Basically the title. GPA or anything for that matter didn't suffice for hsf, Allen and Ovary, linklaters threshold. But my senior told that after 2 years of work experience you can easily get to join foreign law firms. True?
lateral hires miss the most imp part which is the training in the training contract, starting in a jursidiction from scratch is something else , the average age of a trainee at these firms in 29. indian folks with 2pqe think they're too smart to do a TC. these firms spend upwards of 250k gbp on training you so if can, apply for the tc mate
Bhai honestly, bas lala logo se chutkara lelo chaahe tc se ya lateral. Yahan ke senior associates vahan jaake associates banne ko bhi ready hai, a simple linkedin search would tell you this. Aese bhi log hai jo bahar ke firms se india vapis aaye hain, so idk kya scene hai
TC can't choose their team. That's the major drawback. Plus it is m&a focused so harder to crack for a kid who's into b&f or IP. Laterals directly go into the team of their choice (cap marks, m&a, funds)
dont be fixated on the magic circle thing, these terms were coined in circa 2005 when these firms were making way more money than hsf, ashurst etc. nowadays, most firms pay the same at NQ level, people can even do their TC at firms like BCLP and move to kirkland after 2 years. there is very little info on this topic on LI despite so many threads.
easier if you work in DCM/Banking or Equity Capital Markets. London ka no clue but Singapore firms really seem to consider Indian folks at tier 1 firms.
It’s not easy. I’ve only seen people with banking, funds, DCM, ECM and (rarely) competition law experience to have ever moved laterally. Your CV needs to have at least 2 of 3 things: (a) top tier Indian law firm experience (firms that partners in London have heard of) where you’ve serviced blue chip/MNC clients - bonus points if you work for a magic circle trained partner (gives them more confidence in their hiring decision) ; (b) us/uk LLM ; (c) NLS/Nalsar/NUJS or NLUJ/NLIU pedigree (it’s NOT that these three are the only good unis, far from it, but for firms and recruiters this works as a good filter plus the fact that historically they’ve recruited from these unis so they have institutional memory of having seen and worked with people from here). Goes without saying but of course you need to ace your interviews and know your stuff - commercial awareness, ability to hold a conversation, technicality sound etc etc.
The BIGGEST factor in all of this sadly is luck. Biglaw is a huge career path in the UK - right up there with IB/consulting - and it’s not even limited to law grads. Anyone in their final year in college can (and does) apply for a TC. So the only time that these firms start looking to hire international lateral candidates is when there are huge market dislocations (think Covid) or that particular firm has lost a lot of people to competitors. Basically, it’s very rare.
it is not as simple as t1 for 2 years = linklaters accepts you
The BIGGEST factor in all of this sadly is luck. Biglaw is a huge career path in the UK - right up there with IB/consulting - and it’s not even limited to law grads. Anyone in their final year in college can (and does) apply for a TC. So the only time that these firms start looking to hire international lateral candidates is when there are huge market dislocations (think Covid) or that particular firm has lost a lot of people to competitors. Basically, it’s very rare.