Linklaters Training Contract Application Example Answers

Please describe your involvement and positions of responsibility in extra curricular activities including any societies, sporting, charitable or personal achievements. Also, mention any academic awards you may have received e.g. scholarships or prizes. Please be specific and provide examples from a broad range of life experiences.

At present, I am running a business in the events industry. I am responsible for managing staff at all levels and overseeing all aspects of the business. I developed a pioneering concept and I am currently collaborating with a diverse range of businesses in implementing this concept into their operations. I enjoy practising and giving [Sport] lessons to people who wish to learn how to box. In the past, I won a gold medal for England and had over fifty amateur [Sport] bouts. At present, I am preparing to take part in a charity [Sport] bout. I like to take part in community initiatives and on one occasion, I helped to refurbish a local church. At university, I pioneered the [University] Amateur [Sport] Club for the first time in fifty years by developing and implementing a successful strategy to persuade the Sports Committee to grant permission for a new [Sport] club. As the President of the [university] Amateur [Sport] Society, I organised training sessions, coordinated and managed executives, promoted the club to students and helped to attract outside investment to help the society grow. Similarly, I helped to develop an innovative initiative to reduce the university’s carbon footprint by switching off all unused desktops during vacation breaks. In my third year at university, I held the position of a law representative for the student-staff liaison committee and delivered constant improvements to the law school.

Please tell us:
- why a career in commercial law appeals to you

A career in commercial law appeals to me because I will receive broad exposure not only to law but also to a variety of international business structures. I will be required to work with commercial organisations of all shapes and sizes to identify and analyse their problems. I will then apply and manipulate law to solve those commercial problems. This in turn, will present me with unique and invariably complex problems spanning many borders and jurisdictions which will require me to work in international teams. This will present me with different approaches and views which will allow me to apply innovative thinking to devise cutting-edge solutions to commercial clients.

- what factors and influences have affected your decision to become a lawyer

I decided to become a lawyer when I participated in a board of directors EGM in Amsterdam as part of a shareholder dispute during my time at [Law Firm Name]. At the EGM, contrary to what we expected, we were presented with novel problems that had to be resolved in a matter of hours. This had immediately thrown me at the deep end as I had to think on my feet and draw from my knowledge of the case to solve the problem with the clients in real-time. I enjoyed analysing the client’s business and working with international lawyers to devise cutting-edge solutions.

why you are interested in a career as a Linklaters lawyer

I am interested in a career as a Linklaters lawyer because I will receive exposure to high-profile work and commercial organisations of all shapes and sizes which will present me with unique and challenging problems. Linklaters has a very strong global reach which will enable me to work with lawyers from international offices to solve complex problems which will expose me to different perspectives and approaches that will make my experience personally and professionally rewarding.

- the skills and attributes you would bring to the firm
Please do not exceed 400 words

I would bring strong teamwork and communication skills which will enable me to work in diverse teams and present my arguments in a simple and convincing manner to deliver pragmatic solutions to problems. I have strong commercial awareness which will enable me to understand clients’ commercial requirements and deliver solutions that will help the clients to maintain their competitive advantage in their sectors. I possess strong organisational skills and good attention to detail which will enable me to manage my workload effectively by prioritising tasks to meet tight deadlines and produce a high quality work product.

Please write about a current issue or news article that has interested you, and how you feel that subject would affect Linklaters.
Please do not exceed 250 words

I am very interested in the shale gas revolution in the United States (U.S.). As a result of new applications of drilling technology to unlock natural gas trapped in shale rock, the nation’s output has surged and energy experts almost unanimously forecast that prices will remain low or moderate for a generation. The International Energy Agency says that by [year], the United States will overtake [country] as the world’s biggest gas producer and become the world’s largest oil producer by 2020, outstripping Saudi Arabia and [country]. For the foreseeable future, thanks to the recovery of vast U.S. underground gas deposits of shale, natural gas is likely to remain 50 to 70 percent cheaper in the U.S. than in Europe and Japan. The North American hydrocarbon bonanza offers big benefits. The economic pluses are obvious: cheap gas yields cheap electricity, which boosts American industry, especially power-hungry sectors such as aluminium, steel and glass. Linklaters will have to carefully re-assess the entire energy industry, anticipating the opportunities and threats, because this boom in shale gas will invariably alter the energy landscape and have broad implications for Linklaters’s clients operating in the energy sector. This will in turn put Linklaters in a good position to advise and help clients operating in the energy sector to become more streamlined and efficient which will help them to maintain their competitiveness.