Corporate tax involves involves advising clients on the tax risks associated with acquiring, selling or restructuring assets. All employees have access to the Thrive wellbeing app, and we have a network of guardians across the firm who are trained to provide a confidential space to share issues employees feel they need to discuss. Nepotism always wins it seems. As a trainee you will complete four six-month seats in different practice areas. I've been invited to an assesment Day following my application. Macfarlanes Interview Questions | Glassdoor When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Sponsored by Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP. Are there any programmes for me? Pleasant. Pleasant. Any thoughts on working at Twitter as counsel? 1 partner - commerciality interview - interview about current affairs and your recommendations for how the firm would deal with certain cases. You can also arrange a call with the early legal careers team to discuss further. Weinvite up to 15% of applicants to attend one of a series of assessment days held at the firm's office to assess them for a place on one of our vacation schemes. How will Brexit affect lawyers day-to-day work? The exercise is about understanding the roles of lawyers and commercial awareness. What are your thoughts about xyz? These give us insights into how we can develop and expand our diversity and inclusion initiatives in the firm. Answer Question Are vacation scheme and insight scheme participants paid? But note: some of your interviewers may dress down. A vacation scheme at Macfarlanes is a two-week snapshot into life as a trainee. Sponsored by RPC. SensitivePedant. Then we had lunch with trainees and partners, which was a little intimidating at first but fine once we were going. Do you review the applications as and when they are submitted (on a rolling basis) or after the deadline? What exercises can I expect at a vacation scheme assessment day? Summer/Autumn 2023 - Begin studying for the SQE with BPP. Anonymous Interview Candidate in London, England, I applied online. The partners make no attempts to intimidate or cross-examine you. Sessions start on the week of the 13th March! Finally the day ends with lunch and networking with some trainees. Get in touch with the Early Legal Careers team Thats what our team is there for, we can answer your questions and give you guidance with your application. Please describe the interview process at Macfarlanes. We do, however, give feedback to candidates who attend an assessment day. If you would like to apply for both, we suggest applying for the vacation scheme first, wait to hear the result of your application and then apply for our training programme if necessary. Several had other careers first. What is Macfarlanes? Company Culture, Mission, Values The written exercise focussed on drafting a partner memo and a client complaint response. 19. We are members of the Business Disability Forum and work closely with the Forum to ensure our processes remain accessible and fair to all candidates. The exercise was really short, ten mins on a case study you are given to read beforehand which is based on assessing your commercial awareness, and the interview is really a conversation about that, and then ten mins of questions about you. Nepotism always wins it seems. You should therefore not worry about applying to us as soon as the applications open. Keep up to date with our free weekly newsletter, 2.1 anticipated or achieved (mitigating circumstances are taken into account). Work shadowing. Legal profession most represented sector in 2020 Social Mobility Employer Index. At Bright Network we use cookies and similar technologies to help deliver you the best possible experience. LawCareers.Net Training & Recruitment Awards 2020: the results. As a vacation scheme student, you will gain an insight into life as a trainee over the course of two weeks. Firm Profile . Make sure you complete the exercise in the time available, and just be clear in giving your advice. The one-on-one partner interview involves the usual competency, motivation, and strengths based questions. Then if successful invited to an assessment day. A long application followed by an assessment centre with a case study, partner/associate interview and written exercise. a group negotiation exercise with five or six other candidates, assessed by an associate. We will set measurable targets against our three strategic priorities. Was very interesting . How many trainees do you recruit for the training programme annually? These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. Do you accept applications from people like me? Written was the hardest as it was very time pressured but even though some of us didn't finish on time, still managed to get onto the scheme. For us to accurately assess your potential, we want to see your achievements in context and ensure you are set up in the right way to perform at your best. The form is designed to give you every opportunity to tell us about yourself and show your interest in Macfarlanes. How does Macfarlanes support trainees with disabilities and long-term mental health conditions? Are you allowed to take tracing paper into the Maths GCSE? Thoughts on Wilson Elser? Be the first to find this interview helpful. Regardless of your degree subject, you are eligible to apply for a vacation scheme in your penultimate year of study and onwards. We had certain goals to achieve from the negotiations, and time to prepare amongst ourselves. Above all, we value a commitment to excellence, and an intuitive understanding of people. Employment lawyers work across all areas of employment law, including handling discrimination, staff restructuring and whistleblowing issues. Please visit the Apply page on our website to watch avideoabout our training programme assessment day. Private Equity. Sports law involves the legal issues at play in the worlds of both amateur and professional sport. The associate may ask some follow up questions about the negotiation. 2nd stage interview, a presentation on legaltech followed by a Q and A. Application details and method of selection. Elizabeth Fielding is in the real estate group at Macfarlanes. https://www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/macfarlanes-bid-diversity-cv-blind-interview, RPC Assessment Centre- business meeting exercise, AC feedback - lack of understanding the trainee's role, The negotiation exercise is usually a sponsorship deal. They can be invaluable in helping you decide whether a career in law is right for you. Make sure you read everything and use the information given to come up with a response to claimant in the scenario and dont award him too much compensation! Glassdoor has millions of jobs plus salary information, company reviews, and interview questions from people on the inside making it easy to find a job thats right for you. Why do you want to become a solicitor? Yes, if the work experience is applicable. We use cookies in our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Find out about the work she gets up to on a daily basis and the early responsibility on offer in this practice area. The coordinators were really helpful and gave me a prep call before so I knew what to expect from it. . Sponsored by Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Copyright 2008-2023, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are registered trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. The driving force behind the firm is an absolute commitment to delivering the right advice in the right way to our clients. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves. Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Macfarlanes as 87.5% positive with a difficulty rating score of 3.38 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty). We spoke to the early legal careers team at Macfarlanes to gain some key insights and top tips on how you can stand out to this leading law firm. No, not at all. Be respectful and patient and make sure you think your answers through, it is especially important here when the assessor might jump in to develop your answer and/or ask explanations. The amount is reviewed annually and is within market range. Both routes provide an equal chance of a training programme with us. There was a group negotiation task (nothing too complicated, just about showing you're a team player) followed by a written assessment (quite time pressured) and then an interview, half of which is a case study and the other half about you. How far before the deadline should I apply? Cookies enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. A national fund designed to boost social mobility within the legal profession, address the recruitment and retention crisis, and ultimately improve access to justice has been launched. All elements, including the bespoke Macfarlanes modules, are paid for by the firm. We reimburse reasonable travel expenses for candidates who attend an assessment day for our vacation scheme or training programme. Anonymous Interview Candidate in London, England, I applied online. It involved knowledge of intermediary maths, which if you havent done since GCSE can be a bit tough. Trainees get in involved in our St Hildas legal advice clinic on a rotational basis. The partner will challenge you about what you say for the in-tray so be sure to stand your ground. In each seat you will share a room with a partner or solicitor who supervises and supports you. We recruit people to build careers for the long term. You will then start your two years qualifying work experience in September 2024 or March 2025 after you have sat SQE2. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. If you are studying law, you can apply in your penultimate year and onwards for both a vacation scheme and the training programme. Over at @macfarlanesgrad, they're challenging the Instagram vs reality stereotypes and laying bare what makes the firm #meaningfullydifferent. I interviewed at Macfarlanes Interview The assessment centre consists of roughly 3 exercises if I remember it right: written exercise, negotiation, and interview with partner and associate. Please get in touch with our recruitment teamif you have further questions. Anyone here in-house with Disney or know anything about the company? Draw upon what other people say, expanding on their points. Pretty straightforward, nice talking to the recruitment managers. Scheme launched to improve social mobility and access to justice in legal aid sector. The interview is 40 mins in total: 20 mins in-tray exercise and 20 mins competency based Qs. When you apply for the training programme, you should be in at least your final year. These programmes are geared towards people who are not yet qualified. The written task was the hardest as there was a lot of time pressure. Real Estate. We recruit 1520 participants for our first year insight scheme. Anonymous Interview Candidate in London, England, I applied online. Sponsored by Bristows LLP. Apply. Catherine Morgan-Guest Senior manager, early legal careers I interviewed at Macfarlanes (London, England) in Jan 2021. You then come back to the main room for the negotiation with the other sub team. How many first year scheme participants do you recruit each year? 1 negotiation exercise - group work based exercise with a partner. When can I apply for a vacation scheme, and when can I apply for the training programme? These sessions help build your legal knowledge and inform your seat choices. To understand more about how we use cookies or to change your cookie preferences, click on Showsettings. We want to recruit the best candidates regardless of their background or where they were educated. Our culture is thoughtful, challenging and supportive, and we are a place where everyone, at whatever level, can thrive. You can find out more in our privacy policy at any time by going to the link in our footer. And in June 2020 we adopted an ambitious new environmental policy. I graduated some years ago. Copyright The Student Room 2023 all rights reserved. There are changing rooms in our office for employee use. Thanks a lot in advance! The scheme is a great opportunity to find out whether Macfarlanes is right for you. Macfarlanes LLP Training Contracts & Work Placements - LawCareers.Net Strong academics. Explain how a current issue affects our firm. Some are necessary to help our website work properly and can't be switched off, and some are optional but support Bright Network in building and running the service that we provide to you. We talked to the person next to us and then relayed to the rest of the room. The Pupillage Interview/Acceptance/Rejection Thread 2023 Watch, Got offered Clifford Chance interview etc and don't know what to do lol. Saw the below headline today in The Lawyer. The programme has been developed in-house, and all tasks have been modelled on real work and created by our associates and trainee . Written exercises: Attention to detail, true or false logic, and conditionality What you'll be working on during a work placement at Macfarlanes LLP. Mark Lawrence > Macfarlanes LLP > London > England | Lawyer Profile Your choices regarding cookies on this site. Discover the most relevant business news, access our law firm analysis, and receive our best advice for aspiring lawyers. a written exercise where you are expected to read a source text and complete two written pieces. Aspiring Solicitors Sindhuja SAspiring Solicitors No, we do not currently use psychometric testing at any stage of the application process. They kept dragging out the time before they sent me the assessment, and then decided not to hire me. What is Macfarlanes doing to become a more sustainable and environmentally friendly business? Interview with a partner: 20 minutes, first 10 on an ethical scenario leaving a VERY short time for personal questions. We want the best talent at Macfarlanes. Several law firms, including Clifford Chance and Macfarlanes LLP, have launched a leadership-led, cross-firm collective developed to improve the representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in the UK legal profession. It was a different kind of awards ceremony last night as hundreds of viewers stayed at home to watch the 17th annual LawCareers.Net Training & Recruitment Awards streamed live on Facebook and Instagram. However, the firm will provide study leave at the discretion of the practice area head. We also run a practice area open day where you can meet representatives from every practice area. Working at Macfarlanes | Glassdoor If you gain a place on one of our assessment days, you will find out more about the firm during the day. Market-leading perspectives and understanding, Responsive advice in a fast-changing world. We hope you use the assessments as a chance to build your understanding of us and what makes us different, just as we see it as a chance to gain an understanding of you. Due to the high number of applications we receive, we cannot give feedback at the application stage. Remember that a lawyer can only give advice on things they have expertise in or they will face liability for incorrect advice. We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Make the most of their events and skills building workshops. Macfarlanes - Macfarlanes We know each other personally which means we work together with more cohesion, and less formality. The programme combines classroom and digital learning to embed knowledge and uses business simulation exercises to help you apply your knowledge in realistic practice scenarios. What exercises can I expect at a training programme assessment day? Summer/autumn 2024 begin studying for the SQE with BPP. . The policy includes commitments covering our carbon footprint, emissions, waste, recycling, sustainable procurement of goods and services, office greenery and support for the legal sustainability community. Winding-up petitions: whats the impact on companies and creditors in financial distress? Leadership skills. Macfarlanes LLP | Training contracts, vacation schemes and - Lex 100 If we have not yet reviewed your application, we may be able to add the missing information. Interviewers were polite and asked not too hard questions. Why do you want to become a solicitor? If I choose an alternative route to qualify than the training programme will the firm pay for the cost of me sitting the SQE? 1st stage interview, behaviour questions Two people from the lawtech group FAQs - Macfarlanes These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. City firms announce partner promotions despite pandemic pressures. Time management is key for this; I only just finished in time. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The case study was very interesting to read it through and discuss with the partners. Please note blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. However, they are not a requirement for the training programme. The dates of our 2023 vacation schemes are as follows: Applications open on 26 September 2022 andare online via our website. Investment Management. Pride is a forum for LGBTQ+ staff and allies. For the first year insight scheme, you need to apply online as well. The examination comprises two stages: SQE 1 and SQE 2. I am worried that if I tell Macfarlanes about my disability this will be seen negatively. 806 8067 22 Registered Office: Imperial House, 2nd Floor, 40-42 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XB, Taking a break or withdrawing from your course, Border Force Apprenticeships September 2022 campaign, Official University of Glasgow 2023 Applicant Thread, What is the benefit of going to an 'elite' university, Transferring after completing of Loughborough Foundation year, Official: King's College London A100 2023 Entry. Capital markets lawyers work with transactions involving the issue of debt or equity securities to the public or investors. Why do you want to be a lawyer, specifically in the City, when were you resilient/determined. See what employees say it's like to work at Macfarlanes. We have no minimum requirements for A level results. DAWN (disability and wellbeing network) is a forum for networking and peer support between people who have direct experience of, or support others with, long-term health conditions. Our unrivalled blend of expertise, agility and culture means we have the flexibility to meet their most challenging demands and adapt to the changing world around us. Sponsored by Cooley (UK) LLP. Where any NQ places are not filled by qualifying trainees you will be able to apply if you have suitable experience and where there is a business need. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised web experience. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Please get in touch with the Inclusion and CSR team if you have further questions. The qualities we look for in our lawyers include strong interpersonal skills, an ambitious commercial approach, drive, motivation and resilience. Thoughts on Wilson Elser? Commercial awareness. This employer has not claimed their Employer Profile and is missing out on connecting with our community. Competition and regulatory work includes merger control, regulatory and court proceedings, issues arising from sector-specific regulation and utility procurement issues. Macfarlanes - Cheeky Little Careers By clicking Accept cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device. We want to recruit the best candidates regardless of their background or where they were educated. Who can apply for the training programme? I applied online. Thoughts on Wilson Elser? There was minimal technical hiccups and I felt welcomed at the firm. We discussed this in the interview for about ten minutes, and it seemed mostly about how we thought about the issue. We wanted more transparency and better training. We are a distinctive London-based law firm with a unique combination of services built and shaped around the needs of our clients. Bar Course /BVS / BPTC 2023-2024 : what are everyone's plans? Anyone else 12 weeks behind with uni work? I did 4 partner interviews over a period of 6 weeks, only for them to suddenly ask me to do an assessment. The Student Room and The Uni Guide are trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. We are a distinctive London-based law firm with a unique combination of services built and shaped around the needs of our clients. Interviewers were polite and asked not too hard questions. Can I still apply? Our early legal careers team works closely with external diversity organisations, such as Aspiring Solicitors, Rare and upReach. If successful at the screening stage, we will invite you to an assessment day. To find out what it's like to undertake a placement at Macfarlanes read the firm's Vacation Scheme Insider report. Full instructions are given by the early legal careers team before the exercise; an interview with a partner and a senior associate. I am studying a four year degree course, with a year abroad in my third year. We are Macfarlanes LLP, the City of London based, international law firm, and entities controlled by Macfarlanes LLP through which it carries out its business ("Macfarlanes", "we", "us" or "our"). I interviewed at Macfarlanes (London, England). Can trainees get involved in pro bono work at Macfarlanes? Quite standard Salaries, reviews, and more - all posted by employees working at Macfarlanes. I applied for a Training Contract directly. The knowledge you gain from an event will help when you write your application. What makes a successful application to Macfarlanes, Pride Matters: Striving for actual equality, Types of student and graduate opportunities, Essential cookies to make this website work, Third party cookies used for personalised ads and content, Well rounded candidates who will make the most of our varied seat rotations, Great teamwork skills, which include being kind and considerate, Resilience that is a grit and ambition to take on real responsibility, Brain power clever people who can think on their feet. Has anyone here used upwork or other similar sites to initially get work to start your own firm? First commercial case study with 3 parts, then a partner interview on the case study followed by a group presentation task to a partner, a one-on-one partner interview and a written exercise (a letter responding to a claimant who is suing your client). No, we do not accept applications after the deadline has passed. Yes, you can. You will spend an afternoon work-shadowing one of our trainees as well as being assessed for a place on the vacation scheme itself. Interested in a future career as a lawyer? Do you only accept applicants from certain universities? Macfarlanes is unlike any other law firm. How would you deal with a disruptive associate when you are giving presentation ? We understand that not every candidates achievements look the same on paper, and we are a firm that believes in fairness and diversity. The coordinators were really helpful and gave me a prep call before so I knew what to expect from it. Exeter Assessment Centre. As a trainee you could be working on major corporate transactions or commercial litigation, and then working for private clients on their most sensitive affairs. Assessment day comprised of talks from NQ's and grad rec, a negotiation group exercise, a written exercise, an unseen scenario interview and an interview with a partner. Make your points but be patient if anyone in the group doesnt quite understand the scenario. All content 2023 Macfarlanes LLP. Autumn 2023 - Sit the SQE1 examination. However, if you do not meet these requirements and you have extenuating circumstances, you may still apply. I wrote my letter to the wrong person and I think this was the single biggest challenge to my chances of success. Thanks for sharing Dan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Macfarlanes Early Legal Careers. They didnt overtly say it would be about competencies but that was all it was, essentially. Macfarlanes Career: Working at Macfarlanes | Glassdoor Rene Lai on LinkedIn: I'm thrilled to share that I have accepted a Do you use psychometric testing in the application process? During each seat you will receive a schedule of seminars to develop your knowledge and skills at an early stage in each seat. Honesty, friendliness and a polite attitude make it a far more pleasant experience for the partners. We have opportunities for qualified lawyers, trainees and business services who are looking for outstanding career development. Our clients come from a range of backgrounds and cultures and our people do too. Please note blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Work can include being asked to draft a real letter and then working through the draft with a solicitor or trainee or carrying out some research on a live issue for a client.