[Deleted User] wrote: » Does anyone have any advice for internship interviews with mid-size mainly commercial firms? (Saying this as I don’t think there’s a group element a la bigger firms) - will it likely be all about selling myself and my experience or is it likely that I will need some legal commercial/knowledge too?
Law1234 wrote: » Has anyone heard from Dechert regarding the Summer Internship?
Diamond_Hands wrote: » What masters programme did you do, out of curiosity?
LawBoy2018 wrote: » I started off by taking an unpaid internship in a small solicitor's office back in 2017. I called every single solicitor's office within a 30 mile radius from my house and heard back from maybe 2/40. I applied for the milkrounds/summer internships every year, but never got even a whiff of an interview. Persistence is key. You need to keep going until eventually you strike gold. My grades/LC points were well below average but I did a master's and specialised and now I have a traineeship in a top 5 firm.
Lallers96 wrote: » Anybody else find the recent Law Society "seminar" on how to find a TC absolutely useless? I mean, I've sat here the night before the FE1s start up again watching the 4 videos of people advising you on how they got their TC and how you can do the same and I've had to laugh at the whole thing. Fair play to them all they've built stellar CVs and have got great positions and earned them, and they also did a great job recording a video in their homes which can't have been easy. So please don't take this the wrong way when I say I had to laugh, because I wasn't laughing at them - rather how the Law Society thought it was in any ways helpful to have 4 cookie cutter candidates who all had: - Prior legal experience (1 internship was apparently not enough) with a top 10 Irish firm. - International legal experience. - Stellar grades with a masters at minimum, one woman had a doctorate. - A vast amount of extra curricular activities that would make Ghandi blush. I mean come on. Is that really the bar to getting ANY TC. Fair enough I completely and utterly understand that the Dublin firms and other "top 10 firms" would want the absolute best candidates but there are more than just those firms and they are not for everyone? The legal sector has to be the only job sector where you are left utterly alone in this post graduate job hunting experience. I never had the chance to get any placement as part of my degree as all my friends did in other sectors, and the only help your university will give you is advise you to do a masters with them. I would have thought this comprehensive seminar on how to get a TC would have at least attempted to cater to the rest of us who do not want to work in these larger firms, or will not due to below average grades, or lack of legal experience etc. It turned out to just be 4 absolutely perfect candidates telling me things I already know. No offence intended towards them but not much of it was useful as these people really did have the perfect CVs for top firms and would have sleepwalked into any medium to small firm should they have wished. The whole thing just seemed a bit degrading and condescending when it was the top 1% advising the rest how to succeed...rant over and I apologise if I've come across annoying.
Diamond_Hands wrote: » The reason why the partners were so interested is because most of us can't put 2 sentences of Irish together if our lives depended on it.
livelaughlaw wrote: » This isn’t necessarily true, I speak 5 languages and AC & Matheson only drew attention to the fact I mentioned Irish
Diamond_Hands wrote: » Think being fluent in French or another European language will be more helpful than Irish if you're practicing at a Dublin commercial firm.
NewFe1 wrote: » You'd be surprised. I was told by a partner to emphasize the fact that I'm fluent in Irish. It can be really helpful when the client wants to communicate through Irish, however rare that may be.
Lallers96 wrote: » God I don't know what bubble ye live in where 500+ points isn't immensely impressive
Lallers96 wrote: » Ah god I hate Irish, it has no value as a solicitor or barrister.
NewFe1 wrote: » I'm fluent. Would love if everyone did have a degree of ability to speak the language but also appreciate the proposed requirement is completely unfair.
Diamond_Hands wrote: » How many of you guys could pass a test in Irish lol
Diamond_Hands wrote: » There shouldn't be any notice at all because it should never be re-introduced anyways. There's a reason why it was scrapped back in 2008. There's no point subjecting trainees to language requirements when the vast majority of them - especially those practicing in Dublin - will never interact with a client that can only speak Irish but not English.
FE1Hopefully1 wrote: » I mean technically they’re giving 4 years notice haha how much more notice should they give Also might not even happen so I wouldn’t put too much thought into it
AA247 wrote: » I wouldn’t have a notion of it! I did pass Irish for LC and I would probably fail it if I sat it again now. That proposed law is ridiculous, but even if it were to be brought it, absurd to apply it to those qualifying from 2025 which would be most of us here. You would need far more advanced notice of this requirement.
Diamond_Hands wrote: » "Solicitors and barristers would require Irish to qualify under proposed law Irish language ability would be required for qualification as a solicitor or barrister or appointment to the Supreme Court under legislative amendments proposed by an Oireachtas committee chairperson. Under his amendments, the requirement for Irish would be reintroduced for solicitors and barristers qualifying after 2025 and would not apply for those coming to the State with legal qualifications from abroad."https://www.irishlegal.com/article/solicitors-and-barristers-would-require-irish-to-qualify-under-proposed-law
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