"I have a low 2:1 in law from Bristol University (mostly low 2:1s and high 2:2s, with a first in my dissertation) and I am unsure as to what level of firm I should be targeting," writes an LPC student. The email, and response, is below...
Dear XXXX,
Firstly, with a low 2:1 you're right to view the magic circle and other top bracket firms as a long shot. And no matter what law firms say publicly on the topic, the reality is that no amount of extra-curricular activities on your CV is going to make up for mediocre uni grades. Still, with a 2:1 from Bristol these firms are worth a punt in applying to. Sometimes people get lucky. And once you get an interview, anything can happen.
The problem that you – and the many others in your position – face, is that lots of the firms outside the top ten are really struggling right now. However, some are doing better than others – and, in this respect, you can use some basic legal market knowledge to eke out an advantage over other candidates.
Without naming names, there are certain firms with good reputations among graduates which are actually doing pretty horrendously right now. Meanwhile, there are others with a low profile which are in reasonable shape – and so likely to offer not just better odds of landing a TC, but also a higher chance of a newly-qualified job at the end of it.
So before applying to the mid-tier, it's worth doing a bit of research on the health of firms. This doesn't have to take long: i.e. Google them, if they're name comes up in relation to merger chatter, think twice. On the other hand, if they're in the news for winning awards, they're probably doing OK.
I'd also recommend applying to the London offices of US law firms – many of which are currently expanding. With their relative strength in relation to most mid-tier City outfits, and a weak pound, these firms see the next few years as an opportunity to grab some London market share. Several have launched training contracts recently. And your chances of getting a TC with them would be aided by US firms' reputation for being a bit more open-minded in their graduate recruitment. The downside is that many of the US law firms' London offices are very small, and as a result just offer a handful of TCs. But there are exceptions: Baker & McKenzie and White & Case, for example, both have big London offices.
As the final limb of your strategy, you also should apply to a few less well-known firms which do some corporate work. By which I mean smaller, commercial firms in the West End of London or outside London. Again many of these outfits are feeling the squeeze financially. But a TC is a TC. And the chances are that by the time you are finishing your training in 2015-16, they'll be some sort of recovery in the wider economy. Last time this happened, there was a big shortage of young lawyers – meaning many people who'd trained at smaller firms got hoovered up by the big boys. While legal tech and outsourcing developments will mean this won't happen to the same extent this time around, it'll probably still happen.
Good luck,
Alex