Please explain why you have decided to pursue a career as a solicitor
What are your main interests, activities and pastimes? Please describe any related position of responsibility you have held.
I enjoy fitness and regularly practise [sport], go jogging and play football. I share my skills and passion for the sport by providing lessons to friends and people who have an interest in [sport]. I enjoy travelling and was overwhelmed by the gothic settings of Cornwall, home to several of my favourite gothic books and the historic splendour and idyllic gardens of the Leeds Castle in Kent. I regularly take part in charitable runs and in the past, I helped to raise over four thousand pounds for the McMillan Cancer Support. I enjoy taking part in community initiatives and during one summer, I helped to refurbish my local church. My other interests include current affairs, reading, technology, social outings, motoring and photography.
As a dedicated member of the [environmental society], I helped to introduce and develop social responsibility initiatives at University. I had successfully organised and developed a scheme whereby all unused desktops at the library were turned off during the vacation breaks to help reduce the University’s carbon footprint. 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. 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.
Please explain why you have decided to pursue a career as a solicitor and why you have chosen Weil.
I have decided to become a solicitor whilst working at several law firms. I have especially enjoyed working in teams on an international platform because it enabled me to actively participate in complex and high-profile cases. At [law firm], I realised that I wanted to become a solicitor after attending a board of directors EGM in Amsterdam. I enjoyed thinking on my feet and working as part of a diverse team to solve problems in a quick-paced environment. At [law firm] , I collaborated with the London and [city] offices in the preparation of witness statements. I was very fascinated by the multi-jurisdictional elements of the case as it allowed me to take multiple angles to the problem by working alongside solicitors from different jurisdictions. This produced more interesting work, greater variety and a wider group of experts to learn from which made my work environment stimulating and rewarding.
The international opportunities presented by Weil makes it my first-choice law firm. I would receive the excitement of working on multi-jurisdictional cases and liaising with the firm’s international offices. The opportunity of a secondment to the firm’s overseas office would allow me to broaden my horizons and develop greater variety and depth of experience to my work and enable me to operate in some of the richest and most distinct economies of the world. Weil will provide me with work that is interesting and challenging. I will operate in small teams of partners and associates in a highly integrated way. This will ensure that I receive highly focussed personal training by gaining a hands-on experience on important matters. The fact that there are relatively few trainees at the firm will present me with an opportunity to work with a wide range of departments on various matters.