📩 All you need for a training contract

Hey there,

It becomes obvious very quickly who will secure a training contract and who is less likely to secure one.

The candidates who eventually receive offers approach the process differently. They treat it as a system as they understand what each stage is assessing.

Most aspiring lawyers learn this the slow way. One cycle spent fixing written applications. The next realising psychometric tests require a different approach.

Then interviews. Then assessment centres.

But what if you didn’t have to waste 2-3 application cycles?

That’s why we’ve put everything you actually need to do in one place.

We’ll soon be launching a structured course covering applications, testing, interviews and assessment centres properly, from start to finish.

If you want to be notified when it goes live, register below.

1. 📄Research for your applications

   Access over 20 law firm profiles, complete with breakdowns, seats, secondments, and other requirements.

2. 💼 Virtual Work Experience

   Explore free virtual internships and DIY vacation schemes. Build real-world skills you can showcase on applications.

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4. ✍️ Application Writing & Tests

   Application tracker, CV & Cover Letter guidance, psychometric tests guidance, interview answering guidance and more.

5. 🏆 Personal Development

   Resources to boost your confidence, communication, and professional skills.

UK Lender Collapses

Market Financial Solutions (MFS), a London-based mortgage provider, recently collapsed into administration amid fraud allegations, leaving major lenders to MFS like Barclays facing potential losses of up to £2 billion.

Court filings allege that MFS double-pledged collateral to multiple lenders, which means taking multiple loans with the same asset as collateral - if the lenders have to then sell the collateral to recover their loan, some will end up with nothing as the collateral is not enough.

At the same time, MFS heavily financed a Bangladeshi politician who had built a UK property empire worth almost £300 million despite only declaring a wealth of just over £2 million. The National Crime Agency had frozen most of his properties last year.

The Implications

This collapse worryingly exposed that these major banks felt comfortable lending billions without properly checking whether MFS’ collateral existed or whether it had been pledged elsewhere. This represents a major due diligence failure as these lenders instead focus on attaining the highest yields.

JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, warned earlier that his rivals are doing the same ‘dumb things’ that resulted in the 2008 financial crisis, and the similar fraud cases of First Brands and Tricolour support this suggestion of a systematic problem emerging.

What does this mean for financial services?

• Private credit will face more regulatory scrutiny regarding due diligence standards and verification of collateral

• Asset-backed lending models without independent verification have become very vulnerable to fraud

• Multiple fraud cases of late suggests competition is overwhelming risk management, particularly with Wall Street lenders

How to Use This In Applications

1 March 2005 — In a major capital punishment case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute convicts who were under age 18 at the time of their crimes.

2 March 1986 — The Queen signed the Australia Act in Canberra. The Act resolved the anomalous power of the United Kingdom's parliament to legislate over the individual Australian states, a power that it had exercised since colonial times.

3 March 1284 — The Statute of Rhuddlan (also known as the Statutes of Wales) was enacted 'On This Day'. It introduced the English common law system to Wales, allowing the King to appoint royal officials such as sheriffs, coroners and bailiffs to collect taxes and administer justice.

3 March 1284 — The Statute of Rhuddlan (also known as the Statutes of Wales) was enacted 'On This Day'. It introduced the English common law system to Wales, allowing the King to appoint royal officials such as sheriffs, coroners and bailiffs to collect taxes and administer justice.

4 March 1681 — King Charles II granted a Royal Charter to William Penn, entitling him to establish a colony in North America called Pennsylvania.

5 March 1133 — The birth of King Henry II, who was to become the first Plantagenet king of England.

6 March 1957 — Ghana became independent, the first British colony to do so, under the Ghana Independence Act 1957.