Generally well written.
• However, I am a little surprised that this application got through to the next stage, in light of the below comments. Perhaps the candidate went to a leading university and had really great grades and experience.

Potential points for improvement

• Each paragraph could potentially start with a sentence that indicates more clearly what the applicant will be discussing in that paragraph (note that the "Why Slaughter and May" paragraph starts with a sufficiently clear indicator of the content of that paragraph). For example:
  • The "Why commercial law" paragraph could open with something like "My interest in commercial law stems from..." or "I am pursuing a career in commercial law for the following key reasons". 
  • The "Why you" paragraph could potentially have started with something like "Finally, I believe I have developed a foundation of the key skills required to succeed during the Slaughter and May training contract".
• There is a mix of UK and US spelling - it's best to be consistent. For applications to firms' UK offices, British English is probably best.
• In the first "Why commercial law?" paragraph, the phrasing should be "interest in commercial law", not "interest for commercial law".
• The "Why commercial law?" section could potentially have mentioned a few other motivators, for example the focus on teamwork and the international nature of the work. For example, where the applicant states "I attended several open days with leading law firms like; Covington & Burling, Shearman & Sterling, Davis Polk and Linklaters. Understanding the work of a commercial lawyer through the open days furthered my interest in the field", they don't then go on to explain what they were exposed to/what they learned, and why this furthered their interest.
• In paragraph 3, "fascinates me most to the role" should be "fascinates me most about the role" (moreover, a word like "fascinates" is arguably a little too cheesy/over the top for an application).
• The "Why Slaughter and May" paragraph doesn't clearly explain why the applicant is attracted to the firm. It shows some good research, mentioning an award, a deal, a client statistic and so on, but doesn't then comment on why this stuff is appealing (see our Law firm profiles and research course for guidance on this).
• Sentences such as "The multi-specialist approach is truly beneficial, shown by the firm’s strong prowess in several different practice areas" are a little generic/vague.
• The applicant states "I believe I would thrive in the firm’s commitment-focused, collaborative and diverse culture.", but doesn't back this up with research about the firm's approach to collaboration or fostering a diverse culture.