Example Training Contract Covering Letter to a City Law Firm

Please address your covering letter to [name], Graduate Recruitment & Development Manager. You should use this space to tell us about yourself. You might want to cover in particular why you would like to train at Ashurst, your skills, achievements and activities, whether at university or otherwise. The word limit for this section is 1000 words. (1000 words max)*

I would like to undertake a training contract at Ashurst because I am attracted by its strong global presence which will enable me to operate in multi-disciplinary teams on an international platform. This will see me work on most challenging and exciting commercial problems facing clients internationally where I will be able to contribute my perspectives and operate in teams to develop ideas to provide cutting-edge legal solutions. I feel that the dynamic and entrepreneurial ethos of the firm fits my personality very well as I will be able to realise my full potential by making important decisions on a daily basis and thinking creatively about the clients’ problems to devise effective and innovative solutions. At Ashurst, I will be exposed to high quality work and variety through its exciting roster of clients which will enable me to understand how different institutions operate and make my work environment very exciting. I am attracted to Ashurst’s leading energy, transport and infrastructure practice. Having worked on several high-profile energy matters, I developed a strong interest in this sector because it is of paramount importance in today’s world and is influenced by many factors including commercial, political, environmental just to name a few, which will effectively present me with constant challenges and expose me to different areas of law. Given the growing importance of global alliances between energy companies in order to lead increasingly difficult offshore oil exploration works, Ashurst will present me with an optimal environment to pursue my interest in this area through its expertise in this area and its strong international reach. I am very attracted by the prospect of undertaking a secondment at one of the firm’s overseas offices because this will enable me to view legal matters from another jurisdiction, utilise my language skills and meet new people with different perspectives and approaches.

I possess commercial acumen and problem solving skills which will provide me with knowledge of the clients’ businesses and the industry they operate in which allow me to work on their most complex problems and produce pragmatic solutions. At [law firm], I assisted on a shareholder dispute in a joint venture vehicle. I attended a Board of Directors EGM of a joint venture in Amsterdam in my capacity as an interpreter between clients and overseas solicitors. I successfully managed the meeting and demonstrated initiative. I applied a sharp analytical mind to explain complex issues in a simple language and made sense of a very complicated situation. I was required to think on my feet and always align myself with client’s commercial objectives.

I have very resilient and possess good attention to detail and organisational skills, which will enable me to prioritise between different tasks to meet competing deadlines and complete all my work to the highest standard. At [law firm], I assisted on the drafting of an IPO prospectus at the printers whilst the negotiations were ensuing. I was required to update random pages of the prospectus and hand them in for processing. I successfully prioritised my workload and demonstrated leadership skills by splitting my workload with my colleague whereby they logged all the pages of the prospectus and their status and I physically made all the relevant amendments. This allowed us to meet a tight deadline and manage well under pressure.

I am a good team player and have an ability to express my ideas in a simple and understandable manner. During my time at [law firm], I worked closely with the firm’s [city] office when preparing the witness statements. I constantly expressed my ideas with confidence and applied my analytical skills to bring different aspects together to form the bigger picture.

I am very enthusiastic, entrepreneurial and focused which will allow me to bring new perspectives to the table and use my initiative to add value to my work.

I possess good client-facing skills through which I will be able to deliver a good client service and work with the client to understand their business, objectives and legal requirements. At [law firm], I was a central port of contact for a [language]-speaking client and constantly accompanied the partner to client meetings and liaised with the client in person, by phone and email. I demonstrated a high level of professionalism and an ability to explain to the client complex issues in a simple language.

Recently, I founded a pioneering business in the entertainment industry which is helping businesses such as restaurants and cafes to restructure their operations to increase their profitability. I am currently overseeing the operations of the business and helping to grow it. I am also managing branches of the business in [area] and [area]. I consider this to be a great achievement because I managed to successfully implement my commercial knowledge acquired during my employment and studies to start-up and run a business. I am very proud of this achievement because when I started the company, I was thrown at the deep end and had to think laterally to make important business decisions in a quick-paced and highly competitive environment.

I am a representative of a company specialising in innovative payment systems in the UK and working with businesses in emerging markets to integrate this financial model into their operations. Outside the office hours, I run [sport] sessions at the [law firm] gym in order to give back to the community and form my network of contacts. I provide help to people from my local community to [...]

At university, I pioneered the University of [university] Amateur [sport] Club for the first time in fifty years and was the president of the society. As a member of the [environmental society], I helped to develop an innovative initiative to reduce the university’s carbon footprint by switching off all unused desktops during vacation breaks.