📩 Meet with a Legal Graduate Recruiter

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Join us on Friday, April 17th for an honest conversation with Mark Dubes, a former legal graduate recruiter who interviewed over 10,000 candidates throughout his career, including at Mayer Brown.

This session offers a behind-the-scenes look at how decisions are really made and what separates candidates who get offers from those who don’t.

We’ll cover what firms are really looking for, how recruiters assess candidates beyond academics, and what strong applicants do differently at each stage of the process.

You’ll also have the opportunity to ask your questions and get direct insight from someone who has sat on the other side of the process.

Saturday, April 4

• Application Writing Masterclass with Dylan Anton

Friday, April 17

• Open Conversation with a Legal Graduate Recruiter

Thursday, April 30

• Succeeding at In-Person Interviews from the Recruiter’s perspective.

Applications

1. Research for your applications

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

2. How to research a law firm

   A 9-step law firm research checklist that shows you what to look for, where to find it, and how to use it.

3. Magic Circle Analysed Deals

   This breaks down recent transactions and explains how to move beyond simply mentioning a deal, towards demonstrating real commercial understanding and relevance.

4. Written Application Framework

   How to structure your answers, apply the rule of three and build a compelling narrative for your applications.

5. 15 Applications Sample Bundle

   15 real application answers samples from major firms along with an explanation of what worked and why

6. Securing a Vacation Scheme

   What to do if your efforts still aren’t converting, despite trying everything.

7. Application tracker, CV & Cover Letter Guidance

   Track your applications, access CV and Cover Letter templates, and more.

Psychometric Tests

1. Watson Glaser Cheat Sheet

   A clear breakdown of the key skills tested in critical thinking tests, along with where to practice, mistakes and red flags to watch out for.

Interviews

1. Commercial Awareness Starter Pack

   Guidance on how to develop your commercial awareness and a worked example showing what a strong answers looks like.

2. The Interview Question Bank

   Over 80+ interview questions asked by leading law firms.

3. Video Interview Guide

   Covering common formats, how firms assess answers, and how to communicate clearly and confidently on camera.

Work Experience

1. How to gain Legal Work Experience

   This covers six avenues you could explore to gain relevant legal work experience.

2. Virtual Work Experience

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

3. Opportunities in Law

   80+ opportunities across law firms, chambers, early-careers programmes and paralegal roles.

Studying

1. First Class LLB Notes

   Includes proven tips for managing time, revision, and exams.

2. First Class Problem Question Model Answer

   How to structure a problem question answer and showcase your legal reasoning.

3. Essay Structures

   Covers how to open with impact, write clearly and finish with a focused conclusion.

4. Oscola Referencing Cheat Sheet

   A simplified guide to OSCOLA referencing, covering how to cite cases, legislation, books, journal articles, and more.

Danone’s €1bn Meal Bet

Danone is a French food and beverage company, widely known for its dairy products like Actimel. This company has agreed to acquire Huel, a UK-based producer of meal replacements for health conscious consumers, for €1 billion. The bid is quite high given Huel’s £250 million reported revenue for 2025.

Huel’s main consumer base constitutes young professionals that are seeking convenient and nutritionally complete meals. The increase in people using weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and young individuals who are becoming more health-conscious is driving demand for the business.

The Implications

This acquisition neatly reflects the overarching trends that are reshaping the food industry: younger consumers have less time, weight-loss medications are becoming more popular, and there is increasing demand for foods that offer health benefits beyond basic sustenance.

Huel’s own quick growth trajectory in becoming a €1 billion acquisition target is demonstrative of how successful targeting niche consumer segments that are willing to pay a premium can be. Recently, drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are particularly benefitting Huel’s business model, as these drugs dramatically suppress people’s appetite in ways which makes it difficult for them to consume adequate nutrition without careful meal planning. Huel covers this planning with its pre-made meals.

What does this development mean for the food sector? 

• Startups and venture investors focused on consumer health brands face strong exit pathways as larger companies like Danone seek to acquire growth opportunities rather than develop them organically.

• Ultra-processed foods of the sort Huel produces, while being marketed as healthy alternatives, face scrutiny from critics and regulators that threaten serious reputational risk.

• Weight-loss medication is creating substantial opportunity for food companies that offer compatible nutritional products.

How to Use This In Applications

29 March 2014 — Same sex weddings in England and Wales became legal, following the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013

30 March 1775 — British parliament passed an act forbidding its North American colonies from trading with anyone other than Britain.

31 March 1924 — The First British National Airline, Imperial Airways, was founded at Croydon Airport.

1 February 1587 — Under pressure from her council, Queen Elizabeth signed the warrant to authorise the execution of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots.

2 February 1665 — British forces capture New Amsterdam, the centre of the Dutch colony in North America. The trading settlement on the island of Manhattan is to be renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York, its new governor.

3 February 1730 — The London Daily Advertiser newspaper publishes the first stock exchange quotations.

4th February 1794 — The Law of 4 February 1794 was a decree of the French National Convention which abolished slavery in all French colonies.

Want a clearer route to securing a training contract?

The Future Trainee Academy brings the full recruitment process into one place, with guidance from a recruiter who assessed 10,000+ candidates and examples from future trainees at top firms.

It covers applications, interviews, assessment centres, and more. You’ll also get a certificate you can add to your CV and LinkedIn.