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Describe a current commercial issue that has interested you and explain why it interested you (250 words) 

The events comprising the US-China trade war, such as the escalation of tariffs and the making of threatening statements have provoked the commercial sector to respond to escalations in the economic cold war. The immediate impact of the trade war can be felt upon the American and Chinese economies, as can be evidenced by China’s economy growing at its slowest rate in almost three decades and US tariffs certainly being one of the reasons for that. However, it is clear that the US-China trade war can have a significant impact on other nations as well. As noted at Weil’s ‘What next for the global economy?’ discussion, the US-China trade war is causing great uncertainty and destabilisation, consequentially causing investors to pause. This is significant, as the effects can be felt worldwide, in the form of potential, long-term stagnation. The potential economic aftermath of the trade war signifies the international relevance of the financial sphere, as the global supply chain must be re-ordered to prevent lasting damage. Thus, the trade war could have a substantial impact on Sidley Austin’s clients by severely undermining the ability of companies to operate across borders. A progression and escalation of the trade war could force companies to consider pulling operations out of both China and the US, and delaying or cancelling investment in both countries. It has been recorded that Vietnam is ripe for private equity investors as the US-China trade war drags on, indicating a transition towards alternate private equity opportunities.

[Feedback: On the whole, this candidate has produced a strong answer. The US-China trade war is a well-covered subject and is often used by candidates. Nevertheless, this candidate explains succinctly the main ramifications of the event and how they will impact the firm’s clients. The latter point is excellent and makes this answer stand out above others.

There are a few points of improvement regarding clarity and consistent writing. First, make sure that when you write your answers, you break up the answer into readable paragraphs. This candidate has condensed all of their answer into one wall of text – this is not suitable for an application, and only serves to make the recruiter’s job harder.

Second, in this answer, the candidate has “tagged on” on a point at the end regarding Vietnam. This sentence does not fit with the rest of the answer and suddenly switches tack – when reading it, we can almost hear the candidate say, “oh I forgot, I need to say something about private equity…”. You should avoid “tagging on” random sentences to cover points that you did not have space to make/forgot to make. These actually serve to weaken your answer. Instead, it would be best if you considered how to integrate the “tagged on” point with the preceding answer.]

Discuss a news story that interests you. What do you think are the implications of the story for a law firm like Morgan Lewis?

Recently, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) cleared the £6bn merger of Takeaway.com and Just Eat. The approval by the CMA that there are no competition concerns for the market ends a turbulent process for the two companies. After the two companies had announced their intentions to merge, Prosus made a hostile bid for Just Eat that was ultimately unsuccessful. Regulatory approval came as the combined Just Eat Takeaway.com announced that it had raised €700m in new financing, which the group said it would use to pay down debt as well as providing ‘financial flexibility to act on strategic opportunities which may arise’.

[Feedback: The candidate provides a great first paragraph in answer to this question. What makes this section great is the candidate’s use of:

Specific detail – including names and statistics/numbers.

Concision – there are many facets to this merger, so condensing them into a reasonably sized paragraph, whilst maintaining clarity is a challenging task but well-executed by the candidate.

Logical structure – whilst the candidate is not trying to argue anything here, they lay out the facts in a logical manner, which prepares them nicely for the argument to follow in the next paragraph.]

The implication of this news story for a firm like Morgan Lewis includes considering the impact of the CMA’s more active and interventionist approach when the firm is advising clients that are trying to remain competitive. The CMA appears to be working to maintain competition in the current uncertain economy, but as a result, companies may be dis-incentivised from continuing to operate in the UK. Morgan Lewis will have to be aware of the commercial and economic atmosphere in other jurisdictions, as companies may be looking to merge or acquire other companies abroad. If mergers and acquisitions cannot proceed in the UK, there may be work for Morgan Lewis in alternate sectors such as business restructuring. Finally, there may be a deterrence effect to starting up or investing in new businesses if CMA investigations continue to cause significant delays.

[Feedback: The former half of this paragraph is argued well, with each sentence logically following on from the next. Furthermore, throughout the paragraph, the candidate demonstrates good knowledge of the broader ramifications of their chosen news story and the theoretical commercial impacts that might occur as a result. Nevertheless, this answer could have been improved with regards to its structure and argumentation.

First, the candidate would have been better placed to split this paragraph into two. This would have made the answer easier to read for the recruiter, and it would have automatically tightened their argumentation. Remember, when writing your answers, you should follow the PEE/AL structure and keep to one point per paragraph.

Second, with regards to argumentation, the candidate crams several points into their answer (for example, “tagging on” a wholly separate point in their final sentence) which obscures the overall thrust of the answer. Remember the question is asking you to relate the ramifications of the news story back to Morgan Lewis. Hence, your paragraph(s) should have a structure akin to:

Point: The implication for Morgan Lewis – for example, a change in what their clients demand of them and the effect that will have on the firm/what the firm will need to do.

Evidence: You should give evidence regarding the implications of your chosen news story using specific facts, statistics, and quotes – for example, evidence that shows how increased regulation decreases the attractiveness of the market in question.

Explain: You need to explain how the evidence you have cited substantiates your point – for example, a fall in the attractiveness of a market may push companies to do business in other (foreign) markets, meaning they would need different legal advice compared to when they only traded domestically.

Link: Now link your explanation back to your point/question. You can think of this as explaining how your explanation proves your original point and answers the question.]

If you were in government what one thing would you change to make it easier for UK businesses to succeed and why? *

If I were in the government, I would focus on increasing research and development (R&D) spending as this plays a crucial role in fostering business success. In the UK R&D spending in the government for 2021 was £66.2 billion which is equivalent to around 2.9% of GDP which exceeded its targets for total R&D spending to reach 2.4% of GDP by 2027. Currently, the UK invests a lower percentage of GDP in R&D than most competing countries that have launched specific strategies targeted at boosting their innovation performance and R&D investment.

Minimal R&D can be a significant factor that contributes to the lack of success for some UK businesses. Innovation is crucial for staying competitive and meeting evolving customer needs. Businesses that neglect R&D may struggle to introduce new products, improve existing ones, or adapt more efficient ones. This lack of innovation can lead to a decline in competitiveness, reduced market share, and ultimately hinder the long-term success of a business.

Feedback:

The candidate does well to outline a creative and impactful argument from the outset. In doing so succinctly, the candidate captures the recruiter’s interest from the outset. The candidate gets straight to the point in outlining their argument without wasting any word count. Then, the candidate supports their argument with specific and detailed evidence and statistical research throughout. Not only does this add persuasive weight to the candidate’s arguments, but it also convinces the recruiter that the candidate has invested significant time and commitment into developing their answer.

As a minor improvement, the candidate should have provided done more to address the counterfactual. The candidate asserts that lower R&D spending = more limited business development but offers little evidence in support of this assertion. You should ensure that any assertion you make is backed up by specific and detailed evidence consistently throughout.

To address this, my proposed change would involve increasing the target to 3% of GDP up from 2.4% and aligning with successful strategies employed by countries like the US and Germany. I would also introduce microeconomic changes such as concessions for R&D by providing incentives such as tax breaks as businesses would be encouraged to invest in innovation. Increased funding and tax breaks would foster technological advancements, product improvements, and overall business growth. Concessions could also help mitigate the financial risks associated with R&D making it more feasible for businesses to explore new ideas and stay competitive in evolving markets.

To ensure optimal impact, a mechanism for effective allocation of the increased R&D budget could established through collaboration with industry experts. Moreover, fostering partnerships with educational institutions and the private sector would contribute to a holistic innovation ecosystem, enhancing the effectiveness of R&D initiatives.

Feedback: Once again, the candidate evidences thorough and specific research throughout the answer. This goes a long way in convincing the recruiter that the candidate has invested serious time and thought into their application before sending it to Addleshaw Goddard. Moreover, the candidate’s specific research adds great persuasive value to the candidate’s answer. It complements the candidate’s well-structured answer by helping them address the question directly.

That said, we think the candidate’s concluding paragraph is a little vague and underdeveloped. The candidate simply asserts that they would need a “mechanism” for effective allocation (while deferring to “experts” on the matter). They do not go any further in explaining specifically what this would involve, nor do they offer any convincing supporting evidence in support of this concept. The takeaway is that you need to provide specific evidence and detailed reasoning consistently throughout the answer. You will only persuade the recruiter of your arguments if you can build a sustained strong case in support of your view.

Think of a current commercial issue that has recently attracted your attention. Why does it interest you, why do you consider it to be significant and how do you think this will impact Weil’s clients?

Originating from Africa, I have a vested interest in the continents’ global presence. The recent proliferation of FinTech in Africa stands to have both a disruptive and exciting impact on the global economy. Africa has inadvertently become a hub for technological innovation. Therefore, the legal sector can expect more diversity in clientele and further collaboration with African countries.

[Feedback: This section shows a good connection to FinTech in Africa and why that personally appeals. The point is cogently made and even piques the reader’s interest by noting that “Africa has inadvertently become a hub for technological innovation”.

The final sentence is the start of answering the second part of the question on how it will impact Weil’s clients, but it doesn’t feel natural here and would be better placed in the third paragraph. The diversity point is true but it’s better to make that point fully as opposed to using it in a throwaway short sentence. There is another typo here (it should be “Continent’s”) and the writing would be more fluid without sentences beginning with filler words (“Therefore”).]

In 2018, 210 African tech startups raised $334.5m and the overall amount of Fintech firms in Africa amounted to 491 firms – an increase from the 301 firms in 2017. Given Africa’s sheer man power, the continent uniquely provides tech solutions to their major issues of financial exclusion. With an unbanked population of about 66%, Fintech in Africa excites me as it allows the continent to step into unchartered territory. I am keen to see the developments of new legal parameters to accommodate the growth in FinTech.

[Feedback: This paragraph is very well researched and does a good job of tracking African FinTech improvement over a two year period. It begins with a fact, then explains the problem (with more facts), and then brings it back to how it excites the candidate - this is another example of solid structure.

This paragraph would have been better as the opening paragraph to introduce the topic before delving into the personal elements. African FinTech is an interesting topic to select, but it only just about qualifies as a “commercial issue”. The candidate was wise to tie it to the large number of “unbanked” Africans so as to prove there is an actual issue here being solved.]

As the West develops new standards in mobile banking, countries in Africa have instead invested in new mobile infrastructure. Through ‘M-Pesa’, Kenya’s first mobile wallet, and ‘Moneywave’, a Nigerian startup, local merchants have the unique capability to send money to any bank account or digital wallet in Africa. This equips small merchants with the capacity to expand their businesses across Africa and improve their trade relations. In light of Google and Facebook aiming to improve internet access in rural areas of Africa, it is estimated that by 2020, there will be 525 million smartphones on the continent. This is particularly interesting as this will inevitably lead to unprecedented economic and social growth throughout the continent. Further, the growth in Fintech in Africa could potentially lead to Weil’s clients, such as Microsoft and Verizon, diversifying their portfolios by investing in the mobile banking sector. Particularly in Kenya, financial inclusion now stands at 83% - up from 27% in 2006.

[Feedback: The first half of this paragraph is the best in the entire application. The language is concise and convincing and it proves that Africa is on its way up through innovation. It shows that a number of such innovations will connect Africans and boost growth, backed up by considerable research and thought. It also does an excellent job of showcasing Weil specific research (noting that this could benefit Microsoft and Verizon) and then connecting that with the commercial issue. This is very well done.

The only problem with this paragraph is that it over-focuses on laying the groundwork and does not comprehensively answer the second part of the question posed on how the commercial issue will impact Weil’s clients. The final sentence could be dropped as it feels like unnecessary information in the wrong place, and discussion could instead move to further ways that these developments can help Weil’s clients. This paragraph would have also benefited from the diversity point made at the end of the first paragraph being moved here instead.]

What do you feel will be the biggest challenges for the legal sector over the next 12 months? 2000 characters    

Technological advancements are slowly starting to peel through the cracks and blend itself into our norms.  

Feedback: This sentence is a bit pompous and does not add anything substantial to the answer. It can be safely cut out.

A challenge facing law firms may be that as the legal landscape becomes more digitalised, does the profession itself become obsolete at trainee level? 

Feedback: This question tests the candidate’s commercial awareness and overall understanding of the legal market. Law firms want you to pick out the challenges facing the sector within the next 12 months. To succeed, you should structure each paragraph so that you (1) identify a challenge, (2) an analysis of how it impacts the legal market over the next 12 months and (3) your explanation as to how the legal sector may resolve or mitigate against it. Owing to the word limits, we recommend that candidates identify two challenges and analyse them in depth. The candidate leads with a valid point that legal technology might make trainee/lower-level work obsolete.

The candidate could have written more assertively here. They could replace “may” with affirmative words such as “should”/”will be”, so that they come across more confidently to recruiters.

Many documentation tasks, such as proof readings, traditionally performed by a trainee; through automation there will be a decreased need for the task to be completed by a human eye. This is a serious issue at hand as not only could this impact the reputation of AG whereby it could be viewed that technology and electronic reliance has overreached the one-to-one meetings that many clients prefer, but this disruption of technology could in turn depreciate the client-tailored advice and standard that AG is known for. It will be interesting to see how AG will diversify the role of a trainee in the future. Perhaps, trainees will benefit professionally from having a ‘hands-on’ role in cases from earlier on.

Feedback: Overall, the candidate makes some fair points. The candidate identifies specific tasks, including documentation and proof-reading, before attempting to argue how legal automation might disrupt traditional trainee tasks. Though it is not necessary for candidates to tailor their answers to AG, it is generally helpful for you to do so.

That said, this is one of the candidate’s weakest paragraphs. The issue is that the candidate makes disparate and speculative claims without substantiating them. We are told that AG’s clients “could” feel that electronic reliance has “overreached”, but we are not given any concrete examples or evidence to support this. The candidate’s final comments are similarly speculative and unsubstantiated.

You should consider that the recruiters will be assessing your critical thinking skills here. Hence, you must always back your arguments with examples and offer meaningful analysis on each point you make. You should read the below paragraph for a better example of this.

We’re also dubious of the candidate’s central assertion that automation risks rendering trainees redundant in the next 12 months.  If the candidate actually believes that, they may want to re-think their career choice.  AI is much hyped, but has few concrete use cases in the real world at the moment.  There are a number of practical challenges which will inhibit its deployment in law, such as the risk of a law firm being sued for negligence for a mistake caused by an AI solution that is owned by a third-party.  While you are not expected to be a technology expert, this answer makes a well-informed reader wonder whether the applicant truly understands what they are talking about.

Finally, you must be careful not to make minor errors in your work. “Proof readings” ought to be just “proofreading”.  It’s also worth noting that there’s scope to include the readability of this section, especially the first sentence which is missing an “are”.

Another challenge is that as the adoption of legal tech continues to accelerate, so will cyberattacks caused by malicious AI. A recent report conducted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority highlighted that 75% of the firms included in the report had been the target of a cyber-attack. Accommodating remote workflows and collaboration has left law firms more exposed to cyber-attacks, as cybercriminals have sought to exploit increased attack surfaces with sophisticated phishing and ransomware. With the rise in hybrid working, firms will need to evolve their cyber security approaches in the upcoming years to ensure they mitigate the risk of cyber-attacks. With AG being regarded as one of the leading data and information practices in the UK, they will have the necessary expertise to ensure they are able to detect and respond to cyber incidents as rapidly and as automated as possible, as well as to prevent them. Getting ahead of the curve will deliver a competitive advantage ensuring secure outcomes for their clients.

Feedback: This paragraph is much improved on the previous. Firstly, the candidate writes much more succinctly. The candidate leads with a concise summary of their point straight away. You should also note how the candidate structures their answer. Each sentence is easy to understand and contributes to the candidate’s wider argument. You must remember that even if a recruiter is familiar with the topic you’re discussing, they will not make out or infer your argument for you. You should structure your arguments clearly and guide the reader through each step, as the candidate has done here.

Secondly, the candidate backs their points with specific details. In particular, the candidate concisely summarises an SRA report highlighting that 75% of law firms had been targeted by cyber-attacks. This demonstrates not only critical thinking skills (in that the candidate can identify evidence and tie it to their argument), but also that  the candidate has wider commercial awareness. The analysis is overall excellent.

Thirdly, you should note that the candidate offers a solution to the problem. This is particularly good because it is tailored to AG. The candidate points out that AG has a leading data and information practice, before making a convincing argument that they are well-poised to respond to the challenge in question. You should always wrap up your arguments by highlighting a solution to each challenge, as this will demonstrate high-level critical thinking skills to the recruiter.

To improve, the final sentence lacks substance and does not contribute anything to the overall answer. It is bolted onto the candidate’s argument and does not have any meaningful examples to back it up. You should always read your arguments out loud to ensure that each sentence contributes to your argument.

Finally, there is a residual concern about the candidate’s understanding of the issues that they identify.  A cyber attack is an attempt by an individual or group to exploit vulnerabilities in a computer system or network for malicious purposes. Whereas traditional software follows a set of pre-determined instructions that are programmed by a human developer, AI uses algorithms and statistical models to learn and improve from experience.  Traditional software, such as malware and phishing emails, are mostly used in cyber attacks, not AI.  While this could change in the future (e.g., using AI to generate phishing emails that are highly personalised and targeted), the candidate does not appear to appreciate this distinction.

Covid and Brexit have brought many changes and challenged to a number of sectors over recent years. Please discuss one of the sectors you believe has been affected. 2000 characters

Since the Covid-19 pandemic real estate has been hard hit across the value chain.

Feedback: This question tests the candidate’s wider commercial awareness and macroeconomic knowledge. Here, the recruiters ask you to focus on COVID and Brexit before analysing how each issue has affected a chosen sector of your choice. Here, the candidate does well to address both COVID and Brexit in equal depth whilst honing in on real estate as their chosen sector. You should also note how the candidate gets straight to the point here. Immediately, we know what their first point is and what they will argue.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges has been the issues surrounding contractual compliance between commercial landlord and tenants, especially those in the hospitality and entertainment sectors where venues have had to remain closed. The Cine-UK Limited case illustrated this as commercial tenants lost their case in respect of rent payments during the pandemic. This has led to an increase in Litigation and disputes for the legal sector and an increase in negotiations with clients and their landlords. With the Government publishing its response in relation to Covid-19 commercial rent arrears, it will be up to firms such as AG, with their market leading Retail Estate Sector to advise landlords and tenants on their options moving forward. In particular, those which have moved in and out of trading restrictions during the pandemic, for example non-essential retail.         

Feedback: You should note how the candidate structures their argument here. They begin by explaining what they mean by “hard hit across the value chain”, namely that there are contractual compliance issues between landlords and tenants in the hospitality and entertainment sectors. This adds useful clarification to the candidate’s overall argument. Then, the candidate identifies a specific case to back up their argument. Finally, the candidate does well by beginning to analyse how clients and law firms will respond to the challenges raised.

To improve, the candidate needed to be more precise in analysing the Cine-UK Limited case. While it is good that the candidate mentioned a named case, it is not clear what is meant by “lost their case in respect of rent payments during the pandemic” nor how it “led to an increase in litigation and disputes”. The candidate also does not offer insight into how firms such as AG will ofter “options moving forward”. Though we appreciate that the word count is restrictive, you must ensure that every sentence contributes to your wider point – whether by offering specific examples or by offering useful analysis.

You should be cautious about minor slip-ups here. AG does not have a “Retail Estate Sector” (and in any case this does not need capitalisation). It is true that AG has a real estate subteam for retail, but this is not an independent branch of the firm. You must always write with 100% accuracy when describing facts about the firm.

You should avoid unnecessary capitalisation of words like “Litigation”.  It’s not grammatically correct, which makes the reviewer question whether you have the necessary writing skills to excel as a lawyer.

Further, although Brexit will have a relatively minor impact on UK land law due to its domestic nature, companies involved in real estate will be advised by law firms to consider the wider commercial related ramifications of the Brexit transaction on their business, for example, the impacts on supply chains. With the UK’s decision to leave the EU single market, the end of passporting has had real impacts on businesses that trade within the EU, specifically those within the financial services sector. Consequently, many UK-based firms such as Barclays and Goldman Sachs have relocated following the Brexit announcement. This will cause an increase in demand to provide adequate housing opportunities, regarding the relocation of staff and their families within EU Cities. With AG having offices in key arbitration centres such as France and Germany, they will undoubtable be involved in a lot of cross-border work, giving advice, and arranging relocations.      

Feedback:  Similarly, the candidate gets straight to the point about how Brexit might impact the real estate sector. The candidate does well to distinguish between the legal implications of Brexit and the commercial impact on the sector. This demonstrates a higher level of critical thinking. You should also note how the candidate backs up their points with examples throughout, such as by naming Barclays and Goldman Sachs as concrete examples of firms that have relocated away from the UK.

To improve this paragraph, the candidate could write much more concisely. Note how the candidate shoehorns two points into one long sentence at the paragraph’s beginning. The paragraph explains both Brexit’s minor impact on UK land law and Brexit’s wider commercial ramifications, before pointing out supply chains as an example, all within the same sentence. You should always break up your sentences and vary sentence structures where possible. This will not only make your writing more concise, but it will also become more impactful.

Furthermore, the candidate should have linked their evidence/explanations back to their original point (i.e. about Brexit’s impacts on the real estate sector). While the candidate does well to explain such impacts, they end their paragraph with an unrelated point about AG’s global arbitration strengths in cross-border work. It is not clear how AG’s cross-border arbitration strengths would help it advise on staff relocations or housing shortages. As such, you should always read each sentence carefully to make sure they contribute to your arguments.

Also, the candidate again makes a minor grammatical error in the final sentence. “Undoubtable” should be “undoubtedly”. You must stamp out all grammatical errors and typos prior to submitting your application. The best way to spot these is by reading your applications slowly and out loud prior to submitting your form.

Tell us about a recent deal in the press that has captured your interest. How might this impact AG and our clients? (2000 characters)

Though not yet closed, the deal concerning Amazon's acquisition of One Medical captured my interest. I was fascinated by this deal because it represents the recent trend of big tech companies venturing into healthcare to create new revenue streams, highlighting the convergence of tech and the life sciences. The deal is followed by Amazon launching "Amazon Clinic", an online service operating in 32 states that offers virtual healthcare for over 20 conditions, from acne to allergies.

Feedback: Candidates often struggle to structure their answers to commercial questions effectively. We advise that candidates follow a simple approach. You should (1) contextualise and explain the deal using no more than 25% of the word count, before (2) devoting a paragraph to explain why it interests you, and finally (3) you should explain 1-2 impacts on your law firm and its clients. The candidate has roughly followed that structure here. This makes the candidate’s writing quite easy to follow (and so be persuaded by!).

This looks like a good introductory paragraph. First, we like that the candidate has addressed the question immediately. They state (1) what the deal is and (2) a brief outline about why it interests them. In turn, this creates a good logical platform on which the candidate can construct coherent arguments. Secondly, we like that the candidate ties the deal into their wider understanding of Amazon’s business. The candidate mentions Amazon Clinic  and discusses specific details about it, before tying that in with the One Medical deal. This demonstrates (1) that the candidate has good critical thinking skills and (2) that the candidate has an interest in how global businesses think and operate. In turn, this helps demonstrate that the candidate has a strong interest in business (a crucial requirement for commercial law!).

Nonetheless, the candidate does not provide enough context into the One Medical deal. The candidate never tells us (1) the value of the deal, (2) what exactly One Medical does nor (3) how exactly One Medical is relevant to Amazon’s business strategy. This results in some quite generic writing elsewhere in the paragraph. The candidate asserts that this deal demonstrates increased interest by big tech in healthcare. However, it is unclear how the One Medical deal demonstrates this point. To improve, the candidate should have provided specific and detailed insight into (1) the value of the deal, (2) precisely what One Medical do and (3) how they fit into Amazon’s plans.

This deal will have wider implications on the healthcare sector, which is an area of expertise at AG. Big tech will be focused on rapidly scaling their innovative health care solutions. They will invest heavily into this space to buy out promising companies, and develop products they think the industry needs. AG will have to advise on regulatory updates in the health care industry and merger control. For example, Amazon’s One Medical deal is already being examined by the Federal Trade Commission. There will inevitably be the need for data protection lawyers advising on agreements to deal with how such personal data is processed. For example, as part of its One Medical deal, Amazon may need to set up firewalls to separate customer information held by clinics from that gathered through other products and services.

Feedback: The candidate continues a sensible approach by exploring (1) what the wider implications might be and (2) where AG fits in. We like how the candidate identifies specific components of the One Medical deal before tying them into AG. For instance, we are given decent insight into the regulatory issues surrounding One Medical and how AG might fit in.  You should aim for similar levels of specificity in your own writing. You should unpack each challenge raised by the deal, before explaining precisely how AG can mitigate said challenges.

However, this paragraph needed to improve in a few regards:

1. Like the previous paragraph, the candidate’s writing is missing context. The candidate asserts that this deal will have “wider implications” for the sector but never explains what these are. It’s also difficult to infer these implications from the first paragraph, because the candidate never explained what One Medical is or how it is relevant to Amazon. As such, the candidate’s overall argument is difficult to follow here.

2. The candidate’s writing on “big tech” is quite weak. The candidate asserts that “big tech” will “rapidly scale innovative healthcare solutions” and “buy out promising companies”, but this writing is actually quite generic. All large businesses will try to innovate and diversify their offerings wherever possible. This is not a unique feature of “big tech” businesses. As such, the candidate’s writing is not tied in closely enough with their initial point.

3. The candidate’s writing on AG is quite generic and simple. The candidate identifies simple regulatory challenges that Amazon might face, before making basic assertions that AG would need to draft in “data protection lawyers” and provide “healthcare regulatory updates” to assist Amazon. These points are rather simple and obvious. Any law firm would need to advise Amazon on said issues, and most City firms would be capable of doing so. The candidate needed to provide specific and detailed research into AG’s expertise. Then, the candidate would need to explain how that makes AG uniquely well-positioned to help Amazon.

4. As a general point, you should avoid informal language like “big tech” wherever possible. Not only is it unclear what the candidate is referring to, but phrases like “big tech” also detract from the overall tone and professionalism of this answer.

In the long term, the deal will put Amazon in a better position to deliver an improved and more connected model of care for consumers. Amazon is known for large scale ventures, so there is no doubt this will have a huge impact on worldwide healthcare providers. This will be particularly threatening to AG's clients who are current healthcare providers, as Amazon will redefine consumer expectations of care. This means current providers will need to work hard and innovate in order to keep up.

Feedback: This is a decent final paragraph. One strength is that the candidate tries to explore the long-term implications of Amazon’s deal for the healthcare sector. This makes the candidate’s multi-faceted and nuanced, which in turn demonstrates that the candidate can think critically and tie different points together. In your own writing, you should try to explore both the short-term and long-term implications of your chosen deal. This will demonstrate convincing levels of commercial awareness to the recruiter.

However, this paragraph suffers similar weaknesses to the previous. The candidate asserts that this deal will have a “huge impact” on healthcare but never explains what this might be. Beyond generic assertions that Amazon will “redefine customer care”, the candidate never truly explains what these impacts might be. It is also not clear how AG would help current providers “work hard and innovate” in order to address this challenge. In your own writing, you need to make sure that your writing specifically addresses each element of the question being asked.

This paragraph does not truly answer the question, either. The candidate asserts that the deal will “threaten” AG’s clients, but never tells us (1) who these clients are, (2) exactly how the deal will threaten those clients nor (3) how AG specifically can help protect these clients against said risks. This results in an imprecise final paragraph that does not address the question. The question wants you to identify specific challenges for AG’s clients, before analysing precisely how AG can capitalise on said challenges. As such, you need to make sure that you address these elements of the question closely.

Identify a current commercial issue which has recently attracted your attention. Why do you consider it to be significant? Who are the key stakeholders in this situation and what are the implications for those concerned? (250 Words)

According to StreetInsider, Textron (Akin Gump’s clients) are in talks with Bombardier Inc regarding the acquisition of its ‘business-jet unit’. This acquisition is motivated by growth and synergy of adding the ‘[g]lobal series of large-cabin aircraft’ to Textron’s portfolio. This is significant as it would translate to more business for Textron and by extension Akin Gump.

[Feedback: This is an excellent opening. The candidate has nicely summarised the context of a recent commercial deal, employing quotes and references to add flair and credence to their answer.]

Reports on acquisition talks increased Textron’s average share by 9% and Bombardier’s by 10%. However, this increase was prior to the U.S and Canada being affected by COVID-19. According to Business Wire, Textron’s first-quarter results of 2020 showed that its revenue decreased by 10.7%; a direct consequence of COVID-19, which has caused state implemented ‘home quarantine’ measures.

[Feedback: Another fantastic paragraph. The candidate has employed statistics from a different news source to further explain the nuances of the potential deal.]

85% of Textron’s shares are owned by institutional investors. A high institutional investor stake holding typically indicates company stability as it suggests the usage of index-tracking. However, the latest results from CNN showed two of Textron’s key shareholders, the Vanguard Group and BlackRock, selling their shares.

[Feedback: This paragraph demonstrates the candidate’s technical knowledge and adds additional exposition.

With Textron’s share price dropping, the company based on its current financial standings, would be unable to fund the acquisition of Bombardier. They would have to consult Akin Gump on either debt restructuring, an acquisition loan or both should they proceed with the acquisition. However, an acquisition with the current market standing might be concerning for Textron’s main shareholders. As institutional investors, they must retain a certain level of revenue, otherwise, there would be a ‘run on the fund’ which could lead to dissolution and the loss of Akin Gump’s client.

[Feedback: This section is slightly longer than the previous paragraphs but does well to relate the commercial issue back to Akin Gump and explain the significance of the problem at hand (Textron’s supposed inability to fund the acquisition).

Overall, this is a very strong answer and employs fantastic uses of referencing, quotes, statistics and analysis. A small point of improvement would be to use explicitly the terms in the question. For example, throughout the answer the significance of the issue is elucidated, it would have been worth explicitly stating, ‘this is significant because […]’. By doing this, you ensure that the reader knows you have answered the question and your answer is fully appreciated by the recruiter.]

Identify a current commercial issue which has recently attracted your attention. Why do you consider it to be significant? Who are the key stakeholders in this situation and what are the implications for those concerned?

Feedback: To ensure that your answer is both comprehensive and easy to follow, we recommend splitting it into three paragraphs of roughly equal length. The first paragraph should address the first part of the prompt by outlining the context behind your current commercial issue of choice, i.e., its “what”, “when”, “where”, and “why” factors. The second paragraph should address the second part of the prompt by explaining the significance of your current commercial issue of choice, i.e., why it is an issue per se; in this regard, we recommend that you provide at least two reasons. The final paragraph should address the third and fourth parts of the prompt by identifying the key stakeholders, i.e., the main actors involved in or affected by your current commercial issue of choice, and identifying the implications for each one in turn, i.e., the ways in which their position could be altered, improved, worsened, etc. as a result of your current commercial issue of choice. In this case, the candidate follows a slightly different, slightly less efficient structure, though they do well to mirror the wording of the prompt in order to signpost throughout their answer.

A current commercial issue that has attracted my attention is the transition of the use of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to the use of Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate (SONIA). This is a significant transition as LIBOR rates underpin financial contracts worth trillions of pounds and companies are struggling to transition to the use of SONIA rates.

This transition is also significant because LIBOR is often used as a benchmark rate to underpin interest rates in floating rate debt instruments. Law firms, such as Akin Gump, must advise clients in what will happen to existing contracts once LIBOR is discontinued and the differences SONIA will bring once it is introduced. Clients could include stakeholders such as private equity houses, institutional investors or commercial companies looking to raise or purchase debt.

One key issue is that SONIA, unlike LIBOR, is backward looking which means that it cannot be calculated until the end of an agreed interest period. This can create uncertainty over how much interest is due. Firms will have to advise their clients on what is the best way to overcome this uncertainty and prepare the relevant contracts. This could be by using a lag period to reference the SONIA rate or the development of a forward-looking SONIA term rate.

Feedback The candidate makes their current commercial issue of choice immediately clear to the reader: the transition away from LIBOR towards SONIA. To showcase their commercial awareness right from the get-go, the candidate could have succinctly explained the meaning and purpose of LIBOR and SONIA, though this is a relatively minor point. The candidate correctly identifies three reasons that render the transition significant, as well as a number of key stakeholders affected by it. At the same time, they briefly state the implications for the aforementioned stakeholders, though they could have done so in a more emphatic manner by mirroring the wording of the prompt, e.g., “The implication of X is Y”.

What makes their answer particularly effective, however, is the fact that they implicitly identify commercial law firms as stakeholders within the current commercial issue in question and it explains their prospective role therein without being explicitly prompted to do so; in so doing, they showcase their critical thinking ability as well as their understanding of law firms’ business and relationship with clients. To tailor their answer to Akin Gump further, the candidate could have highlighted the firm’s leading expertise in finance-related matters and/or its previous experience assisting clients with similar commercial issues.

Please tell us about a recent news article that interests you and how this relates to Ashurst?

Recently, UK ministers announced they wanted to replicate the country's Covid-19 vaccine TaskForce to provide Britain with nuclear power stations at record speed. The strategy, which would increase the UK's nuclear power output, aims to reduce fossil fuel consumption and reliance on Russian natural resources.

I find this interesting because the replication of the TaskForce beyond the vaccine role out indicates the impact of catalytic change, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on government policy. It shows the potential for the TaskForce approach to be applied to a variety of sectors that could likely result in the repetition of trends that accompanied it in 2020.

Feedback: This paragraph demonstrates some commercial awareness, whilst also addressing the question straight away. The question has two parts: (1) discuss a recent news article and explain why it interests you and (2) discuss why it is important to Ashurst. Though the candidate’s overall structure is fine, you could consider splitting up your answer into two paragraphs (with one answering the former half of the question, and the other answering the latter).

Here, the candidate does well to summarise the article and explain the UK government’s strategic objectives. You should also note how the candidate uses the specific wording of the question. They lead their next paragraph by directly stating why they found the article interesting. This not only guarantees that the candidate focuses on the question, but it also keeps the readers engaged with your arguments.  To improve, the candidate could have offered concrete statistics/examples. The candidate should have considered how many nuclear power stations the government aims to build, what energy capacity/production output it seeks to achieve, and so on. This would provide something quantifiable against which the candidate can measure the programme’s likelihood of success.

That said, the candidate incorrectly capitalises “Taskforce” multiple times throughout the answer but fails to capitalise “vaccine”. It should instead be “Vaccine Taskforce” because this is the name of the organisation (like “Ashurst”). Given the candidate repeats this mistake throughout, it might lead a cynical recruiter to question whether the candidate has seriously engaged with the issue being discussed.

In 2020 Clifford Chance, Burges Salmon and Pinset Masons were instructed to advise the government on its Covid-19 vaccine programme, granted mandates from the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy. The government also instructed Linklaters and Slaughter and May concerning legal advice for the UK's freight and rail industries post-pandemic. The cumulative total of these contracts was £5 million.

Feedback: The candidate shows some awareness of the wider trends that have emerged following the UK’s Taskforce programme. You should note that the candidate goes into a good level of detail on each example, whilst also focusing their examples on various City law firms. That said, the candidate needs to tie in these examples back to the question by explaining why they found the examples interesting and why Ashurst should take interest in them. Currently, the paragraph seems disconnected from the rest of the answer: it feels like a non-sequitur. It appears that the candidate has just shoehorned in some relevant examples without offering any meaningful commentary.

The candidate has also made a typo in “Pinset Masons”. This should be “Pinsent Masons”. Given the candidate has made several typos elsewhere in the application, this might have lead a recruiter to have serious doubts about the candidate’s attention to detail and writing abilities. Some firms are completely unforgiving and will reject you on the basis of making one typo.

The nuclear power strategy would create business opportunities for Ashurst due to the strength of its project finance, infrastructure and energy practices. The firm previously advised the Department for Business Energy & Industrial strategy on its Capture, Usage and Storage Programme and boasts highly regarded partners such as Patrick Boyle and Anthony Johns who underline its capabilities within the sector.

Feedback: The candidate starts strongly by (1) addressing the question directly and (2) explicitly outlining how the nuclear strategy would create opportunities for Ashurst’s specific practice areas. The candidate also rightly identifies a specific example of a project Ashurst has advised the government on, together with named examples of partners that might be able to capitalise on the nuclear power strategy. However, the candidate needs to tie the example to the point much more closely. Though Ashurst has a strong energy and project finance practice, this does not necessarily mean Ashurst’s expertise lies in nuclear power specifically. The candidate should identify an example where Ashurst advised on nuclear power construction/deals, before analysing how Ashurst can apply this expertise to capitalise on the government’s new strategy.

Once again, the candidate makes several grammatical/punctuation mistakes. Namely, “Department for Business Energy & Industrial strategy” needs to be “Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy”. Given the number of typos the candidate has made already, the recruiter would start having serious doubts about the candidate’s attention to detail at this point.

The move away from Russian resources does threaten aspects of the infrastructure and energy practice. Ashurst suspended ties to Russian state clients, including Russian Railways, and investors may be steering clear of large construction projects due to soaring commodity prices. However, Ashurst's strength in oil and gas pertaining to the Middle East and Africa points towards the firm's current robustness. Additionally, Ashurst is well equipped to assist clients with disputes resulting from price volatility.

Feedback: The candidate nods to the wider context of the nuclear power strategy here, namely that the UK government wishes to reduce reliance on Russian energy. That said, the candidate’s final few points are underdeveloped. It is unclear how Ashurst’s strengths in oil and gas are relevant here, since the candidate has focused on nuclear energy specifically. Furthermore, the candidate offers no elaboration on how Ashurst might be equipped to help clients with disputes arising from price volatility. Instead, the candidate should have focused on the challenge of soaring commodity prices/lack of investment in large construction projects. This would allow the candidate to tie in their point back to the government’s wider nuclear power construction project.

Please tell us about a recent news article that interests you and how this relates to Ashurst? (300 words)

As outlined by the Financial Times, the proposed Nuclear Energy (Financing) (NE(F)) Bill is set to introduce the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model to finance nuclear power station developments. This model will be used to fund Sizewell C, the first nuclear plant to be constructed in Britain since 1995. Nuclear projects are notoriously expensive and take decades to turn a profit; Sizewell C will cost over £10 billion in construction costs. The RAB model decreases risk for investors by charging a levy against consumer energy bills to subsidise developments. Hence, the NE(F) Bill will certainly promote private investment in nuclear projects.

Feedback:  The candidate adopts a sensible structure throughout this paragraph. We advise that you follow a similar approach. They begin by (1) contextualising and explaining the deal in specific detail, before (2) explaining why it interests you and (3) explaining how it relates to Ashurst. The candidate has done well by dealing with points (1) and (2) in this first paragraph, before devoting the majority of the word count to point (3).

We particularly like the level of specificity and detail that the candidate gets into. Not only does the candidate identify a recent news article from a reputable source, but they describe it in precise detail. We are given full insight into the numbers, statistics and factual details relevant to the news article. This demonstrates that (1) the candidate has carried out thorough and serious research into the subject matter and (2) that the candidate can concisely pick out and summarise high quantities of information from a complex Financial Times article.  You should aim for similar levels of specificity in your own writing. You should re-read your chosen article multiple times, before identifying and explaining the most relevant facts from it.

That said, the candidate should have improved this answer by explaining any technical/complicated language in full. The candidate references the Regulated Asset Base and relies on this throughout the answer. However, they never fully define this model or explain exactly how the levy “decreases risk for investors”. This makes some of the candidate’s subsequent writing hard to follow. You should remember that recruiters are assessing your ability to communicate complex information in a concise and accessible manner. As such, you need to explain any technical language in full.

With the UK's most distinguished projects team - which has a heavy focus on clean energy - this measure could significantly impact Ashurst. The RAB model represents a new tool that Ashurst and its clients can use to finance potential nuclear projects. Ashurst does have experience in this area, having acted on the Thames Tideway Tunnel project which was funded in the same way. The measure may also introduce newcomers to the market, meaning that Ashurst could benefit from increased opportunities and investment within the energy industry.

Feedback:  In this paragraph, the candidate begins to tailor their writing towards Ashurst. First, we like that the candidate states their point from the outset. They state that this development is relevant to Ashurst because it has a leading clean energy projects practice. This provides focus and structure to the candidate’s subsequent writing.  The candidate also does well to identify a specific and named example from Ashurst’s work. This provides some insight into how the candidate’s chosen article has direct relevancy to Ashurst’s work. In your own writing, you should tailor your chosen article to Ashurst by identifying specific and detailed examples from the firm’s work.

However, the candidate should have improved this answer in the following ways:

1. The candidate does not provide enough analysis on the Thames Tideway Tunnel example. They assert that Ashurst “acted” on this project and “has experience in this area”, but never explains precisely how Ashurst involved themselves in the deal. As such, it is unclear how Ashurst’s expertise is specifically relevant to the RAB model’s introduction. In your own writing, you should explain why you think Ashurst’s practice area strengths are specifically relevant to your chosen article. This should be backed up with detailed and specific research.

2. The candidate’s conclusions are tentative and speculative. The candidate speculates that the measure “may introduce newcomers”, meaning that Ashurst “could benefit” from these introductions. However, the candidate does not provide any specific evidence supporting these points. In your own writing, you must back up your assertions with specific, detailed and quantified research.

Taking a wider view, the NE(F) Bill is just one example of the rapidly increasing investment into the energy sector. The ongoing energy crisis has compounded Britain's goal to reach a net-zero economy by 2050. Labour leader, Keir Starmer recently announced his plans to launch Great British Energy - a publicly owned green energy provider - should he come into office, pledging £8 billion for investments into energy projects. This policy would represent further opportunity for Ashurst to advise on major energy developments. However, whilst it is lucrative, this also shows the energy industry is ever-changing. Therefore, Ashurst should maintain flexibility to ensure it can adapt to potential policy changes in the future.

Feedback: This paragraph is an improvement on the previous. First, the candidate showcases their analytical/critical thinking skills to a much higher level. The candidate explains how their article fits in with wider trends in the energy sector. It is clear to the recruiter how exactly this article fits in with wider economic and political trends. Then, the candidate justifies their point by discussing a specific, detailed news event that they have researched. You should note the level of specificity the candidate gets into. The candidate identifies a specific named proposal from the UK’s opposition party, before providing specific numerical details and explaining how it fits in with the candidate’s point. This results in a coherent, well-explained argument that evidences the candidate’s level of interest in this topic,

The candidate’s writing on Ashurst is comparatively weaker. The candidate asserts that (1) that it would provide opportunities for Ashurst to advise on major energy projects and (2) that Ashurst needs to “adapt” to policy changes. However, the candidate never explains these points in full. The candidate also does not offer specific and detailed evidence in support of these points. In turn, this means the candidate’s writing on Ashurst is generic and requires further tailoring. In your own writing, you should showcase specific research into Ashurst’s practice areas before explaining how that research ties in with your chosen article.

Based on your research, what do you understand to be the biggest opportunity for one of the sectors in which we specialise?  (150 words)

There is a large opportunity in Aerospace/Technology.

Currently Bird & Bird have specialised in the satellite aspect of Space Law - I note the firm's association and work with OneWeb (and its plan to establish a LEO satellite network) and Speedcast (and its supply agreement with NBN).

I see an opportunity for the firm to expand into less tapped areas of Space Law, which are lucrative and emerging: private spaceflight, and space tourism. The richest individuals are investing billions of dollars into developing these products (such as Bezos' 'Blue Origin', Musk's 'SpaceX', and Branson's 'Virgin Galactic').

International legislation regarding space is still largely incomplete, least of all regarding privatised spaceflight. Bird & Bird, with a footing in the Space Law market, can pioneer precedents in space law and space-related deals. Furthermore, the firm should look to capitalise off these new, wealthy entrants into the market, who will certainly need legal counsel. 

[Feedback: Every word counts in a question like this.  The candidate starts effectively, leading with the answer first and making it immediately clear which sector they are going to focus on.

Having picked an interesting area, the candidate references the further research that they have done about the firm.  This is key - law firms want to interview candidates who have done their homework and can identify how the firm differs to its competitors.  Resources like Chambers Student, Lex100 and Legal Business make it easy for candidates to efficiently understand what makes a firm different, but a surprising amount of candidates will skip straight to writing their application without doing adequate research on the firm first.  In this case, the candidate has gone a step further and researched the names of the firm’s clients in this nascent sector.

It’s difficult to explain the implications of focusing on such a novel sector.  The candidate is correct to highlight the significant investment in this area because it will translate into legal spend.  Ideally, the candidate’s final paragraph would be more specific on the areas of opportunity within space law.  You can use the following framework to brainstorm areas of opportunity: ask yourself “which practice areas will be involved in this sector?” 

For example, Bird & Bird’s corporate team could help its space clients set up the corporate structure for their new companies in this area (e.g., help Elon Musk set-up SpaceX); negotiate investment documents for any external third-party investment in the business (e.g., Google’s investment in SpaceX) and assist its IP/IT teams in negotiating licensing opportunities with third-parties (e.g., putting in place the legal docs between SpaceX and Tesla to launch Musk’s Tesla Roadster into space as a clever advertisement for SpaceX’s sister company).]

In your view, what will be the greatest innovation to influence the firm in the next 5 years and why? (150 words)

The greatest innovation to influence the firm will be computer-automated document analysis.

The technology already exists, but it has yet to be implemented or utilised to its fullest extent. Programs such as 'Luminance' have been funded by legal firms (in this instance, Slaughter & May) and are rapidly replacing the way in which legal firms conduct themselves.

The behaviour of the firm will have to change in light of this technology. Although lawyers will not be replaced - machine learning means that details will be scrutinised and picked apart more than ever. Bird & Bird will have to ensure that they employ this technology to draft water-tight documents/agreements 

The litigation/arbitration sector will benefit greatly from this kind of technology, and I would expect to see firms such as Bird & Bird expanding more into those practice areas. The technology will allow solicitors to claim and counter-claim to higher degrees of precision.

[Feedback: Again, the candidate immediately makes their focus area clear and goes on to explain examples of existing innovation in this area to demonstrate their research. 

The candidate is a little vague on how automation will affect law firms.  If the candidate picked a specific area, it would be easier to explain the impact.  For example, contract automation is unlikely to replace the back-and-forth bespoke negotiation that leading law firms specialise in, but it might speed the process up by highlighting problematic clauses and automatically applying the client’s default positions on routine boilerplate clauses like the governing law clause.]

Based on your research, what do you understand to be the biggest opportunity for one of the sectors in which we specialise? (150 words)

I believe the biggest opportunity for Bird & Bird lies in the Energy & Utilities sector by capitalising on the development of the electrified road, consequent to the advancement of the Electric Vehicle. Sweden launched the pilot project, eRoadAtlanda, in 2018 near Stockholm, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030. The electric vehicles are charged by projecting an “arm” that connects to the charging location while driving. If the vehicle overtakes or stops, the charging arm disconnects, and the system will calculate the consumption of energy before debiting the costs to the users.

Calls for clean energy has seen growth in the sector in recent years. With 30 overseas offices including Stockholm, Bird & Bird can get first-hand information and utilise its core strength in technology to advise and assist stakeholders regarding aspects such as socioeconomic, planning considerations and implementation of the project in other countries.

[Feedback: The candidate manages to produce a convincing answer within a limited wordcount. The structure is on point as well: it begins by setting out the main topic to be discussed -> provides detail on the opportunity -> ties back to B&B with specific firm insights -> concludes effectively. Electric vehicles and electrified roads are not simple topics but the candidate does a nice job of speaking mostly in layperson terms. Research is used effectively, both on the topic (eRoadAtlanda) and with respect to the firm (B&B’s Stockholm office and strong technology practice). The writing is also clear and concise.

As the concepts are a little complicated, the last sentence of the first paragraph is slightly unclear and could use a bit more detail on how it actually works. “Calls for clean energy has” should also be “Calls for clean energy have”.]

In your view, what will be the greatest innovation to influence the firm in the next 5 years and why?(150 words)

Remote working has become a current trend, making online communication platforms the greatest innovation to influence the firm. With meeting clients abroad no longer a viable option, teleconferencing technology has saved the firm from expenses incurred by travelling and cut short lawyers’ commuting time. This change of clients’ behaviour also highlights that the firm needs to find better platforms to facilitate seamless communication while securing confidentiality of the meeting. In terms of documents, the firm needs to move towards paperless, explore e-signature tools and advise clients on ways to execute documents.

Some lawyers think working remotely promotes a better work-life balance while others may experience difficulties in handling childcare while working. As a result, lawyers without children may need to share the workload of their colleagues to support them through this difficult time. The firm and trainees may also need to explore ways to replace or replicate “osmosis” learning opportunities.

[Feedback: The candidate starts strongly in the first two sentences. The opening sentence makes a claim and sets the tone for the answer and the second follows it by immediately showing why online communication has had an impact on the firm (i.e. reduced expenses and reduced commuting time). The third and fourth sentences then explore issues of confidentiality with online communication and improving document management. Now that the ‘pros’ have been dealt with, the second paragraph explores the cons of remote work and this change and also explains how it will negatively impact - or at least require a change - at the firm level. The writing is also decent.

However, this answer is weaker than the first. The answer’s main issue is that it tries to cram in too many points. It covers (1) remote working, (2) improving teleconference tech, (3) legal tech generally (paperless, e-signatures etc) and then closes off with (4) additional remote working issues. The result is that the third and fourth sentences in the first paragraph do not sit well together or flow on from the first two sentences. And similarly the final sentence of the second paragraph introduces a good point but it is awkwardly made and doesn’t round out the answer. The answer should tackle less topics but go deeper into each. Depth is better than breadth when it comes to law firm applications. And as a general comment, while remote working is indeed a new trend, we’re not sure it could be classed as an “innovation”, as the question requires.]

As a national law firm, what factors could have a significant influence on our firm over the next 5 years and why?

I believe the most significant factors that could influence Browne Jacobson over the next five years are liberalisation of the legal market and legal technology. The Legal Services Act 2007 aimed to promote market competition within the legal profession, allowing non-law firms to register as alternative business structures to deliver legal services. Clients may be more inclined to work with organisations, like the Big Four, as they can now act as one-stop-shops for commercial clients looking for advice on legal, tax, finance, and business consulting matters. Liberalisation also poses a threat to Browne Jacobson as a national law firm because international firms have access to markets where liberalisation of the legal market is minimal. This gives them an advantage in the diversity of clients they advise.

Feedback:The candidate identifies two factors that could plausibly have a significant influence on Browne Jacobson in the next five years and discusses them at length, presenting their train of thought in a clear, easy-to-follow manner. In light of the word limit, we recommend following the candidate’s example and discussing two factors at length in your answer in order to be able to develop your arguments in a comprehensive, persuasive manner.

Although the phrase “the liberalisation of the legal market” is rather broad and ambiguous, the candidate puts it into perspective with their subsequent explanation of the Legal Services Act 2007 and showcases their commercial awareness as well as their ability to think critically in doing so. For the sake of clarity, they could have simply cited the passing of the Legal Services Act 2007 as a factor per se, though this is a relatively minor point. The candidate could have also mentioned the fact that the Big Four firms have, indeed, been expanding their offering to include legal services since the passing of the Act. Nonetheless, the candidate does well to place distinct emphasis on the impact of the Act on Browne Jacobson as a national firm by drawing a parallel to international firms; adopting such a comparative approach to illustrate your argument can be particularly effective.

For the sake of consistency, the candidate could have opined on the course of action that Browne Jacobson could take in response to the “liberalisation of the legal market”, much like they opined on the course of action that the firm could take in response to the “exponential growth of legal technology” in the second paragraph of their answer.

Another factor that could influence Browne Jacobson is the exponential growth of legal technology. This is in response to the demand from clients for more accessible and cost-effective legal services. Browne Jacobson can adjust to this market disruptor by moving
away from a traditional pyramid-shaped organisational structure to a rocket-shaped structure. Tasks that are commonly completed by trainees and associates will likely be performed by legal technology and other professions, such as legal-tech analysts and IT consultants. This structure allows a firm to cut costs whilst also improving efficiency. By investing in legal technology and transitioning to this operating model, the firm can create better value for clients in providing quality and competitively priced legal services whilst retaining their position as a leading provider.

Feedback: The candidate aptly contextualises the “exponential growth of legal technology” through the lens of client demand for cost-effectiveness and describes some of its benefits, further showcasing their commercial awareness. Echoing the comments made supra, the candidate presents their train of thought in a straightforward, logical manner and uses technical terms correctly. What makes their answer particularly effective is the fact that, unprompted, they opine on the steps Browne Jacobson could take to address the rise in legal technology in a productive manner; this highlights their understanding of the law firm as a business, as well as their ability to think independently. To improve their answer, they could have given examples of the kind of legal technology that is increasingly growing in popularity and explained some of its uses. Moreover, they could have explained the particular impact that the rise of legal technology has on national firms such as Browne Jacobson, as opposed to law firms in general; for instance, they could have contrasted national firms with international firms, as they did in the previous paragraph.

As an independent UK firm what do you think are the main challenges and opportunities that Burges Salmon could face over the next five years? (300 words max)*

Burges Salmon may come under pressure from the ‘more for less’ challenge that firms are facing, with clients expecting greater results for a lower price. This will lead to efforts to contain costs and improve efficiency. However, I believe that the coronavirus pandemic has presented an opportunity for law firms to deal with this challenge. As firms move towards a remote style of working this could result in the chance for firms to benefit from lower overhead costs due to a reduced need for office space moving forward, with resultant cost savings being used elsewhere in the firm to make them more competitive.

[Feedback: This question invites the candidate to demonstrate their knowledge of the legal industry and employ their critical thinking skills to consider how Burges Salmon as a business may avoid issues or capitalise on opportunities.

The candidate does well to lay out the context for their answer in this first paragraph. The opening sentence clearly states that the candidate will focus on the ‘more for less’ issue, which (importantly) the candidate then defines. The candidate then swiftly moves on to contextualise the matter further in light of the coronavirus pandemic. You should be aware that the pandemic will be a well-trodden topic in law firm applications. Hence, you should either consider mentioning it in conjunction with another issue or unique analysis (as this candidate has done) or avoid it entirely.

The latter half of the paragraph succinctly links the rise of remote working generated by the pandemic to the mitigation of the ‘more for less’ issue. The candidate also explains how remote working lowers the costs for law firms and links the analysis back to how firms can use those savings to keep themselves competitive.

Overall, this paragraph is an excellent illustration of a PEE/AL structure. The only point of improvement is that the candidate could have employed additional specific evidence. For example, the candidate could have woven in some statistics concerning how many firms have adopted a remote working policy (post-pandemic) or incorporated some specific facts or statistics with respect to Burges Salmon itself.]

One such area to which cost savings could be diverted is a firm’s technological investment, presenting firms with an opportunity to offer cheaper and more efficient services to clients. The rise of legal technology will present firms with the challenge of undergoing a digital revolution to ensure that the firm is adapting, investing in technology, and transforming its processes in order to thrive in today’s legal market. Legal technology will result in innovation in a firm’s service delivery, but it will be important for independent firms to listen and understand their client’s needs and provide solutions that suit them.

[Feedback:  The opening sentence of this paragraph nicely links back to the previous section and gives the whole answer a sense of cohesion and sophistication.

The candidate’s focus in this paragraph is legal technology. Similarly to the coronavirus pandemic, you should be wary of bringing up this topic as it is quite an over-used subject.

Nevertheless, the candidate nicely demonstrates the opportunity to use the savings generated by remote working in legal technology investment. This not only extends the analysis in the first paragraph but also raises another point of discussion (thereby satisfying the question which asks the candidate to discuss challenges and opportunities (plural).

To improve this answer, the candidate could have been more specific with respect to their analysis and examples. The candidate writes that ‘[l]egal technology will result in innovation in a firm’s service delivery’. However, they fail to provide any evidence for this statement. It would have been good to see some evidence of the candidate’s research as to this point: for example, some instances where legal technology has changed how a firm delivers its services or some statistics with respect to speed or cost of services, or both.]

Burges Salmon opened an Edinburgh office in 2019 and recently opened a wholly owned subsidiary office in Dublin. If in the future Burges Salmon continues to expand its offices, one of the challenges that Burges Salmon may be faced with is the retention of its collaborative culture that is achieved by all of Burges Salmon’s solicitors previously being based in one Bristol office. However, saying that, Burges Salmon retaining its culture as an independent law firm will be significantly easier than if the firm’s strategy for growth was to merge with another firm with a completely different culture.

[Feedback: The candidate introduces a relatively separate issue in their final paragraph. Generally, if you wish to introduce a new topic, try to emulate the candidate in starting a new paragraph. This will help the reader keep track of your arguments (especially when a question, such as this one, invites multiple topics for discussion).

The candidate does well to demonstrate their knowledge about the firm and home on an issue specific to Burges Salmon rather than firms in general. The candidate also uses this paragraph to mention their understanding of the firm’s collaborative culture.

The candidate could have improved their answer by tightening their argumentation in the latter half of their answer. Their response that retaining the firm’s culture will be easier than if the firm merged with another is quite a slippery answer. On the one hand, the candidate is attempting to answer that the issue they have raised is not as much of a problem as it may seem at first. On the other hand, the candidate has not explained how the firm could mitigate that problem.

If the challenge is so slight that it does not require any resolution, then the candidate should not have mentioned it because then it is not actually a challenge. If, however, it is a real challenge, then the candidate should have explained how the firm has or should overcome it.

The final point is that the question asks the candidate to consider the opportunities and challenges over the next five years. The candidate has not made any reference to this timeframe throughout their answer. If the question mentions such a timeframe, try to mention it in your answer and consider what developments would occur over that time.]

Burges Salmon operates in seven key sectors. Which of the sectors do you think will generate the most work for the firm in the next financial year and why? (300 words max)*

As a result of the UK’s legally binding requirement to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, I think the Energy, Power and Utilities sector will generate the most work for the firm in the next financial year. It is clear that the Net Zero target is becoming a driving force behind both changing public policy and business strategy, as a result of increasingly environmentally conscious investors and stakeholders. Furthermore, with the Government emphasising that the economic recovery from COVID-19 should be a ‘green recovery’ and the Energy White Paper released in December outlining an action plan for the achievement of Net Zero to help various industries in moving forwards towards the legally binding 2050 target, companies will be presented with a clearer idea of how net zero carbon emissions can be achieved.

[Feedback: The candidate clearly lays out the focus of their answer, and correctly identifies one of the key sectors Burges Salmon specialises in.

The candidate adopts a proper structure for their answer. The opening sentences act as a clear ‘point’. They directly answer the question. The subsequent sentences explain their claim. The candidate does well to cite trends in the sector, specifically the ‘net zero’ target being more widely adopted. After this, the candidate provides some specific evidence to substantiate their point and explanation: the ‘green recovery’ drive and recent energy report.

Overall, this paragraph has the makings of a strong answer. The candidate should have linked the section back to the question to improve this answer. Whilst it is all well and good to discuss the trend towards being more energy-conscious, the candidate should have explained how this relates to Burges Salmon and their work. At a very fundamental level, if companies are attempting to make their businesses greener and divest their non-sustainable limbs, Burges Salmon may be employed to help them do so. And, naturally, if more companies are doing this, this means more work for Burges Salmon.]

Additionally, the previous carbon reporting regime in the UK has been replaced by the new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regime. The change means that qualifying companies, which includes many of Burges Salmon’s clients, will be required to report publicly on their UK energy use and carbon emissions within their Directors’ Report.

[Feedback: As it stands, this paragraph clearly sets out the point the candidate is making and provides a succinct explanation. It is, naturally, incomplete; however, this section is expanded upon by the succeeding paragraph. It could be merged with the paragraph below without too much issue; however, this structure is not overly problematic.]

As a result of the scrutiny and potential reputational impact of public disclosure of energy use and carbon emissions, the SECR regime will likely result in a shift in the urgency and importance of the need for action in regards to a company’s energy use and carbon footprint. There is also potential legal risks and the possibility of facing penalties if, for example, a company were to disclose inaccurate results. Therefore, it is likely that companies who are required to report under SECR will seek legal advice, and, as a result of Burges Salmon’s expertise in this sector, the firm will be well equipped to advise on such regulatory matters.

[Feedback: Overall, this paragraph (if combined with the section above) is relatively strong. The candidate does well in describing the change in the carbon reporting regime. They also demonstrate that they have reflected on this change and considered the impact it will have on companies in the industry. Furthermore, unlike in the first paragraph, the candidate has also explained how these developments will result in Burges Salmon’s Energy, Power and Utilities department gaining more work. 

To further improve this answer, the candidate could have elaborated on exactly what work would be generated (namely, what ‘legal advice’ the companies would seek) and how exactly Burges Salmon is ‘well equipped to advise on such regulatory matters’. For example, the candidate could have discussed the need for companies to review their internal energy and reporting policies and that lawyers would need to be engaged to ensure compliance with the SECR. Similarly, the candidate could have mentioned specific examples that demonstrate ‘Burges Salmon’s expertise in this sector’ by citing a transaction.

Finally, you should be wary of grammatical errors. The correct phrase is ‘in regard to’ or ‘with regard to’, not ‘in regards to’. Additionally, you should use ‘are’ rather than ‘is’ when dealing with plurals. The candidate has made this error in the following sentence: ‘There is also potential legal risks and the possibility of facing penalties’. Although such errors may appear minor to you, recruiters will find such mistakes unprofessional and reject your application based on them. No allowance is made for international students either!]

What do you see as the key drivers of the business of law? (200 words)

1. Globalisation

The US economic hegemony is long gone. The BRIC countries are now approaching sub-superpower level, 20% of the top 50 highest revenue firms are Chinese. Firms are going global, not only doing business across continents, but having their headquarters stationed in various non-native jurisdictions. 

When firms go global, their legal advisers must follow suit. Globalisation and global market forces are pushing law firms to do transnational business, not just from their home office, but from abroad settlements too. Driving the business of law is this new necessity to set up international offices and capture emerging markets’ business.

2. Consolidation

In tandem with the above point, law firms need to become full service to deal with the larger client and matter range. Rather than wait for organic growth, law firms are feeling encouraged to merge with one another. CMS pulled off one of the largest mergers with Nabarro and Olswang, and other firms are doing similar ‘mega mergers’ to expand their practice, such as the now-BCLP’s merger in 2018.

These mergers allow for fewer, but harder-hitting competitors. This promotes an attitude of ‘survival of the fittest’, or largest, in the legal market. The question is who can get there first.

[Feedback: The candidate uses slightly poncy language in this section, but writes in an authoritative and well-informed tone.  You should avoid long, essay-style sentences.  If it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it out. 

We disagree with the candidate’s conclusions about inevitable consolidation among law firms, but this is the right argument to take here given that CMS has hugely bulked up its practice in the last few years.  Why do we disagree?  You only have to look at the enviable profits of US firms and UK-based firms which have rejected the orthodoxy of international expansion (Slaughters, Macfarlanes and Travers Smith) to understand that there is more than one way to build a successful law firm. 

Nonetheless, this is a strong answer.  We think the candidate is right to stick to two drivers and develop them both. Depth over breadth wins here.

A further driver that we can think of is complexity.  Companies need advice in good times and bad times.  In order to respond to the complexities of Brexit, Covid-19, etc., many companies have taken legal advice on matters such as employment law, state aid, financial services regulation, etc.  This is part of the reason why law firms have largely done very well during the Covid-19 pandemic.]

Focusing on one of CMS's sectors, what opportunities have arisen in the 'new ways of working' and current business climate?

The COVID-19 pandemic creates opportunities in Real Estate and Construction. The temporary closure of non-essential retail in the UK alongside social distancing measures has reduced visits to physical retailers. Guidance to work from home where possible and the increasing use of virtual meeting software has decreased business travel, while border closures and quarantine requirements have sharply reduced hotel-occupancy rates. Thus tenants in retail, leisure and hospitality have been unable to meet their rent obligations; £6 billion in rent is unpaid as of May 2021. In response, the UK government introduced and extended a moratorium on forfeiture for non-payments of rent until March 2022. The Code of Practice for Commercial Property Regulations, proposed in November 2021 and expected to pass in March 2022, outlines the creation of a ring-fence around arrears accrued because of the pandemic and establishes a binding arbitration system to determine what happens to that ring-fenced debt. This creates opportunities for CMS's Real Estate and Planning Disputes Team to advise and support clients who engage in this arbitration process. For example, CMS could assist with devising proposals for settlement of rent arrears and, in the case of the tenant, the collation of relevant supporting evidence on viability and affordability. 

Feedback: As with the first paragraph of the previous answer, the candidate follows a sensible structure that is easy to follow. They lead in with a point that directly answers the question straight away (ie this event creates opportunities for CMS’ Real Estate & Construction team). Then, the candidate describes detailed evidence and analyses how it supports their wider argument. Finally, the candidate concludes their answer by linking their evidence/analysis back to the question (namely how it benefits one of CMS’ sectors). This results in a convincing argument that is easy to follow and be persuaded by.

This candidate again demonstrates an ability to conduct thorough, detailed research and then use it in support of their arguments. You should note the level of detail throughout much of the answer. The candidate backs up their arguments with specific dates, statistics, numbers and named legislation. This demonstrates that the candidate has researched the question thoroughly and can respond to it with a well-reasoned, evidence-backed argument. You should aim for similar levels of detail in your own answers. If you can replace generic or speculative arguments with specific research and detailed examples, then you must do this so that you can highlight your critical thinking skills to the recruiter.

That said, the candidate needed to use specific evidence and analysis consistently throughout their answer. The central weakness in this answer lies in its concluding “links”, wherein the candidate tries to tie their analysis back in with CMS and its opportunities. The issue is that the candidate writes about CMS’ Real Estate & Planning at a rudimentary level. They make basic assertions about how CMS’ team “advises and supports clients”, before moving onto some basic speculation about how CMS “could” help with settling rent arrears. However, they do not provide any evidence that CMS do this kind of work in Real Estate or intend to do so in the future. For all we know, rent arrears could be completely irrelevant to the work that its Real Estate lawyers specialise in. This means that the candidate does not demonstrate anything more than a basic awareness of CMS’ work and practice areas. In turn, the candidate does not convince the reader that they sufficiently understand CMS’ work and clients in Real Estate & Construction. Instead, the candidate should have backed up their assertions with evidence and examples. Had the candidate identified specific clients/cases where CMS assisted with rent arrears settlements, then their writing would have been far more persuasive overall.

As a general cautionary note, we would now recommend you avoid discussing COVID-19 in your commercial awareness answers if you can. It is now quite outdated as a topic, and in any case it has been discussed to death. For the same reasons, Shearman & Sterling advised candidates to avoid writing about Brexit in/after 2017. We will give this candidate the benefit of the doubt because it is a relatively older application.

Please tell us about a recent commercial deal that has captured your interest. If you could represent a side, which would it be and why?

The takeover bid between private equity giants Blackstone and Global Infrastructure Partners for the private jet company Signature Aviation is a very interesting deal occurring at the moment. Despite international global airlines reporting unprecedented losses and FTSE 100 company Rolls Royce being forced to ask for a five billion pound bailout, Signature Aviation and its competitors have managed to maintain over 80% of its previous annual turnover, making private jet transport a surprisingly sustainable and pandemic immune business.

Both interested Private Equity groups, realising the potential for growth in this area, have put forward a joint bid for a majority shareholding of the business. The unique resilience of Signature Aviation's business structure makes this a very interesting deal and I believe it would be exciting to represent them in this takeover deal.

Feedback: The candidate has chosen a solid example of a recent commercial deal: a relatively straightforward takeover bid for a relatively well-known company whose business is relevant in light of the status quo. Given that the candidate expressed their interest in private equity in previous answers within this application, their chosen example is particularly effective. Generally, we would recommend choosing simple examples of takeover bids, mergers, or acquisitions in industries and/or sectors that you understand reasonably well rather than choosing complex deals that you do not quite grasp.

Moreover, the candidate has contextualised their chosen example well by providing the reader with the essential details regarding the takeover bid and by highlighting the commercial significance of the takeover bid against the backdrop of the pandemic.

While the work on the potential Sponser's side would also be complex and challenging, Signature Aviation will require a significant amount of novel legal and business counsel moving forward with this deal. Given that they actually own very little material such as planes or runways, the 3.5 billion pound deal is purely focussed on its network of leasing contracts and logistical support networks sprawled across 4 different continents.

Therefore, in advising Signature Aviation, I would be required to look into its various contractual obligations in over a dozen different jurisdictions. Subsequently looking at this information in light of the proposed takeover offer and preparing both due diligence and share purchase agreements would be very engaging work.

Furthermore, I believe that the pre-signing phase of Signature Aviation's deal would be a particularly unique opportunity to gain a breadth of knowledge on an organisation's successful management of a global pandemic.

Feedback: The candidate makes the side they would prefer to represent immediately clear to the reader, justifies their preference, and showcases their research into the deal. Importantly, the candidate ties their discussion to their prospective role as a commercial solicitor within their chosen example, mentioning the process of due diligence and the drafting of share purchase agreements. At the same time, the candidate does well to highlight their wider interest in familiarising themselves with the business of Signature Aviation and understanding the key behind its success. Indeed, the opportunity to learn about the multifaceted mechanics of commerce is one of the reasons a career in commercial law appeals to a number of individuals.

On a different note, we would recommend double-checking your applications before sending them off in order to avoid grammatical errors and misuses of jargon. In this case, for example, the candidate has misspelled the word “sponsor” and has misused it as well. We are inclined to believe that the candidate wished to refer to the two private equity firms mentioned in the first paragraph. However, the word “sponsor” is generally used to refer to “an entity that provides support within the financial industry” (Investopedia); the private equity firms themselves would not necessarily be referred to as “sponsors” in this particular instance. For the sake of clarity, the candidate could have just repeated the firms’ names.

Which business news story has interested you the most in the last 12 months and why? (1500 characters)

I came across a news story from September 2019 on FinTech start-ups that are trying to lower the cost of money transfer in Africa after a World Bank report named remittances to Africa as the most expensive in the world at 9.4 percent. I found this story interesting as I am very passionate about the opportunities emerging markets open. Additionally, I am passionate about how legal tech and FinTech could be used to transform the legal and business sectors in the future.

Feedback: In terms of structure, this is an effective start because the candidate leads with the answer, making their chosen business news story and interest therein immediately clear. Since every word counts in questions like this one, the candidate could have omitted the very beginning of the topic sentence (i.e., “I came across a news story from September 2019”) and dived right into the story.

In terms of content, the candidate has chosen an interesting story in a rather niche area. Unfortunately, they do not introduce it in a comprehensive manner. At least one example of the practices used by FinTech start-ups to lower the cost of transferring money in Africa would have been warranted. When answering questions like this one, remember to cover your bases well (the “what”, “where”, “why”, etc. of it all) and to avoid making too many assumptions about the reader’s existing knowledge. This is especially important if your chosen business news story is not a well-known one.

I believe Africa to be one of the most profitable emerging market today. FinTech initiatives, such as M-Pesa that was invented in Kenya, allow for money transfer for people who do not have bank accounts. In fact, 50% of transactions in Kenya and South Africa are transferred using mobile money. While I believe FinTech to be important everywhere in the world, it is important especially in the emerging markets where new securities need to be created for vulnerable individuals through entrepreneurship.

Feedback: Although this paragraph showcases that the candidate has some knowledge about fintech in Africa, it does not add much value to their overall answer. Naturally, one would have expected this paragraph to pick up where the previous one had left off. Instead, it reads like a collection of miscellaneous facts vaguely related to the story at hand. Crucially, the candidate fails to explain how FinTech “could be used to transform the legal and business sectors in the future”, which would have been an excellent point of analysis. It would have also provided them with an opportunity to double down on why they find the story interesting.

The candidate also refers to M-Pesa without describing how it works.  M-Pesa is not a household name in the UK; it would be helpful to explain that it uses SMS messages as the payment rails (i.e. instead of SWIFT or other inter-bank transfer mechanisms).

Note: typo at “one of the most profitable emerging market”.

As DLA Piper is one of the world's leading FinTech focused law firms, I believe this to be a very relevant area for the firm. Moreover, with offices in Morocco and South Africa in addition to partnership firms all over the continent, DLA Piper puts a lot of emphasis on the emerging power that is Africa. In fact, DLA Piper has written about the rise of FinTech in Africa in their Africa Connected Issue 2 (17 April 2019) that concludes mobile payments to be a rising trend that leads to increased security and efficiency.

Feedback: Linking a business news story to a particular law firm, especially when you are not expected to do so, is a hit-or-miss strategy. In this case, the candidate’s extensive research into DLA Piper’s sector focus and international outreach has allowed them to link their chosen story to the firm without it sounding like a stretch. To take this answer to the next level, the candidate would have identified concrete ways in which DLA Piper might become involved (e.g., “the firm might be called upon to help FinTech start-ups navigate the regulatory landscape in Africa”).

Note: improper use of “concludes”. 

Which business news story has interested you the most in the last 12 months and why? (Maximum 1500 characters / approximately 250 words)

WeWork went from a $47 billion valuation to talks of bankruptcy in just six weeks. It is a fascinating but tragic story because it illustrates how quickly a business can change and transform. It was known as the USs most valuable tech start up but everything went wrong when it filed for an initial public offering of shares. It exposed a sky-high valuation, hefty losses and questionable business model. It had taken on the risk of long-term leases and providing short term contracts to clients which were huge liabilities if there was a downturn. It controversially offered Neumann, the CEO, millions at favourable rates and substantial control after going public. It is an intriguing and defining story about how WeWork did not survive the public scrutiny and will force other tech startups in the future to shape up before heading to the public markets. Therefore, changing the trajectory of the future of IPOs and corporate governance.

[Feedback:  The candidate introduces their chosen business news story in a comprehensive manner. Not only do they present the reader with the relevant facts, but they also explain how their chosen story fits into “the bigger picture” (i.e., WeWork’s demise might become a cautionary tale within the tech sector). This is effective because it demonstrates the candidate’s commercial awareness, as well as their critical thinking skills. When answering a question like this one, reflect on what your chosen business news story means for the sector/ industry it concerns and for the actors involved (e.g., investors, consumers, etc.). Equally, you could draw on any relevant market trends to take your analysis to the next level.

We would have improved some of the sentence structures to increase readability, but this is a relatively minor point. As a rule of thumb, keep your sentences under 25 words, use simple language, and avoid redundancies. 

Note: missing hyphen at “start up” and “startups”, redundancies at “change and transform”, “initial public offering of shares”, “the trajectory of the future”, and improper syntax in the last sentence.

Neumann voted to remove himself as CEO and gave up his majority control of WeWork’s stock after facing scrutiny of his controversial behaviour. This illustrates how CEOs are increasingly prominent as key figures and their reputation and influence are closely watched by investors. Neumann is considered a controversial figure, and I have found this business story interesting because it serves as a brilliant example of how important character, ethics and strategy of the individual are in the business world.

[Feedback: There appears to be a disconnect between this paragraph and the previous one. One would have expected the candidate to use this paragraph to flesh out their interest in their chosen story. Instead, they use this paragraph to begin a miscellaneous discussion about Adam Neumann and CEOs in general. Although it is framed as such, the last sentence does not elucidate the candidate’s interest in WeWork’s demise. It is merely a generic affirmation. Ideally, the candidate would have picked up where they left off in the previous paragraph and explained why developments related to IPOs/corporate governance are interesting to them. Alternatively, they could have explained their fascination with the tech sector at large. To this end, they could have referenced an article/ book they read, a talk/ event they attended, or an experience they had (professional, academic, or personal).

Remember that sharing personal insights lends more credibility to your answers. Generic affirmations add little to no value to your answers.  

Which business news story has interested you the most in the last 12 months and why?

Recently, the headlines surrounding the difficulties faced by the retail sector have been of interest to me as I work within the industry and am therefore observing how they are impacting the way we conduct our business. I was particularly shocked to find out about House of Frasers decision to close their landmark store in Deansgate, which I realise opened many people’s eyes to the hardships being faced in retail. Developing from an argument put forward from a trainee that I spoke to whilst at the DLA Piper Panel Presentation, I believe that retail has been suffering since the recession but is now only being recognised fully. Talking from the perspective of John Lewis, who made only 1% of their target profits in the first half of this year, they failed to appreciate the significance of online shopping too late, as their business model primarily focuses on the 'Partner experience'. The difficulties faced by the retail sector also come down to several issues caused by Brexit, namely the uncertainty and weakening of the exchange rate. The entire saga surrounding Brexit is something that I've followed with much enthusiasm because there are so many perspectives on the same topic, which makes it fun to debate and formulate my own opinion. For instance, with regards to prices of household goods, some argue that they will increase, and others argue contrary. I think that it is too early to predict what will happen; there are other things that also influence prices.

[Feedback: Tackling a sector-wide/ industry-wide trend as your “business news story” is fine as long as you cover your bases well and provide at least one concrete example of how said trend is playing out. Although the candidate roughly follows this mould, there is definitely room for improvement when it comes to their analysis of the story. 

By invoking an argument made at a DLA Piper panel presentation, the candidate cleverly showcases their engagement with the firm. Said argument would have made for an excellent point of analysis, and one would have expected the candidate to develop it. Instead, they move straight onto another issue (John Lewis’ poor performance). When answering a question like this one, remember that depth is more important than breadth. We would recommend choosing fewer issues to focus on – this will help you develop a more robust analysis and take the reader through your train of thought.

Furthermore, Brexit is an infamously complex topic that warrants rigorous analysis. If you have not done your research and/ or do not have something meaningful to say, we would recommend avoiding it altogether. In this case, the candidate only skirts around the topic in a few sentences. As a result, their analysis comes across as lacklustre and superficial. We would have used the word count to discuss the issue of e-commerce in more depth. For example, the candidate could have explained why John Lewis failed to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the exponential growth of e-commerce, and why relying on brick-and-mortar stores is no longer a good strategy for retailers.

On a slightly different note, Brexit has had serious impacts on the lives of numerous individuals, which have been anything but “fun to debate” for them. Be mindful of your language when you tackle topics with sensitive socio-political dimensions. Avoid digressing from the commercial and/or legal sphere(s), especially when doing so will not add any value to your overall answer.

Note: awkward phrasing at “[it] has been suffering […] but is now only being recognised fully” and “talking from the perspective of [a store]”, unnecessary capitalisation at “Panel Presentation”.

Which business news story has interested you the most in the last 12 months and why? (Maximum 1500 characters / approximately 250 words)

As a digital native, imagining a future without Google as the most prominent search engine is almost impossible. The antitrust lawsuit against Google filed by the United States Department of Justice and eleven state attorneys general seems monumental. The fact this case is transcending partisanship and focussing on structural change seems to be a rare moment of unity for a world which seems increasingly divided. Having lived in Seattle during my year abroad, I am familiar with tech culture with the city being headquarters for giants such as Microsoft and Amazon.

[Feedback: Although the topic sentence of this paragraph sounds nice, we would recommend avoiding flowery language and diving straight into your chosen business news story to make the most out of the tight word count. At the same time, it is important to make your focus area immediately clear to the reader and to refrain from making too many assumptions about their existing knowledge. In this case, a more effective start would have been: “The United States Department of Justice and 11 state attorneys general have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, citing X, Y and Z reasons”. The candidate could have then explained why the lawsuit is “monumental”.

The candidate does well to share a personal insight to justify their interest in their chosen story (i.e., their year abroad in Seattle), but they do not quite explain how the two link together. The mere fact of living in Seattle does not demonstrate that that the candidate is “familiar with” or interested in tech culture. Did living in Seattle provide the candidate with the opportunity to work in a tech company, network with professionals within the sector, visit the headquarters of Big Tech giants, or attend relevant presentations/ events/ workshops? The reader should not be left guessing.

The similarity between this case and US v. Microsoft in 1998 is therefore particularly intriguing. The ruling was that Microsoft did violate antitrust laws but its market share eventually declined due to new competition. This has created some discussion on whether it is necessary to bring about antitrust cases against non-coercive monopolies of which the free market is able to correct.

[Feedback: Given the brevity of the candidate’s analysis, this paragraph adds little to no value to their overall answer. The candidate does bring up two excellent points, i.e., the similarity between the antitrust cases brought against Google and Microsoft and the prospect of leaving the free market to correct non-coercive monopolies. However, they fail to develop them, missing a good opportunity to showcase their commercial awareness and critical thinking skills. Ideally, they would have elaborated on the similarities (and/ or differences) between the two cases and shared their own opinion on whether the verdicts will be similar.

They would have also taken a stance on whether the free market is able to correct non-coercive monopolies.

Realistically, the word count would not have allowed for such an extensive analysis. As such, we would have scrapped this paragraph altogether in order to further develop the ideas presented in the other two paragraphs.

Note: improper use of “bring about [lawsuits]”, awkward phrasing at “monopolies of which the free market if able to correct”.

The Justice Department is also challenging contracts Google has with smartphone makers which would especially affect its relationship to Apple, through which nearly half of Google's search traffic occurs and also accounts for twenty percent of Apple's annual profits. However, Apple is already developing its own search technology to replace Google in light of this antitrust case, thus opening up the possibility of this huge partnership to disappear.

Significantly, this case could allow for enhanced privacy to the benefit of the consumer, which would be a welcome development towards more data regulation.

[Feedback: Echoing the comments made above, simply regurgitating easily accessible information is not impressive; what makes your answer stand out is your analysis or your take on the issue at hand. In this case, the candidate does well to highlight the possible consequences the lawsuit might have on Google’s business, its competitors, and consumers. This demonstrates their commercial awareness, as well as their ability to think critically about the business news stories that they ingest. To take this answer to the next level, the candidate could have discussed the overarching trend towards regulating Big Tech companies’ business models/ practices more rigorously.

Note: incorrect preposition at “relationship to”, improper syntax in the first sentence. 

Please comment on a commercial news topic or trend which has interested you recently. Within your response, please consider how this news topic or trend is relevant to DWF. (250 words)

The UK economic recession poses a threat to the financial market in the investment management industry. With unprecedented stagflation and an increase in interest rate to 3.5%, I am concerned about how investors’ approach under the volatile economic conditions would impact DWF’s business. As private funds clients navigate an unstable market, they are required to make greater financial assurances to creditors. The decline in liquidity and reduced scope of investment risks can lead to significant reductions in DWF’s financial services work, especially debt capital markets and venture capital.

Feedback: This has the makings of a good paragraph. First, you should note the way in which the candidate structures their overall answer. In this paragraph, the candidate begins with a concise summary/analysis of a commercial trend. The candidate states the commercial issue from the outset, before providing some helpful background and statistical detail so that the recruiter has the complete context. In your own writing, you should also demonstrate the depth of your research by using specific, relevant statistics and numerical details.

Then, the candidate structures the rest of their answer by explaining (1) the overall impact of this trend on a specific subset of DWF clients and (2) a brief introductory link summarising how the candidate expects this trend to affect DWF specifically. This results in a coherent and neat paragraph that has good logical flow.

However, we would note a few points for improvement:

1. The basic premise of this candidate’s writing is not quite accurate. The UK has not yet entered a recession. It is certainly struggling with stagnant economic growth and an increase in interest rates (which has had its own detrimental impacts on law firms), but it is not quite in a recession yet. You need to make sure that your writing is completely accurate and that all the facts you rely on are correct.

2. The candidate’s linking analysis to DWF is not well-tailored enough. The candidate asserts that this trend would impact DWF’s “financial services work” and asserts that they have clients in private funds, but the candidate’s analysis never goes further than this. It is not clear precisely what work DWF does in financial services/funds, nor is it clear exactly how this trend would impact DWF’s financial services clients specifically. Many law firms have strengths in financial services and private funds. As such, the candidate needed to be more precise in identifying DWF’s clients before explaining exactly how this trend impacts them specifically. Currently, the answer reads as though the candidate has cut and pasted it from another application.

Although uncertainty can undermine client activity, DWF could turn the risks into opportunities by fostering its growth of countercyclical restructuring and insolvency practice. As clients must secure investors’ confidence, due diligence and risk management will increasingly inform future investments. The recent recruitment of partner Michael Cahn in Paris whose speciality is in restructuring indicates that DWF is continuously strengthening its global capabilities in meeting investors’ demands. Such demands can be fulfilled by DWF’s Connected Services offering, such as the 360 Claims and Risk Management Software, which offers companies advice regarding their risk and cost for investments along the economic cycle. The sustainability of DWF’s innovations was assured by the Annual Report 2022 - as the Connected Services division continued to grow, profitability improved with net revenue growing by 19%, whereas direct costs only increased by 16%. This kind of value added to clients securing business efficiency would put DWF ahead of its competitors by maintaining a steady workstream in the long run.

Feedback: Again, the candidate has structured this answer in a logical and sensible manner. You should note how the candidate has provided soke concise insight into how this issue might impact DWF, before spending the majority of their answer proposing solutions and analysing each one in turn. We particularly like the candidate’s focus on solutions. When answering questions like this, it is not enough simply for you to make generic assertions about how a trend might impact the law firm. The simple reason is that any point you make will probably have been said many times before. Instead, you need to summarise the issues concisely before explaining exactly how you expect the firm to solve them. The candidate has done that well here. In turn, this demonstrates that the candidate has a good understanding of how law firms operate as businesses.

We also like the depth of research here, as well as the specificity of the candidate’s writing. First, you should note how the candidate analyses specific and named initiatives to support their answer. The candidate does not just name-drop these. Instead, they provide some good (if not slightly generic) insight into how these initiatives might help DWF overcome these challenges. Secondly, the candidate lifts specific numbers and statistics directly from the firm’s annual report. This goes beyond simply glancing at the firm’s recruitment brochures and front pages. In turn, this demonstrates that the candidate has carried out thoughtful research into DWF and has crafted a serious argument in response to it.

We think the candidate’s analysis should have improved in a few regards:

1. The candidate makes a fair point about countercyclical work. It is true that investments in countercyclical practices will help firms protect themselves against financial risks. However, this is oversimplified and does not completely follow from the candidate’s initial point. Private fund managers do not stop making investments, accepting new investors and closing funds just because there is a market downturn. Activity might slow down, but it does not stop altogether. In turn, demand for legal services will slow down but it will not stop entirely. A restructuring practice would be of little help to investors in these cases. As such, the candidate’s writing needs to draw a closer connection between the initial point and the solutions they propose. They spend much of their time writing about DWF’s legal technology platforms, but it is not clear precisely how these fit in with private funds clients specifically.

2. At the end, the candidate asserts that these innovations/legal tech platforms “put DWF ahead of its competitors”. However, the candidate never explains precisely how they do so. This means the candidate’s writing is still quite generic and not tailored enough to DWF. Many law firms in the City offer similar legal technology platforms, which bring roughly the same benefits to clients. As such, the candidate needed to be clearer and more specific in explaining how these innovations would benefit DWF’s private funds clients.

Identify a current commercial issue which has attracted your attention. Please explain why you have identified this and how you consider it to be significant to Foot Anstey? *
Please do not exceed 400 words

A current commercial issue which has attracted my attention is the profound impact that new digital technologies will have on the practice of law, including substantive applications of legal reasoning such as complex medical negligence cases.

Feedback: This is an effective introduction because it closely mirrors the wording of the question, making the candidate’s commercial issue of choice immediately clear to the reader and enabling the latter to follow the former’s train of thought more easily. To increase the readability of the text, the candidate could have expressed the same idea in fewer words and simpler syntax, e.g., “A current commercial issue which has attracted my attention is the impact of digital technologies on the practice of law, especially complex medical negligence cases”.

Over the past 20 years digital technology has transformed every aspect of daily life and commerce. The latest wave of digital innovation has been the development of computational techniques that can automatically analyse huge amounts of digital data to identify unexpected patterns and connections. These methods, particularly Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), have begun to be applied in both healthcare settings and legal practice.

A range of AI tools have already been developed to assist lawyers in their day-to-day work. AI can be used to undertake due diligence, eliminate manual errors, and speed up some of the key processes routinely used in document handling. If these approaches are properly implemented, then the promise is that lawyers can spend less time on routine, and more time on higher value work.

In healthcare applications digital techniques are being widely deployed. AI can help busy healthcare professionals by shifting routine tasks from human staff onto automated computer based platforms. But in addition, AI enthusiasts believe that computational methods will also be used to make automated diagnoses with a predictive power equal to, or better than, highly skilled clinicians.

Our legal systems have well understood means for articulating arguments, and then weighing evidence for and against those arguments. We have yet to develop legal frameworks for weighing up the quality of a computer made decision in comparison with a human expert. A fundamental problem is that most current AI and ML approaches are black-box methods. The decisions or predictions are not explainable. In many cases, even the designers of a particular computational approach cannot explain in detail why they work as well as they do.

Feedback:  This answer is effective because it is structured in a logical, easy-to-follow manner, and because it showcases the candidate’s broad understanding of their commercial issue of choice, as applied to the legal sphere. The candidate outlines the context behind the impact of digital technologies on society as a whole, correctly explains their use within the legal sphere and within the healthcare sphere, and highlights the challenge posed by their use within both spheres in terms of decision-making. To improve this answer, the candidate could have omitted superfluous words and used simpler syntax; this would have allowed them to discuss the significance of their chosen commercial issue to Foot Anstey in more detail, as per the comments made infra.  

Alongside the technical challenges of applying AI, and they remain substantial, the use of digital methods in healthcare and law will raise a series of new legal questions for Foot Anstey.

Is AI software a medical device? Are AI generated contracts executed automatically? Who is accountable for a decision made by an AI platform if it leads to a clinical error?

Over the next few years, Foot Anstey will need to develop new competencies, both technical and legal, to maximise the benefits of these new technologies for its clients and itself.

Feedback: The candidate correctly points out that Foot Anstey, as a law firm, will likely need to respond to the challenges created by the application of digital technologies to the practice of law. They also raise some pertinent questions to illustrate the magnitude of these challenges for the notoriously difficult intersection of law and healthcare, though we would recommend avoiding the use of rhetorical questions in your answer because they are not appropriate in formal writing; the candidate could have expressed the same ideas in assertions punctuated by full stops. To take this answer to the next level, the candidate could have given examples of the kinds of tasks or responsibilities that Foot Anstey could undertake in order to “develop new competencies […] to maximise the benefits of these new technologies for its clients and itself”. To tailor this answer to Foot Anstey itself, the candidate could have discussed the firm’s current approach to legal technology or the firm’s expertise within the healthcare sphere so as to deduce whether the firm is e.g., particularly well-equipped to address the aforementioned challenges. 

Gateley people are forward-thinking and problem solvers. Describe the challenges and opportunities that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented to a business such as ours? (200 words max) *

Unlike traditional law firms, Gateley is able to capitalize on the change in consumer behaviour. The crippling effect of COVID-19 on the economy has meant that clients are more cost-conscious and there is increased need for the commoditization of legal services. Gateley, through having arms such as Gateley Capitus (tax advice) and Gateley Hamer (property consultants), is able to attract the majority of clients, who are looking for a one-stop shop. The challenge for Gateley would be to compete with the Big 4, who have also adopted this strategy to attract clients.

Covid-19 has also led to many retailers and restaurants to go into administration, with decreased consumer spending and reduced footfall as a result of restrictions. In June 2020, the UK passed the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act to enable flexibility for financial distressed companies. The increased activity in this area, means a need for advisory work in this sector. Firms like Gateley, who have not extremely focused on restructuring may lose out on such work, to firms who are specialist in these sectors. Moving forward, there can be more aggressive prominent advertising and expansion of Gateley's insolvency team and associated services alongside an investment in the latest legal technologies.

Feedback: The candidate clearly identifies two plausible challenges as well as two plausible opportunities presented by the Covid-19 pandemic to a business such as Gateley. What makes their answer stand out is its presentation; in each paragraph, the candidate frames a given set of facts as both a challenge and an opportunity, showcasing their commercial awareness as well as their ability to think critically. Furthermore, the candidate tailors their answer to Gateley through comments regarding the firm’s non-legal arms and the firm’s practice areas, highlighting their research into the firm as well as their understanding of the firm’s business. For the sake of consistency, the candidate could have ventured an opinion as to how Gateley could overcome the challenge posed by the Big 4 instead of only venturing an opinion as to how the firm could overcome the challenge posed by its limited focus on restructuring work.

Please identify an issue currently in the mainstream media and explain how this is likely to impact the clients that HFW represents and/ or the type of work that the firm undertakes. 300 words

An issue currently in the mainstream media concerns the impact and challenges posed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR applies to all companies processing and holding personal data of those residing in the EU, regardless of the company’s location. GDPR has had the effect of restricting the fashion in which businesses can deal with customer information along with giving more control and rights to individuals.

[Feedback: This issue is a little outdated for today, but we assume at the time it was a relevant topic. Make sure that you write on a topic that is pertinent to the current time of writing. The candidate has introduced and explained the issue well, giving the reader a clear overview of the current legal/commercial landscape and why there is an issue.

A small point of improvement – you can use technical terminology where appropriate. The candidate, instead of writing, ‘can deal with customer information’, could have used the word ‘process’ instead of deal with. This is a technical term which refers to the use, storage, or transferring of data. If you do not have that kind of knowledge, do not worry, it is just a bonus.]

Many clients of HFW will be affected by GDPR due to numerous of their dealings being within Europe and because of GDPR’s wide-reach across many industries. GDPR will impact clients of HFW in two main ways. Firstly, all clients subject to GDPR must become and remain compliant with GDPR in order to avoid the sanctions for breaches of data protection imposed by the directive. Therefore, relevant businesses which have missed the GDPR enforcement date, or are undergoing internal changes, must ensure they are compliant. Such businesses, who are processing data, will need to ensure that they comply with the directive’s higher threshold of consent. They must, among other obligations, require positive opt-ins for consent, while also making clear the process for withdrawing consent. Moreover, such clients will need to have up-to-date records demonstrating compliance. These stringent data protection requirements will continue to increase demand for HFW’s Data Protection and Cyber Security practices. Clients will require compliance advice regarding data processing practices and advice ensuring the compliance of any developments in information handling policies and record keeping.

[Feedback: The candidate does well to employ their technical knowledge in this paragraph. The candidate has clearly researched this topic well and has demonstrated this with their understanding of the additional requirements GDPR places on businesses. You should note that the candidate is specific in their writing: for example, instead of generically stating that companies have greater obligations, the candidate states what some of those obligations are (like requiring positive opt-ins).

The candidate could have improved their answer if they avoided repeating the same point about compliance. Though the answer does work as a whole, it comes across as a little repetitive, where the sole issue of GDPR seems to be about compliance. Whilst this is certainly a key issue, the candidate could have considered the broader commercial/corporate issues at play, such as whether businesses might want to move their businesses out of the EU if it is simply not feasible to meet the higher regulatory standards surrounding data processing.

A second point of improvement is that the candidate could have written about how exactly a law firm helps their clients ensure compliance. Though trawling through international data transfer agreements (IDTAs) is not a glamourous task, the candidate could have mentioned some knowledge of the work that is entailed on behalf of law firms to ensure their clients are compliant.

Naturally, some more detail could have been added, such as what bodies administer the fines (like the ICO in the UK). Nevertheless, this is a very strong paragraph with lots of technical information and a clear understanding of the topic.]

Secondly, clients of HFW may require advice and litigation support in the case of a data breach. The increased sanctions and potential reputational damage resulting from a data breach can lead to significant problems for many clients. This may lead HFW’s Dispute Resolution practice to engage in more litigation on behalf of clients throughout the enforcement process.

[Feedback: This paragraph is far too short and unfortunately leads to an underdeveloped answer on a point that is quite important. Though the candidate is right to identify that, in light of GDPR, data breaches/contentious matters are likely to be of great importance to HFW’s clients, their answer requires further development to ensure they communicate a full understanding of the issue to the recruiter.

What would have made this answer stronger would have been if the candidate used contemporary news stories to substantiate their point: for example, the BA and Marriott data breaches. Furthermore, the candidate could have gone into greater detail as to why the GDPR makes a data breach more problematic for a client, and how exactly HFW, as legal advisors, can help the client through not only litigious proceedings, but also public relations damage limitation.]

Please tell us about a recent commercial article or event that has attracted your attention. Please explain why it interested you, give your opinion on the opportunities and challenges that it might present to a law firm such as Kirkland & Ellis. (400 words)

A recent commercial event that has attracted my attention is the US-China trade war. It interests me because it could have a profound impact on global business and particularly on companies that import and export US and Chinese goods.

[Feedback: For this answer, we recommend that you have a short introduction and then structure the rest of the answer with PEE/AL paragraphs. The candidate has supplied a short introduction which outlines the topic they are going to talk about as well as the overall thrust of their answer (why they have chosen the topic).

Typically, we would recommend staying away from big commercial events that most people would know about and cover (such as the US-China trade war, Brexit, and the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the retail/hospitality/leisure industries). Nevertheless, choosing such a topic does not guarantee a poor answer; we would simply recommend having a very good understanding of the topic and a unique opinion to forward.]

US companies that import Chinese goods now have to pay tariffs, so they have two choices: they can either absorb the cost or pass the cost onto consumers. If they absorb the cost, their profits will fall, which may cause them to cut jobs and restructure. If they pass the cost onto consumers, they risk damaging their reputation or seeing reduced sales, especially in cost-sensitive markets. Companies that export to China will also be impacted because of China's retaliatory tariffs. These tariffs mean that US goods will be more expensive to Chinese consumers. If exports fall, companies lose money, which can lead to fewer jobs and depressed wages.

[Feedback: The candidate uses this paragraph to give an overview of the topic, discussing, in broad terms, what the US-China trade war is. By doing this, the candidate has demonstrated their knowledge of their chosen topic and has demonstrated a decent level of economic/commercial aptitude. What is especially commendable in this answer is its logical structure. The candidate uses short sentences to construct a simple but effective explanation of the topic.

To improve this answer, the candidate could have included a little more detail. The candidate cites ‘US companies that import Chinese goods’ – it would have been good to see the candidate reference one or two companies that do actually import Chinese goods and have suffered as a result of the trade war. Furthermore, the candidate writes ‘especially in cost-sensitive markets’ – once again, it would have been good to see the candidate cite an example of such a market and one or two companies that have been affected.

With each sentence, you should ask yourself whether you have supplied sufficient evidence to substantiate what you have written; as per our previous comments, you should always to qualify or quantify your answers with specific facts and figures, respectively.]

In fact, it is the tremendous global impact of the US-China trade war which is what interests me most about this topic. For instance, uncertainty due to the trade war has caused turbulence in the stock market, with investors nervous by the conflict. This was demonstrated on August 14, 2019 when the Dow dropped 800 points, partly due to increasing trade tensions between the US and China. Moreover, the global manufacturing industry has suffered greatly because of the trade war, with countries such as Britain, Germany, Japan and South Korea, as well as the US, all showing a weak manufacturing performance in 2019.

[Feedback: The candidate now attempts to explain why the topic interests them, citing their interest in the macroeconomic impact the trade war has had. The candidate does provide some detail; however, to improve this answer, we would recommend that the candidate provides more specificity and development.

The candidate cites the global impact of the US-China trade war and gives some evidence of the large impact; however, the candidate does not explain why this large impact is interesting for them. You should remember that explaining a phenomenon does not explain why it is interesting for you. Explaining the phenomenon implies your interest in in but does not explain the reasons behind that interest. Hence, in your answers, you must be explicit in your reasoning behind why you chose your topic.

To further elucidate, the candidate mentions that the trade war has caused the global manufacturing industry to suffer greatly; however, they fail to explain why this is of interest to them. At the end of your sentences, you should ask yourself, ‘so what?’ – this will serve as a test as to whether you have appropriately explained your motivations behind you choosing your topic.]

In terms of the opportunities and challenges this might represent to law firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, the tough economic conditions would affect the fees that law firms can charge. China is a difficult market as it is, and many law firms have exited for lack of profitability. On the other hand, if the trade war causes China to open up, a flood of law firms may try to enter the country. Those law firms that are already positioned in the country, like Kirkland & Ellis, would benefit. This is because these law firms would have already established themselves in China and formed relationships with Chinese clients, consequently building their brands and acquiring local expertise. Therefore, for these reasons, if China opens up its market, these firms would find it easier to secure clients.

[Feedback: This answer is unique and takes a different approach than is usual. Often, candidates discuss the impacts commercial events might have on the firm and their clients. However, you definitely can discuss the impact on a law firm as a business. The candidate makes a decent attempt to analyse the various outcomes of their chosen topic. Using phrases like ‘on the one hand […] on the other hand’ show off your critical thinking skills and demonstrate to the recruiter that you can analyse multiple outcomes and possibilities.

Nevertheless, this paragraph could benefit from some additional detail. For example, candidate mentions that China is a difficult market but fails to explain why. Once again, you must make sure that all your claims have some evidence or reference to substantiate them. Furthermore, there is a lack of detailed explanation. For example, the candidate suggests that the trade war could cause China to ‘open up’ but neglects to explain why this would happen and what ‘open[ing] up’ would entail.

You should ensure that your answer remains detailed throughout but especially in the first and last sections of each answer. Such sections are what the recruiter is most likely to remember and serve as the introduction and conclusion of your answers. Hence, a weak start or ending is likely to negatively impact your answer more than a similar weakness midway through.]

Please tell us about a recent commercial article or event that has attracted your attention. Please explain why it interested you, give your opinion on the opportunities and challenges that it might present to a law firm such as Kirkland & Ellis. (400)

I was interested to read that the UK government is toughening takeover rules for foreign buyers of UK companies through the National Security and Investments Bill. This headline interested me because, if approved, the new bill may have a profound impact on future M&A activity in the UK and increase protectionism at a time of peak-Brexit uncertainty. Recent reports of a no-deal Brexit becoming increasingly likely and the drop in the pound by 1% demonstrates the need for the UK to encourage inbound investment.

Feedback: By mirroring the wording of the prompt, the candidate makes their choice of a recent commercial event as well as the reason for being interested therein immediately clear to the recruiter. Their choice of a recent commercial event per se is apt given its high-profile nature and its intrinsic relevance to dealmaking. Choosing a high-profile commercial event or article should enable you to consult a myriad of different resources, engage with a myriad of different viewpoints, and draft a reasonably informed answer. It should also allow the recruiter to engage with your answer on a deeper level because they are likely to be familiar with the event or article themselves. Choosing a commercial event or article that is intrinsically relevant to dealmaking should enable you to form a relatively straightforward opinion regarding the opportunities and challenges it could present to K&E. It should also ensure that you do not find yourself attempting to propose far-fetched, implausible hypotheses.

The proposed legislation will force prospective foreign bidders of UK assets in 17 different industries to alert a new government unit before transactions can be approved. Analysts' predictions that over 1,000 transactions will require approval marks a sharp U-turn in the attitude towards foreign buyers of UK companies as there have only been 12 public interest interventions by the government since 2002. Though it is unlikely many transactions will be blocked by the government, this poses a risk to M&A investment into the UK by increasing the red tape bidders will have to go through and crucially slows down the speed at which transactions can be completed by.

Feedback: Given that they hinted at it in the previous paragraph, the candidate does well to explain the “profound impact” that the National Security and Investments Bill could have on dealmaking. They also do well to contrast the exigencies of the Bill with the relatively liberal status quo because it showcases their commercial awareness as well as their critical thinking ability. Finally, they do well to cite precise figures and reference analysts’ predictions within their explanation because it showcases the extent of their research into the Bill.

The impact on deal flow is a serious concern for private equity clients as transactions tend to be completed under much shorter time frames. Further, the timing of private equity investment or exit has a direct impact on the return funds generate. By working exclusively for sponsors, this may pose a threat to K&E as slowing deal volume has been the primary reason for private equity clients increasingly scrutinising legal costs over recent years. Law firms such as K&E provide an essential service to private equity investors; however, the concern for increasingly cost-conscious clients surrounds the unpredictability of legal fees and transparency of billing.

Feedback: The candidate correctly remarks that private equity firms place a great deal of emphasis on the time frame in which they complete their deals, not least because the time frame often influences their returns (a number of aspects contribute to this state of affairs, which include the time value of money, market conditions and opportunity costs). Such a remark further evidences the candidate’s commercial awareness and confirms the veracity of their previously expressed interest in private equity. Highlighting their ability to think critically once again, the candidate then suggests that private equity firms will generate fewer returns due to the exigencies of the Bill and will seek to reduce their legal costs as a result. Such a suggestion is plausible in light of the long-standing debate regarding the adequacy of the billable hour model in terms of establishing clients’ legal costs. Showcasing their research into the firm and their understanding of its business, the candidate aptly suggests that the foregoing constitutes a threat for K&E because the firm specialises in private equity matters and works exclusively for private equity firms (as opposed to e.g., companies that are acquired by private equity firms). The implication is that law firms, including, K&E could lose some of their clients unless they reform the manner in which they charge them. To improve the readability of their answer, the candidate could have expressed their train of thought in a less convoluted manner by e.g., using simpler words and shorter sentences.

Nevertheless, this poses an opportunity for K&E to increase market share in the private equity industry. A proven way private equity funds manage their legal fees is by consolidating the number of firms they work with to those whom they have built strong relationships with and provide predictable pricing. With the largest Investment Funds practice in the world alongside market-leading Finance, M&A, Litigation and Restructuring practices, K&E is uniquely well-positioned to provide a full-service offering to private equity clients and profit from any consolidation in the market.

Feedback: The candidate turns the threat they identified within the previous paragraph on its head and frames it as an opportunity for K&E by drawing on their knowledge of private equity matters, their research into the firm, as well as their understanding of the dynamic interaction between law firms and their clients. Provided that the ensuing analysis is cogent, such an approach is likely to be effective because it presents the firm in a favourable light, though you should not feel pressured to emulate it; identifying distinct threats and opportunities is unlikely to place you at a significant disadvantage. For the sake of completeness, the candidate could have mentioned whether K&E could provide private equity clients with “predictable pricing” alongside its full-service offering, especially since they mentioned the unpredictability and transparency of legal costs in the previous paragraph.

Osborne Clarke is renowned for working across eight core sectors: Energy and Utilities, Financial Services, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Real Estate and Infrastructure, Recruitment, Retail and Consumer, Tech, Media and Comms, and Transport and Automotive.

Please describe a current business issue or opportunity for organisations operating within one of these sectors.

Why is this topic of particular interest to you? How can Osborne Clarke assist our clients with this? (500 words max)*

The movement of stores from the high street to online is an interesting current business issue for businesses operating within the retail and consumer sector.

Feedback: This paragraph makes for an effective introduction because it mirrors the words of the prompt, it makes the candidate’s chosen business issue immediately clear, and it highlights the sector to which said business issue pertains relative to Osborne Clarke’s eight core sectors.

As high street retailers have continued to struggle in recent years with maintaining a revenue stream, there has been an increased movement to providing services online. This is demonstrated by the fact in 2018, one in every five pounds spent in UK shops was spent online. Although it can seem simple, the move to online services may be extremely difficult. The challenges include maintaining a personalised service as it can become easy for companies to blend into the saturated online market. Another challenge is recognising the change in target consumer for the business. It must be considered that certain types of consumer shop online as opposed to high street stores so businesses must be able to rethink their approach to advertising and sales. Failure to adapt to the online market can lead to businesses slipping behind their competitors.

Feedback: This paragraph contextualises the candidate’s chosen business issue reasonably well. It succinctly explains the reason behind high street retailers’ move towards the online space and substantiates said explanation with facts. In this regard, the candidate could have mirrored the emphatic language of the business press and referred to the overarching issue as “the death of the high street”. However, this is a relatively minor point. What makes this paragraph particularly effective is the fact that it highlights a number of challenges that high street retailers are likely to encounter in moving to the online space; in so doing, it showcases the candidate’s research into the retail sector, their commercial awareness, as well as their critical thinking abilities.

Not only do organisations need to comply with restrictions in the e-commerce sector but they are also being squeezed by rules on misleading consumers. These rules are becoming tighter, as evidenced by the recent suit being filed against Ben and Jerrys in relation to advertising their products as sourced from happy cows. The case highlights the imposition of more stringent regulations on transparency for consumers and accurate labelling of products. This will contribute to the difficulties in moving online as customers do not have the physical product so accuracy of labelling and descriptions are vital to sales and compliance with regulations.

Feedback: This paragraph presents a further challenge that high street retailers are likely to encounter in moving to the online space, but it focuses on the issue of consumer protection in the context of e-commerce. By focusing on said issue, this paragraph cleverly appeals to the particularities of Osborne Clarke’s corresponding sector, which explicitly pairs retail with consumers (“the retail and consumer sector”). To ensure that their overall answer is as relevant as possible relative to the prompt and their chosen business story, the candidate could have cited an example related to a typical high street retailer accused of misleading consumers, as opposed to Ben and Jerry’s; although the example of the ice cream business neatly illustrates the stringency of the rules against misleading consumer, it does not fit the narrative of “the death of the high street” particularly well. The candidate could have also expressed the challenge presented by the rules against misleading consumers in a more economical manner so as to allow themselves to elaborate their interest in their chosen business issue and/or Osborne Clarke’s prospective involvement in the issue in roughly as much detail as they elaborated the context of their chosen business issue.

Studying consumer and marketing law during my final year at university provided me with a strong interest in this field, as I enjoyed learning about the different challenges businesses come across in adapting to new market trends, such as the shift to the online market. Looking at the regulations of misleading and aggressive practices of businesses, it was interesting to see the protections afforded to consumers and be able to apply these to real life scenarios.

Feedback: The candidate does well to address the second part of the prompt (i.e., “Why is this topic of particular interest to you?”) explicitly, in a separate paragraph. Moreover, they do well to explain their interest in issues involving businesses adapting to new trends and invoke a personal insight in support of their claims; this increases the credibility of their answer and the likelihood that it will stand out. To improve this answer, the candidate could have also explained their interest in the retail and consumer sector per se, given that businesses encounter challenges in adapting to new trends in a myriad of other sectors.

Osborne Clarke will need to be able to assist clients with any legal issues they may face when considering whether to move to online services. This can include regulation of the relationship with the customer through advertising in a persuasive but appropriate way. Clients will also require advice on data protection and how to manage their company's intellectual property rights. The firm will need to advise businesses on competition law aspects including changes to pricing. This is particularly relevant since the European Commission has increased the focus on the issue of pricing in e-commerce. Osborne Clarke's focus on finding innovative ways of solving problems will assist clients in staying ahead of the market.

It has been estimated that within ten years’ time around half of retail sales will be made online. Osborne Clarke's sector approach enables its lawyers to obtain a strong understanding of the market and provide high quality advice to clients to deal with these challenges.

Feedback: Echoing the comments made in relation to the previous paragraph, the candidate does well to address the third part of the prompt (“i.e., How can Osborne Clarke assist our clients with this [business issue]?”) explicitly, in a separate paragraph. Addressing each part of the prompt in such a manner helps the reader follow your train of thought with relative ease and emphasises the completeness of your answer.

Furthermore, the candidate correctly points out that Osborne Clarke could assist a high street retailer seeking to move to the online space with regulatory advice related to advertising, data protection, intellectual property, and competition. To take this answer to the next level, the candidate could have explained why data protection and intellectual property are relevant areas of the law in this instance (much like the candidate did when discussing advertising and competition). At the same time, the candidate could have explained how Osborne Clarke could help a client navigate the aforementioned areas and/or which of the firm’s practice areas could be involved rather than make a blanket statement regarding the firm’s “focus on finding innovative ways of solving problems”.

The candidate does well to invoke Osborne Clarke’s sector-based approach and explain its relevance to client service. Since that approach is mentioned within the prompt, however, we would recommend dedicating more of the word count to discussing it relative to your chosen business issue or opportunity. 

Osborne Clarke is renowned for working across core sectors that are at the cutting edge of innovation and driving transformation of our clients' businesses. Please describe a current business issue or opportunity for organisations operating within one of our sectors. Why is this topic of particular interest to you? How can Osborne Clarke assist our clients with this? (500 words)

A topic that I find interesting is Allbirds’, a sustainable shoemaker, aim to pioneer a “sustainable public equity offering” (SPO) in the recent filing of their IPO. This SPO framework would require the company to adhere to a list of ESG standards, including maintaining "a minimum ESG rating", enforcing "best practices" towards climate change and establishing a human rights policy.

Feedback: This is a classic commercial awareness question. While the word count is generous, you need to cover both (1) the issue and why it interests you and (2) how Osborne Clarke can capitalise on it.  We suggest devoting 250 words to each point, which will allow you to demonstrate wider commercial awareness as well as specific, in-depth research into Osborne Clarke and its work for clients.  

The candidate does well to demonstrate their wider commercial awareness here. We are given a concise outline of a recent commercial news topic, as well as some insight into how it relates to a wider current business issue (namely ESG). You should note how the candidate does well to choose a specific example from the news (as opposed to a wider macroeconomic issue). This makes the candidate’s answer unique and helps it stand out from the 100s of other applicants. You should also note how the candidate leads in with the exact wording of the question straight away - “A topic I find interesting is...”. This focuses the candidate’s writing and convinces the recruiter that they have fully understood the question.

This paragraph does suffer from a minor punctuation issue, namely that it unnecessarily uses speech marks throughout the paragraph. These make the paragraph a little disjointed to read. As a rule, you should always have a second person read over your work so that you can iron out any minor issues and convince the recruiter of your writing abilities.

This is particularly striking to me because I ran a sustainable business during my time as business director for the Creative Cycle project in [redacted Russell Group London university] Enactus. I proposed to produce eco-friendly reed diffusers, which were made from sustainable products, such as: essential oils, reusable glass containers and reed sticks. However, even so, while planning our business model, I needed further clarity as to the degree of sustainability we needed to achieve.

Feedback: The candidate continues with a sensible structure here, namely by dedicating the first half of their answer to the news topic and explaining why it interests them personally. You should also note how the candidate uses a detailed, specific personal example in this paragraph. We are given a named example of a sustainable business the candidate worked on, together with a full picture of what they contributed to it and how their contributions made the business more sustainable. This adds weight to the candidate’s arguments and begins to convince the recruiter that the candidate is genuinely interested in ESG.

To improve, this paragraph should have linked the candidate’s experience directly back to their wider interest in their chosen news topic. The candidate should have explained why they developed an interest in ESG from this experience and how it relates back to their chosen Allbirds news article. This would complete the candidate’s answer and make it clear how their personal example is relevant to the news topic they have chosen.

Through considering this issue, I realised that this mimicked the challenges that companies, which classify themselves as “green”, face. With the varying ESG definitions and frameworks, many companies engage in "greenwashing" due to the lack of transparency in ESG compliance. Hence, there is enormous pressure on companies to be very clear on what is going on in their supply chain. This is not only a challenge for businesses themselves, but also for law firms like Osborne Clarke that advise such businesses. Hence, I am eager to see how effective the proposed SPO framework by Allbirds would be in minimising greenwashing and providing greater clarity surrounding ESG compliance.

Feedback: Again, this candidate demonstrates wider commercial awareness. We are given some insight into the wider challenges faced by companies engaging in ESG strategies. This highlights the candidate’s big-picture commercial awareness and demonstrates that they have a broad understanding of ESG in general.

That said, this paragraph lacks detail at various points. Firstly, the candidate asserts that companies engage in greenwashing but does not analyse what this means or why this is an issue relevant to the article they have chosen. The candidate could have offered a specific example of greenwashing and explained the relevancy of this issue in full. As a rule, you should never assume that the recruiter understands what you mean. Any jargon or technical language you use must be explained in full and tied directly back into the question. You should remember that recruiters are assessing your ability to write clearly and accessibly. Commercial clients do not have time to unpack technical language and jargon. As such, you must demonstrate to recruiters that you can explain technical concepts in a simple and concise manner.

Secondly, the candidate insufficiently links the wider issue of greenwashing back to the article they have chosen. It is never explained how greenwashing might be an issue for Allbirds or how their SPO framework is designed to address this challenge. As such, the issue of greenwashing reads as if it has been shoehorned in. You must always ensure that your points are relevant to the news topic you have chosen. The recruiters are testing your ability to analyse a specific news article and explain why it interests you, not to cram in everything you know about a wider topic.

Osborne Clarke’s retail and consumer team advises a wide range of clients that range anywhere from food to fashion retailers, such as Godiva and Superdry. With increasing pressure on investors and companies to act in a socially conscious way, combined with this novel SPO framework, Osborne Clarke will likely see an increase in demand from these clients to adopt this initiative.

Feedback: As recommended by NCL, the candidate dedicates the second half of their answer to Osborne Clarke and how they can help clients deal with ESG issues. The candidate allocates roughly 50% of their answer to each section. This is a good approach, since you will demonstrate both your big-picture commercial awareness and your in-depth research into Osborne Clarke.

This paragraph does reasonably well to outline how these issues might impact Osborne Clarke’s clients. That said, the references to Godiva and Superdry are not tied back into the candidate’s analysis and are not mentioned again. Though it is always good to tailor your answers to the firm with specific details, you will not impress a recruiter by just forcing these in. They must contribute to your wider argument in some capacity.

Seeing that Osborne Clarke has launched its 3D international client strategy which enables the firm to respond to macroeconomic factors that shape businesses over the next five years, such as the transition to a net zero future, the firm is well-placed to help clients navigate such nascent regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, this is boosted by the firm’s efforts in regularly talking to clients about ESG issues and proactively running collaboration sessions, networking events, and roundtables.

Feedback: You should note how the candidate goes into a decent level of detail in this paragraph. The candidate identifies a specific example of Osborne Clarke’s initiatives before offering an overview of how this might have assisted clients in responding to ESG thus far.

However, this paragraph needs to improve in two ways. Firstly, the candidate should have offered specific details to back up their assertions that each initiative helps clients navigate ESG frameworks. Where possible, the candidate should have offered specific examples of where Osborne Clarke applied its 3D international client strategy to assist a named client in a specific matter/deal. This would have provided concrete evidence in support of the candidate’s arguments.

Secondly, the candidate’s second point is not truly specific to Osborne Clarke. Nearly every major City law firm now offers clients expertise in ESG. As such, the candidate should either have offered another specific example of an ESG initiative at Osborne Clarke or alternatively have just cut this point altogether.

There’s some evidence that the candidate has not fully understood the news story at hand here.  The SPO is not a regulatory framework; it’s a voluntary commitment by Allbirds as part of the IPO to demonstrate its sustainability credentials.  Overall, this isn’t a big deal but this sort of slip in an interview may lead to a grilling by your interviewer to test your true understanding.

In any case, the candidate needed to link this issue back to the wider question at hand. The candidate asserts that Osborne Clarke is well-placed to help clients navigate regulatory issues, but it is not explained how Osborne Clarke can use these initiatives to help clients overcome ESG issues specifically. You should always ensure that every point you make is linked directly back to the question at hand.

To add further value to its clients in this sector, Osborne Clarke should consider specifically creating an ESG practice, as some other firms are, to gain greater expertise in the area. This way, the firm’s ESG team can work together with its retail and consumer team, amongst other departments, to better assist clients in avoiding litigation and drawing investments by helping them legitimise their sustainability credentials, for instance – by adopting the SPO framework.

Feedback:This final paragraph is good overall. The candidate suggests a sensible solution to the challenge they faced and explains briefly how this would put Osborne Clarke on equal footing with its competitors.  This is excellent overall. This final part could have been improved by drawing on some existing evidence: have a look for news articles/evidence relating to ESG practices at other firms and how they have benefitted said firms, before tying that back in with the wider argument for why Osborne Clarke should adopt an ESG practice.

Using your research, describe the key issue(s) that you think Osborne Clarke will need to embrace and/or adapt to in the next 5 years. How do you think the firm should deal with these issue(s)? (300 words)

The rise of alternative business structures (ABSs) owing to the enactment of the Legal Services Act 2007 has seen the rise of firms such as Big Four firms to offer integrated legal services. As such, by integrating the strengths of finance, tax and business related services, ABSs therefore pose a challenge for traditional law firms like Osborne Clarke to maintain current clients and also to secure new clients who are increasingly seeking to minimise costs.

Feedback:This paragraph demonstrates some pertinent commercial awareness and addresses the first element of the question directly. The question has two parts: (1) what issues will Osborne Clarke face in the next 5 years and (2) how should Osborne Clarke deal with said issues. Given the tight word count, we recommend focusing on one key issue before addressing each element of the question in depth (as the candidate has done here). You should consider spending 50% on the answer analysing the issue itself, before spending another 50% analysing how Osborne Clarke should respond to the issue. We also recommend leading the answer with the exact terms of the question (e.g. “One key issue Osborne Clarke will face in the next five years is...”) since this will keep the reader engaged and will help focus your writing.

The candidate offers a decent outline of the issue surrounding Alternative Business Structures. You should also note the level of detail the candidate goes into, namely by highlighting specific legislation. That said, the candidate perhaps could have gone further by elaborating on how ABS structures will harm law firms like Osborne Clarke.  For example, demand for independent law firms like Osborne Clarke may reduce if the Big Four firms can successfully cross-sell legal services to their existing client base of audit and consulting clients,

The central issue with this answer is that the ABS issue is extremely popular. Many candidates choose to discuss ABSs. This means that the candidate is unlikely to offer any new or meaningful analysis on this subject matter. Furthermore, the ABS challenge is quite an outdated issue by now. While ABSs certainly worried law firms in the early-mid 2010s, many law firms have since adapted to the issue well by offering their own alternative legal services (see Allen & Overy as a prime example). As such, it is unclear how this issue threatens Osborne Clarke in the next five years.

As such, the candidate would have been better off choosing an issue that is likely to threaten Osborne Clarke during the early-mid 2020s. This would have helped the candidate demonstrate a far higher level of commercial awareness as compared to other candidates.

Additionally, the Big Four have far more capital to invest in revolutionary legal tech with their enormous capital reserves relative to law firms. This places the Big Four in a leveraged position compared to Osborne Clarke as technology is at the core of increasing efficiency to enable cheaper and broader legal services.

Feedback:This paragraph is an improvement in that it ties in the wider issue of ABSs back in with more recent concerns about innovation and legal technology. The candidate also demonstrates good commercial understanding by arguing that the Big Four have greater capital reserves compared to traditional law firms. This helps tailor the candidate’s arguments back to the question, namely how ABSs might threaten Osborne Clarke going forward.

That said, the candidate needed to demonstrate much more specific and detailed research in their paragraph. The candidate could compare the balance sheet of the largest Big Four firm to Osborne Clarke and note that its increased capital reserves mean that it can invest more and spread its best further than pure play law firms.  It would also help if the candidate provided an example to evidence that the Big Four have chosen to deploy capital into legal tech

When writing answers to “commercial awareness” questions, you should always demonstrate high levels of detailed research throughout. This will not only demonstrate your understanding to recruiters, but it will also make it far easier for you to demonstrate your analytical and critical thinking skills.

Whilst it is currently still rare for law firms to adopt an ABS model and it does not pose as a big threat for now, Osborne Clarke should consider creating a consulting arm to stay ahead of the curve and prepare for long-term challenges that ABSs may bring. It would enable Osborne Clarke to offer a one-stop-shop to its clients. Some of the firm’s competitors have been slowly branching out into this.

Feedback: Here, the candidate demonstrates reasonably good analytical skills by arguing that ABSs might bring long-term challenges to law firms (even if they do not do so now). The candidate also does well to offer a commercially-sensible solution to the issue at hand, which demonstrates some good critical thinking skills.

That said, the paragraph once again suffers from a lack of detail. The candidate asserts that Osborne Clarke should create a consulting arm as its competitors have also done so, but the candidate never truly explains why Osborne Clarke needs to do this to stay ahead of ABSs. The candidate simply states that this would provide Osborne Clarke’s clients with a “one-stop shop” without offering any further explanation. To improve, the candidate would need to elaborate on how similar consulting arms have allowed Osborne Clarke’s competitors to protect themselves against ABSs and how this would similarly benefit Osborne Clarke. Though we sympathise with the tight word count, this does not mean you should make simple assertions without backing them up with evidence/explanations. 

You need to ask yourself whether your suggestions make commercial sense.  Is the best strategy for Osborne Clarke to mimic the Big Four?  What about their audit services - should Osborne Clarke do that too?  Does it make more sense to lean into the firm’s strengths (e.g., providing bespoke and highly complex legal advice vs. the more commoditised legal advice typically associated with the Big Four) while investing in legal technology to enhance service quality and value where possible?  Just because other law firms have chosen to open consulting arms does not mean that Osborne Clarke should too.

Nevertheless, Osborne Clarke has taken positive steps to alleviate such a situation by reimagining the delivery of legal services. For example: the formulation of Osborne Clarke Solutions allows clients to gain seamlessly manage their businesses by offering transparency, efficiency in project workflow, and cheaper services by bringing all relevant information together in one place. Hence, Osborne Clarke should continue to develop and improve such initiatives and launch more creative products if changing the firm’s business structure to an ABS is not suitable.

Feedback: This paragraph is an improvement on the previous three. The candidate demonstrates good awareness of how Osborne Clarke has already addressed the challenges of ABSs. You should also note how the candidate starts to go into the detail you need to impress the recruiters. We are given a specific and named example of one of Osborne Clarke’s initiatives, together with an outline of how this initiative has improved service delivery for clients thus far.

The candidate should have taken their answer to an even higher level by offering specific statistics/evidence to back up this example. They should have offered specific evidence demonstrating how this initiative has improved Osborne Clarke’s profitability and cut down on costs for clients overall. This would demonstrate higher levels of research skills and analytical abilities to the recruiters. Furthermore, the candidate’s final point is underdeveloped. The candidate makes a generic point that Osborne Clarke should “launch more creative products”, but we are given no further insight into this point. In view of the limited word count, the candidate could have at least offered an example of an initiative they think would benefit Osborne Clarke.

What current issues do you think have an impact on the legal profession? How will they impact and why?

The use of smart contracts in the legal sector has the potential to revolutionise contract performance. Smart contracts are computer codes that automatically execute and enforce legal obligations set out in a contract. It has recently been asserted by a group of legal experts that smart contracts are legally enforceable under English law. Smart contracts could be advantageous as they will allow for certain transaction costs to be reduced and human mistakes to be eliminated. For tasks such as payment flows, the technology can trigger the release of funds to a party when a certain condition is met. This is particularly beneficial for parties who require certainty of performance. However, the use of smart contracts could also have negative implications. For example, as the technology does not allow retrospective alterations, smart contracts are final. This could be problematic for parties who seek to modify their contractual obligations. As well as this, the possibility of an incomplete or incorrect code may also attract liability for law firms.

Big data is playing a significant role in changing various industries by allowing organisations to use large chunks of analysed data to increase their efficiency and make better, more profitable decisions. Through big data, law firms can use algorithms to offer predictions on current cases based on how similar cases turned out in a particular jurisdiction. The data analytics could then be used to determine when to take a case or when to recommend that a client should not pursue a case. Although big data could present opportunities for law firms, it also poses certain risks. Amongst others, the biggest risk is the privacy issues that may arise especially as law firms constantly deal with a huge amount of confidential client information, therefore, the use of big data could attract liability for law firms.

[Feedback: This answer is well written and tackles two complex topics impressively: smart contracts and ‘big data’. The first paragraph is structured flawlessly. It begins with a strong opening statement -> a concise explanation of what smart contracts are -> pros of smart contracts and how it would impact legal profession -> cons and how it impacts profession. The second paragraph follows a similar structure almost as effectively. Both paragraphs synthesise complex concepts and make them easy to understand, especially the first which uses short sentences that are easy to grasp. Both clearly answer the questions being posed and are cognisant of the wider impact of smart contracts and big data.

The second paragraph’s writing is good but not as flawless as the first. ‘Big data’ should either be in quotations or capitalised as Big Data because it isn’t standard language and has a specific meaning beyond a piece of data that is large. The “, therefore,” is also a little too formalistic for law firm applications.]

Focusing on one of Reed Smith`s sectors, what current issues do you think will impact this sector? What opportunities or challenges could this present Reed Smith or our clients? Max 300 words

Reed Smith’s Energy and Natural Resource sector faces two key challenges; the increasing prominence of renewable energy sources and the global commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

Feedback: The opening paragraph offers a succinct summary of the candidate’s intended argument from the outset. In turn, this focuses the candidate’s writing and adds structure to their answer.

That said, introductory paragraphs are not essential. You can safely cut them out in favour of more meaningful detail elsewhere if you are struggling to meet the word count.

The first challenge concerns renewable energy as an alternative energy source, given Russia's geopolitical strength. Per Reed Smith's 'Energy Transition' Report, one challenge is keeping clients, like renewable energy developers and green hydrogen and ammonia buyers, well-informed of regulations and policy changes. For example, the UK’s Hydrogen Strategy may pose challenges for clients, like renewable project developers and gas traders, unaware of reformed licensing requirements and hydrogen production safety standards. Reed Smith mitigates such risks by providing a comprehensive understanding of regulatory risks. For instance, the ENR Group analyses hydrogen energy rules per Pratt’s 2023 Energy Report, keeping clients notified of funding initiatives and future hydrogen availability when advising investment decisions.

Feedback:  This paragraph does well to highlight challenges faced specifically by Reed Smith’s clients from the outset. Not only does the candidate mention specific research into Reed Smith, but they also adopt a clear and coherent PEEL structure in doing so. They present a clear point and elaborate on the challenges with specific examples of hydrogen. Then, the candidate links their analysis back to the question by discussing how Reed Smith might tackle these challenges for clients. This results in a coherent and well-researched paragraph that has clear relevancy to the question.

That said, the candidate’s writing on Reed Smith needs to be far more specific. The candidate vaguely mentioned that Reed Smith “mitigates risks” by providing a “comprehensive understanding of regulatory risks”. This is an obvious point – all firms do this for clients! Instead, the candidate should have offered detailed analysis/examples on how Reed Smith specifically might help clients navigate the aforementioned challenge.

Another challenge is the net-zero greenhouse gas emissions movement per the Paris Agreement, demanding support for renewable energy projects and more stringent emission standards. A challenge for Reed Smith lies in preventing clients from engaging in 'greenwashing'- making unsupported environmental or sustainability claims. Nonetheless, Reed Smith’s adoption of transparent business practice by vetting information before advising clients on sustainability matters is evidenced by advising clients to adhere to FTC's Green Guides to ensure accurate representation of US environmental claims. This not only gives clients a competitive edge but can also attract investors, as 48% expressed interest in sustainable investing funds per a 2022 Gallup study. Thus by engaging in ESG initiatives, Reed Smith and its clients can empower investors to choose companies offering a sustainable future.

Feedback:  Similarly to the previous paragraph, the candidate identifies a specific and well-researched challenge (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions/greenwashing). The candidate’s references to the FTC Green Guides also demonstrate that the candidate has carried out thoughtful and specific research. This structure is well-maintained with a clear explanation and detailed supporting evidence throughout. You should aim for similar levels of specificity in your own writing. By peppering your writing with specific facts and statistics, you will convince the recruiter that you have researched your argument thoroughly before presenting it.

However, this paragraph is also missing a link to Reed Smith. The candidate (i) does not entirely explain how these challenges could be turned into opportunities for Reed Smith and its clients nor (ii) do they tie these challenges back to Reed Smith’s unique strategic goals or distinctive competencies. Had the candidate done so, they would have addressed the question far more comprehensively and their writing would be far better-tailored.

In conclusion, Reed Smith’s Energy and Natural Resources sector grapples with transitioning to renewable energy and achieving net-zero emissions. This plays a critical role in navigating clients around evolving regulatory landscapes and ‘greenwashing’ ESG business risks.

Feedback: Overall, the response demonstrates a good understanding of the challenges in the Energy and Natural Resource sector and effectively uses the PEEL structure to organize content. The candidate did well in explaining the challenges faced by the sector. However, to improve, the response could focus more on how these challenges specifically impact and create opportunities for Reed Smith, providing a more tailored and firm-specific analysis. By more directly linking evidence and examples to Reed Smith’s strategic initiatives or distinguishing features, the response could further demonstrate the candidate’s alignment with and understanding of Reed Smith’s unique position in the market.

Identify a current commercial issue which is relevant to RPC. Please explain why you consider it to be significant to the stakeholders involved. (300 words max) *

The UK Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, confirmed in the Autumn Statement that the government intends to put the Digital Markets Unit (‘DMU’) on a statutory footing. Enacting legislation will afford the DMU augmented powers to target digital companies with “strategic market status”. Given that RPC represents Google, which controls around 92 per cent of the internet search market, and Meta, responding to this increased sector-specific scrutiny is imperative.

Feedback: The aim of this first paragraph looks good. It provides a concise summary of a relevant commercial issue, before providing specific details and context later in the paragraph. You should note the level of precision and detail used by the candidate. The candidate identifies a specific piece of legislation, before identifying named RPC clients and discussing their precise statistical shares in the relevant markets. This results in a coherent first paragraph that is easy to follow, whilst also giving the recruiter a decent level of context. It is also clear precisely who the stakeholders are (namely regulatory bodies and technology companies), as well as how this issue might be relevant to RPC’s client base. You should aim for similar levels of detail in your own introductory paragraph. If you can paint your contextual paragraph with specific facts and precise statistics, then you will demonstrate to the recruiter that you have conducted a good level of research into your chosen topic.

However, this paragraph misses out on key context and details in places. Most notably, the candidate’s description of the DMU is unclear. The candidate claims that it gives the DMU powers to target companies with “strategic marketing status”, but the candidate never explains (1) what strategic marketing status is nor (2)) precisely how the DMU would “target” said companies. These details are left vague and unexplained, which in turn makes this paragraph somewhat confusing. As a rule, you should not assume your recruiter knows what you are talking about. You should make sure that any unclear or technical language is explained in full, so that the recruiter can follow your subsequent analysis more clearly.

Two main points arise: firstly, it reflects increasing efforts to tackle Big Tech dominance that limits competition and stifles innovation to the detriment of consumers. The DMU will require technology companies to subscribe to a code of conduct imposing precise requirements for dealing with customers and businesses. Secondly, it exacerbates financial pressure on technology companies when the industry is already experiencing a severe slowdown. For example, Meta’s net income dropped 52 per cent in Q3 of 2022, and it recently laid off 13 per cent of its workforce to cut costs. An increase in compliance expenses is thus undesirable. The DMU will also have powers to impose financial penalties of up to 10 per cent of a firm’s global turnover for regulatory breaches.

Feedback: The candidate now moves towards analysing the issue and exploring its significance to the stakeholders. This paragraph analyses the issue to a reasonably high level. First, you should note how the candidate states their argument from the outset. The recruiter knows immediately what the candidate will argue, namely that this example demonstrates an increasing trend towards regulation/antitrust action against large technology companies. This gives the candidate a good logical platform on which they can develop the rest of their argument.

Secondly, you should note how the candidate supports their arguments with specific research and details. The candidate makes a second point (namely that the DMU will lead to financial pressures), before supporting that argument with specific statistics and recent numerical examples. In turn, this adds persuasive weight to the candidate’s arguments by demonstrating the depth of research they have carried out. You should aim for similar levels of detail in your own answers. If you make a claim or an assertion, then you should back it up with specific statistics and relevant facts from objective reports/news articles.

However, this paragraph suffers from a couple of logical defects:

1.     The candidate asserts that the DMU aims to increase competition and improve innovation (namely by cracking down on Big Tech market dominance), but they never explain precisely how it will do so. Instead, the candidate simply defines the DMU and explains that it will impose precise requirements. The candidate never explains what these requirements are, nor how they will achieve the DMU’s stated aims. This results in an underdeveloped argument that is not backed up by any evidence.

2.     The candidate identifies Meta’s financial metrics as evidence, but never explains precisely how this evidence supports the candidate’s arguments. Meta’s declining income and work layoffs resulted from all manner of global market factors, not just the UK’s regulatory environment. This means the candidate’s current argument is weak and underdeveloped. The candidate should have gone further than simply asserting that this makes further regulation “undesirable”. Instead, we would expect the candidate to explain precisely how they think the DMU will impact the UK technology market.

We suspect that these weaknesses cropped up because the candidate spread themselves too thinly. Had the candidate focused their paragraph on just one of these points, then they would have been able to develop their argument more fully.

Affected companies must undertake costly compliance exercises or risk significant fines. Recently, Meta was fined £230 million by the Irish Data Protection Commission for breaching the GDPR regime. Lawyers will subsequently attract more work advising clients on how to remain compliant under the DMU - keeping on top of these changes in the regulatory landscape is fundamental. Customers and other businesses will benefit from the increased competition in digital markets. Prices for shopping or advertising online will be lowered – favourable during this cost-of-living crisis. Moreover, it will be more difficult for large platforms to impose unfavourable terms and will alleviate restrictions on app developers and cloud gaming services, stimulating innovation.

Feedback: The candidate now pivots their analysis towards how they think the DMU might impact he legal market in this field. Once again, you should note how the candidate deploys a specific and detailed factual example from the outset. This adds persuasive weight to the candidate’s writing, whilst also making it clear that they have conducted serious critical research into their chosen topic.

As with the previous paragraph, this paragraph suffers because it is vague and unsubstantiated in places. First, the candidate asserts that lawyers “will attract more work advising clients” on the DMU but they do not provide any specific evidence or examples in support of this argument. The candidate also does not drill down on precisely what work this will attract, nor do they explain how it ties in with the candidate’s previous points about RPC and its work for major technology clients. Instead, we would have expected the candidate to give a much fuller explanation of how they think RPC’s client base will be impacted by the DMU. This would need to be backed up by specific research, as well as any regulatory insights or articles provided directly by RPC.

Similarly, much of the candidate’s other writing is speculative and unfocused. The candidate later crams in a variety of points about the DMU. They begin by asserting that it will increase competition (without offering specific evidence in support of this). Then, they jump toward the assertion that it will lower prices for shopping and that this would be “favourable during the cost-of-living crisis”. Finally, they jump to the point that it will be harder for “large platforms” to impose favourable terms. The issues are that (1) none of these points are backed up by any evidence and (2) the candidate has not previously mentioned these points elsewhere in the answer. This results in a somewhat incoherent final paragraph that leaves the recruiter unconvinced. Instead, the candidate should have focused on the initial point (i.e. about the role of lawyers and the increase in compliance exercises) before developing this point in full.

Describe a current commercial issue that has interested you and explain why it interested you?

Witnessing one of my favourite childhood superstores disappearing off the high-street and then reading the article that ‘Toys-R-Us’ had buckled under private equity ownership enticed me to research the PE market. Given the current macroeconomic climate and the availability of cheap debt due to low interest rates, the competition for asset acquisition remains high. Assets are further inflated due to the proliferation of ‘secondary deals’ between PE firms. As sponsors face both further auction fatigue and the growing pressure to justify asset value, this forces PE clients to look for novel alternatives. Recent developments show that clients are willing to risk taking advantage of the growing geopolitical uncertainties ranging from US tariff wars to the wider Eurozone fragilities. If PE firms continue operating ‘recklessly’, this will undoubtedly lead to tighter regulation. If this comes to fruition, with interest rates looking likely to be raised again, experts predict this may lead to another collapse. This will require Sidley to ensure higher levels of due diligence as well as requiring all solicitors involved to have a wider commercial understanding of their clients’ goals in order to tailor their recommendations. Clearly, the seller’s market presents many challenges for clients and law firms; clients will look to reduce costs and increase efficiency thus, this will require Sidley to increase its mobility. Therefore, ensuring swift deliverability is vital in order to retain clients. Overall, Sidley will have to balance its own reputation in the midst of more riskier plays from its clients.

[Feedback: The paragraph begins with an excellent news story (Toys R Us collapse) and an interesting personal angle. It then continues with rigorous analysis of private equity valuations, macroeconomic conditions and regulation. The candidate also has a strong grasp of how the changes to the private equity market could affect Sidley and what the firm should do to inculcate itself. The writing is also better here than in the first paragraph. 

There are three main weaknesses in this section: (1) the story begins with Toys R Us and then it drops off entirely after the first sentence; (2) it’s an odd story to choose, as it makes PE firms looks bad and Sidley does loads of work for PE clients; and (3) it feels like this answer was lifted from another answer for a different firm that asked the candidate to explain how a news story would affect that law firm. (3) is especially key to note, as the question asks why the news story interested the candidate and while it is normally great to weave in references to the firm and showcase your knowledge in this case it doesn’t answer the question and veers off topic. The writing could be further improved as follows (in order): “and then reading the an article that about ‘Toys-R-Us’ had buckling…”; and “PE” should first be defined as private equity.]

Describe a current commercial issue that has interested you and explain why it interested you? (250 words max)

Environmental, social and governance themed (ESG) investing has exploded in recent years. ESG assets are estimated to exceed $53 trillion (over one-third of assets under management) by 2025. There has been a corresponding 95% increase in ESG regulation since 2000. Further, there are now over 600 different ESG rating providers. Consequently, ESG scores are increasingly influencing asset prices and corporate policies. The pandemic and subsequent green recoveries have only accelerated this trend.

Feedback: This paragraph demonstrates good commercial awareness and directly addresses the question. The question has two key parts, namely (1) that you must analyse and discuss an ongoing commercial issue and (2) that you must provide specific and (ideally) personalised reasons for your interest in the issue. Although the candidate has largely structured their answer well, you may instead decide to split your answer into two parts addressing these elements in equal depth. You should also note how the candidate describes the issue in thorough detail. Not only are we given specific numbers and statistics, but the candidate also analyses these statistics and provides interpretative analysis. You should aim for similar levels of research in your own answers.

One small issue is that the candidate leaves some points and evidence unanalysed. First, the candidate mentions that there has been a 95% increase in regulation but it is not clear how this is relevant. The candidate does not mention ESG regulation again in their answer. Second, the candidate mentions the “pandemic” and “green recoveries” but does not analyse these points again. This makes parts of the introduction slightly irrelevant and shoehorned-in.

You should keep the wider purpose of introductory paragraphs in mind. They provide a concise outline of each issue you intend to address/argue for in your answer. As such, you should leave no stone unturned and make sure that the rest of your answer covers all the issues you mentioned.

Working with asset managers and insurers, I have seen first-hand the difficulty in navigating ESG scores due to their lack of standardisation. Different ESG rating providers’ methodologies use different categories, weightings, and measurements. A company can gain a poor ESG score from one rating provider whilst achieving a strong score from another.

Feedback: The candidate now moves on to describe some of the key issues surrounding ESG. You should note how the candidate began with a big-picture description of the ESG trend, before spending the following two paragraphs “zooming in” on two specific issues of interest. This distinguishes the candidate’s analysis from the hundreds of other candidates who will also be writing about ESG. You must aim for similar levels of specificity in your

That said, the candidate’s analysis is incomplete here. The candidate asserts that companies have these issues with ESG ratings but does not explain why this is an issue. We are given no insight into the consequences of this problem for asset managers/insurers. You should always re-read your paragraphs carefully so that your analysis is thorough and complete.

This paragraph would also benefit from the same depth of research as the first. The candidate asserts that companies receive inconsistent ESG ratings but does not offer any specific examples in support of this. Had the candidate illustrated their point with an example, then their writing would be significantly more persuasive overall.

Next, there are problems surrounding ESG rating providers’ motivations. ESG rating services often coexist with the provider’s credit ratings, consulting services, and asset management arms. Many ESG ratings providers offer consultancy on how to improve the very ratings they provide. This creates a conflict of interest as ESG rating providers can be hired on the back of giving poor scores and masking their methodologies.

Feedback: As with the previous paragraph, the candidate does well to highlight a specific issue surrounding ESG. This is unlikely to have been covered by other candidates. You should also note how the candidate provides personalised insight based on their own work experience. In turn, this means the candidate can offer fresh insight into ESG that has not been covered elsewhere. When writing about major macroeconomic trends (such as ESG), you must always ensure you can highlight specific issues to which you can provide unique insight. This is because these trends will have also been covered by 100s of other candidates. As such, there is a major risk that other candidates have covered the same points as you.

Like the previous paragraph, this one suffers (1) from incomplete analysis and (2) a lack of specific and detailed research to back up the points. The candidate asserts an issue with the ESG providers’ motivations, but does not analyse/explain the specific consequences of this issue in practice. In turn, this makes the candidate’s writing seem incomplete and speculative. You must make sure that you analyse each point in detail, before writing a sensible concluding sentence.

I am particularly interested in these issues because of the current widespread confusion and long-term implications. After continued regulatory pressure, I predict that the ESG rating providers will merge and ESG disclosure will become mandatory. However, without regulators demanding more transparency and mitigating rating providers’ conflicts of interest, I believe, the comparability and trust in ESG scores will be undermined.  

Feedback: The candidate now addresses the final element of the question, namely their own interest in ESG. The candidate does reasonably well in outlining their interest in ESG and drawing some conclusions from their previous paragraphs. 

That said, this paragraph’s conclusions do not truly follow from the previous issues described. The candidate has not covered ESG regulation anywhere in their answer, save for a brief mention in the introduction. As such, the candidate cannot substantiate these conclusions with specific detail or evidence. In your own writing, you should make sure that your introduction addresses each of the points you intend to follow. Then, your paragraphs should follow the order of issues mentioned in the introduction. This will guarantee that your writing is comprehensive and complete.

The paragraph also lacks any supporting evidence. This means that the candidate’s conclusions come off as speculative. When drawing conclusions in your own writing, you must ensure that they are backed up by the analysis/evidence you have used beforehand.

Describe a recent news article you've read (except for Brexit) and explain how it relates to us?

A recent Financial Times article I read concerned the UK's housing crisis. There is a severe lack of long-term housing strategy, particularly a way to make renting viable and affordable. This housing crisis specifically impacts senior people, where there is an estimated 1.7 million senior people that live in unsuitable houses where they cannot adequately move around or live in houses that are overcrowded. While the government is actively trying to fill the gap between seniors living at home and moving into a more dedicated care facility, the article suggests that the state should be more involved. For example, lowering property tax for existing residents and funding more infrastructure are possible solutions to tackle this critical issue. As the population is continuously aging, this contributes to increasing demand in the housing and social care sector.

Being a leader in real estate law, this is an excellent opportunity for Trowers & Hamlins to engage and expand their services in this sector. The firm recently advised Affordable Housing & Healthcare Group, a housing and health care developer, on a £60m loan from OakNorth Bank in order to fund retirement homes in three parts of the UK. Working across multi-disciplines on this case, the firm demonstrated their expertise in both private and public sectors and their capability to successfully support this sector's expansion. This news speaks to the opportunity Trowers & Hamlins has before them to continue to capitalise on this demand through the delivery of their top-ranked legal services in this area.

[Feedback: To answer this question in a plausible, straightforward manner, we would recommend that you describe a news article that is relevant to the firm’s strongest practice area(s), as the candidate does in this case, because it is relatively easier to explain how the former relates to the latter, and it indirectly showcases your awareness of the firm’s strengths. To ensure that your answer is compendious, we would also recommend splitting your answer into two paragraphs of roughly equal length, with one detailing the issues presented within your news article of choice and the other detailing the firm’s prospective involvement therein, as the candidate does in this case.

Aside from describing their news article of choice in a reasonable amount of detail, the candidate does well to provide its source (i.e., Financial Times) and summarise its thesis (i.e., “the article suggests that the state should be more involved”). We would recommend following their example for the sake of completeness. At the same time, the candidate does well to draw a link between an increase in the demand for housing, state involvement, and the firm’s real estate practice, which is highly ranked across both the private sphere and the public sphere. By providing an example of a real estate project undertaken by the firm for a housing and health care developer, the candidate bolsters the plausibility of their argument and further showcases their research into the firm. If you wish to achieve a similar effect, we would recommend adapting the above mentioned “PEEL” structure to the demands of this prompt.]

Considering the location in which you wish to train; tell us about a local project or development that has interested you. Explain why it is of interest and how, as a business, we could provide support. (5000 characters)

My interest has been piqued by Macquarie's GIG plan to launch an offshore wind business. A London-based subsidiary of the world's largest infrastructure bank has set its sights on offshore wind power by seeking institutional investment. The bank is setting up a company that will look for new development projects worldwide. It will join the Green Investment Group to invest in renewable assets, such as wind farms. As of now, GIG has 50 billion euros, enough to power about 14.7 million homes. The business hopes to attract long-term investors such as pension funds to finance new projects, as well as involving existing wind farm developers in the construction. In addition, Macquire said GIG would continue to deliver other renewable projects, such as solar and onshore wind throughout Europe.

Feedback: This paragraph demonstrates some good commercial awareness and directly addresses the question. The question has two key parts, namely (1) why this local project interests you and (2) how Womble Bond Dickinson could support this project from a business perspective. Although the way the candidate has structured the rest of their answer well, you may wish to consider splitting up the remainder into two sections (which address each part of the question in equal depth). You should also note how the candidate describes the project with specific details. We are not only given specific numbers and statistics, but the candidate also identifies the wider business reasons for Macquarie’s GIG plan. This demonstrates both pertinent commercial awareness and a good depth of research overall.

That said, the candidate’s writing here is somewhat unfocused. The candidate leads in by asserting their interest in GIG’s plan to launch an offshore wind business and broadly outlines what this involves, but we are provided with nothing further in the way of specific details. Instead, the candidate then recites facts about GIG more widely and gives a broad overview of GIG’s activities in the renewables sector. The candidate should have retained focus on this offshore wind business and outlined (1) what the plan involves (using specific details) and (2) what its wider commercial implications might be. This would answer the question more directly, by focusing the candidate’s writing on this specific project.

The example also requires a clearer link to London (in keeping with the first element of the question). We are told that the plan involves a London-based subsidiary, but the candidate offers no further analysis on this point. Given that the question explicitly requires you to identify a project local to your chosen city of training, the candidate would have needed to offer more insight into how this deal impacts London’s energy market specifically.

The two reasons for my interest are as follows. First, I am interested in the field of real estate and commercial property in general, as well as the roles lawyers play in these fields. The variety of work undertaken by lawyers in the practice area appeals to me - from advising on construction to advising on acquisition, sale, transfer, and financing of tangible assets such as buildings and land. During my vacation scheme at *****, I gained valuable insight into the practice area, as well as performed a few tasks myself which has furthered my interest. This included conducting research that was later added to one of the Partners’ report on the matter and reviewing documents of several cases. Secondly, I am drawn to projects that help combat climate change, such as The London Array, one of the world's largest offshore wind farms in which Womble Bond Dickinson advised on. Offshore wind is the electricity source of the future, making it an estimation of 80% of the world’s energy potential being provided by offshore wind power. In my future career, therefore, I hope to advise on projects such as these, making a genuine impact.

Feedback:The objective of this paragraph looks good, since it addresses the first element of the question outright. For this part of your answer, we recommend that you offer two in-depth reasons for your specific interest in that project using the PEEL/AL structure. You should (1) lead in with a point about why that project interests you (P). Then, you should (2) offer specific evidence/personal examples in support of your point (E) and (3) explain/analyse what interested you about those examples (E/A). Finally, you should (4) link your evidence back to your point by explaining how your interest in that point developed from the examples you gave. The candidate has broadly tried to do that here, by identifying two separate motivational points and touching upon a specific example of a task they worked on during their vacation scheme.

There are some key drawbacks to this paragraph. Starting with the candidate’s first point, the candidate asserts that they are interested in real estate/commercial law but they do not explain what they find interesting about this. We are told that the candidate is drawn to work on tangible assets, but it is never explained why this is the case nor how their work at the vacation scheme furthered this interest. Furthermore, the candidate is missing a central link between their interest in property/real estate back to their interest in this wind farm project. It is never explained how the candidate’s interest in real estate ties back in with their interest in the GIG plan. The project centers on offshore wind farms so it is unclear where real estate lawyers would even come into play. In any case, the candidate’s answer raises questions about whether they truly understand what each practice area involves. The work you do as an asset/project finance lawyer will be markedly different to your work as a real estate/commercial property lawyer. As such, the candidate does not demonstrate a strong enough grasp of what each area of commercial law entails.

Moving onto the second point, the candidate does well to identify specific facts about offshore wind energy and tries to throw in a specific project worked on by Womble Bond Dickinson. That said, this point suffers many of the same issues as the previous. The candidate name-drops The London Array but never explains why this kind of project interests them (beyond it making a “genuine impact”), nor how that relates back to the project identified. The question asks what interests you about the project, not what interests you about energy and project finance more widely. As such, you will need to link your evidence/explanations back to your interest in your chosen project.

To avoid these flaws, you should follow the PEEL structure as closely as possible. This will guarantee that your motivations are convincing and relevant to the question at hand.

Being one of the leading energy law firms operating in the energy sector on a local, national and international scale, Womble Bond Dickinson can provide support on various matters related to this project. Among the documents that would be produced are project documents (energy and operations, property, planning, and construction), project finance documents, shareholder finance documents, and associated legal opinion and due diligence reports. Specifics may include secure on shore planning permission, secure a works licence from Port of London Authority, and give offshore transmission related advice.

Feedback: Here, the candidate pivots their answer towards Womble Bond Dickinson and how they could support this project. Here, Womble Bond Dickinson need you to demonstrate that you have grasped (1) how it operates as a business more widely and (2) how its specific practice areas advise on deals and projects (in this case, it would be the Projects, Construction and Infrastructure Team). You then need to apply this knowledge to the project you have discussed previously. The candidate does reasonably well in providing a broad outline of how solicitors might support an infrastructure project like this. This demonstrates that the candidate has at least some understanding of how solicitors contribute to projects.

To improve, the candidate should have gone beyond simply listing the different tasks solicitors might do. This answer is missing quality analysis into how Womble Bond Dickinson specifically might assist with the project previously identified by the candidate. The recruiters already know that projects lawyers generally help with due diligence, document production, planning permissions and so on. The two issues with this paragraph are (1) that the candidate’s points are not tailored to Womble Bond Dickinson (as the candidate’s points apply to projects lawyers in any law firm) and (2) the candidate does not apply their points to the project they named beforehand.  To avoid these flaws, you should follow the PEEL/AL structure closely. You should (1) lead with an overarching point about how Womble Bond Dickinson can assist on your named project, (2) provide evidence and tailored research in support of your point, (3) explain and contextualise your evidence and (4) link it back to your central point about how WBD can assist with the project. If you do this, you will ensure that your paragraphs will have the quality analysis sought by recruiters.

Another concern is that the candidate’s understanding of projects work is fairly rudimentary. While it is true that projects lawyers assist with documentation and due diligence, these are lower-value tasks that would typically be delegated to trainees and/or junior associates. Projects lawyers in fact do far more than just these tasks. They would not only be involved in negotiating complex deals and managing the unique risks to projects work, but they also can work in overlapping/multi-disciplinary areas (from finance and development through to litigation). The candidate does not offer much insight into the higher-value tasks carried out by said lawyers. As such, a cynical recruiter might question whether the candidate has truly understood what projects lawyers do.

We would also note that “on shore” should be “onshore”. This is a minor point, but it would have helped the candidate demonstrate stronger written English skills overall.

Due to the rapid developments in this field, clients will likely face a variety of challenges that the firm could guide them through. This includes potential effects of offshore wind farms on protected habitats and birds with the rotating blades of the turbines. Additionally, there are complexities that arose with the floating turbine development. By expanding this technology, new areas will be able to generate power, but with that will come the challenge of managing increasingly long transmission distances. When electricity is sent over long distances, it will suffer losses due to the fact that it cannot be packaged and transported readily from the site of extraction to the point of use. This problem is still being addressed through technological developments. Among the available options are HVDC transmission, an emerging technology, but one option that can deliver net zero energy and may require regulatory change is developing integrated offshore energy opportunities. As part of their ongoing work to evaluate and assess opportunities and barriers to UKCS energy integration3, the UK Oil and Gas Authority, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Crown Estate and Ofgem are already working together. A number of options are being assessed with potential for development before 2030, such as the electrification of existing oil and gas production, carbon capture and storage, and production of blue hydrogen. The goal is to achieve green hydrogen production in the 2030s, and to integrate this into large-scale offshore energy hubs with other technologies. There needs to be more work done to prepare the regulatory regime for these integrated developments, as it is not currently designed or equipped to do so.

Feedback: In this paragraph, the candidate demonstrates thorough and wide-ranging research surrounding offshore wind farms. The candidate leads with some points about offshore wind, before detailing their points with specific named examples and supporting analysis. This demonstrates a good level of commercial awareness overall. You should aim for a similar level of detail in your own answers, so that you convince recruiters that you have wide-ranging commercial awareness.

The issue with this paragraph is the same as the previous ones. Namely, it does not directly address the question. The question does not ask for a high-level overview of a commercial topic that interests you (as the candidate has done here). Instead, you need to identify a specific project/development and analyse how Womble Bond Dickinson can specifically assist with this project/development. This paragraph lacks analysis on how Womble Bond Dickinson can assist with the challenges encumbering offshore wind projects. It is not clear how the candidate’s points on technological developments are relevant to WBD’s business specifically. As such, it is questionable whether the candidate has truly understood the question being asked. To avoid this issue, you should use the exact wording of the question in your answers. If you lead your points by addressing the question directly (e.g, “First, WBD can assist because...”) then your writing will be more focused.

An additional minor point for improvement is that the candidate should have varied their sentence structure. The candidate uses a lot of long-winded sentences which makes their writing harder to follow at times. You should split up and/or shorten sentences wherever possible. This will not only make your writing more concise, but it will also make your arguments easier to follow overall.

This is a challenging yet exciting area in which the firm will navigate to assist its clients. In regards to some of the challenges that arise with offshore wind farms, for example, it would guide clients by ensuring the necessary assessments are being taken to ensure negative impacts are minimised and projects are aligned with the law. Overall, developing commercial awareness, through a logical, yet adaptable approach can help solve complex issues in a rapidly evolving area.

Feedback: There is no harm in writing a brief conclusion (1-2 sentences) if you have the space. That said, you are not writing an academic essay so there is little need for a detailed conclusion like this. The candidate’s conclusion does not contribute anything new to the answer.

Given the restrictive word count, the candidate could have cut out much of this conclusion out in favour of high-quality analysis elsewhere.