Stressful Situation Training Contract Application Question

Why does Edwards Wildman appeal to you? 300

Edwards Wildman appeals to me because I am attracted by the small intake of trainees which I feel will offer me bespoke training that is individually tailored to my interests, experience and aptitude. Small teams also suggest that I will have increased responsibility and operate as a lawyer from day one in an informal and collegial working environment. More importantly, I will receive the excitement and challenge of working on high value, complex transactions and disputes, in the size of office where everyone knows who you are. For me this will mean getting involved in real work from the start whereby I will be able to add something to the cases I work on. This environment will unquestionably foster my professional and personal growth in my capacity as a lawyer.

I am attracted to Edwards Wildman because it has a leading international practice which will mean that I will work as part of a global team to make things happen, set new standards and push boundaries. This will produce innovative and groundbreaking cross-border solutions. At the same time, such teamwork on a global platform will help me to build relationships and forge new contacts that could help me to develop into a successful international solicitor by providing me with a wide range of support whenever I need it. I will receive the immense personal and professional rewards such as real influence, fascinating challenges and an incredible sense of achievement.

Please tell us about your interests, activities and positions of responsibility.

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. I enjoy mooting and at university, I participated in the Clifford Chance Mooting Competition where I successfully attained a third place.

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. In my second year at University, I was the sports executive for the [language] Speaking Society and organised many exciting social and sporting initiatives such a football games, badminton competitions and jogging.

Tell us about you (both good and bad).

I possess outstanding interpersonal skills and commercial acumen. At [Law Firm Name], 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 applied a sharp analytical mind to explain complex issues in a simple language and made sense of a very complicated situation.

I am versatile and have an innovative approach to find new angles of addressing problems. Last year, I have pioneered the [University] Amateur [Sport] Club for the first time in fifty years after finding a new way of surmounting all obstacles.

I possess good client-facing skills and at [Law Firm Name], I was the first port of contact for a [language] client. I constantly corresponded with the client, participated in all meetings and conference calls and accompanied the client to a Board of Directors EGM. At [law firm], I interacted with the client and their associates to answer all their questions and provide excellent customer care during the trial.

I am very resilient, enjoy new challenges and have a steep learning curve. For over ten years, I represented my local borough in amateur [Sport] bouts and won a gold medal for England in the [tournament name].

When undertaking a task, I like to complete it to a very high standard which means that sometimes I will work outside business hours to perfect it. I like to ask questions that go outside the scope of a task I am working on because I like to learn new things. I always retain my optimism and a sense of humour even during the most stressful and difficult of times.

Tell us about a situation where you have had to use your initiative and the result.

At [law firm], I worked in a group of solicitors when preparing an Initial Offering Memorandum for a luxury goods company. I was required to proofread and amend the Memorandum once new comments have been inserted. Having received handwritten mark-ups from several associates, I have noticed overlaps and inconsistency in commentary between the parties. In order to reduce the number of inconsistencies, I devised a global list of standard terms to ensure uniformity and coherence throughout the document. The list of agreed terms helped to improve the overall consistency of the Memorandum and allowed the parties to focus their attention on more substantive segments of the document. Whilst at the printers, there were hardly any inconsistencies in the Memorandum which helped us to minimise our costs and complete the deal ahead of our deadline.

Using a different set of circumstances, tell us about a situation, other than exams, which you found stressful/difficult to handle and explain how you dealt with it.

In my second year at university I was invited by a friend to [sport] lessons. Having had no previous experience of riding horses let alone playing [sport], I found the lessons very daunting and sometimes even painful. For example, I found it very difficult to keep my balance on the horse and at the same time manoeuvre the mallet to hit the ball. I had fallen from the horse several times but this did not discourage me from playing [sport]. After each lesson, I identified my weak areas and took additional lessons in order to improve on them and progress. During chukkas, I demonstrated all newly acquired skills under pressure to achieve positive results for myself and the team. At all times, I remained positive, resilient and motivated to succeed. After about six weeks, I was selected to represent my university at the National [sport] Championships.