Making someone a training contract offer is the best part of my job. Knowing that we’re giving someone a potentially life-changing job is very satisfying. It’s also rewarding to help strengthen the firm through our diversity efforts. When we told candidates they’d won the Bridge to the City scholarship, they were so excited – it really made me love my job even more.

We run two vacation schemes: one in spring and one in summer. The scheme is designed to ensure that students gain a genuine insight into the daily life of a trainee at Ropes & Gray, as well as experience our distinctive culture.

We recruit trainees exclusively from our vacation schemes because we believe it’s important to have one consistent entry route that allows us to rigorously assess our future trainees. The candidates also get the opportunity to see whether Ropes & Gray is a place they’d like to work. We have a small intake of around 15 trainees each year. We work in small teams and our trainees are given a lot of responsibilities from day one, so it’s important we make the right decision when selecting future trainees.

The candidates get involved in real-life trainee tasks, attending practice group insight sessions, masterclasses and networking with people across the office. There are further assessments incorporated into the scheme to evaluate the candidates’ suitability for the trainee role.

We look for talented students from all backgrounds who are interested in pursuing a career in commercial law. Candidates must enjoy working as part of a team, as well as being entrepreneurial. We want people who are intellectual, curious and detail-oriented.

Future trainees must now qualify via the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) route only. We offer full sponsorship of the Postgraduate Diploma in Law and the SQE1 and SQE2, in addition to offering a maintenance grant of £20,000 per year of study.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is central to our office culture.

Achieving a diverse partnership requires a diverse pipeline, so a consistent slate of talented, diverse trainees and associates is always a real focus.

Taking social mobility as an example: with the trainee pipeline, law firms have historically tended to overlook candidates from less privileged backgrounds. Our programme, Bridge to the City, in partnership with our client Bloomberg and social mobility organisation Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, explicitly encourages diverse talent to consider applying to us. The 12 participating students complete a two-week mock vacation scheme, preparing them for future graduate programmes. At the end of the scheme, two students receive a scholarship, consisting of a £20,000 bursary, a vacation scheme place and long-term mentoring.

We also run targeted events for LGBTQ+ students and Black students to access talent from these cohorts. We get very good feedback about these events.

To mitigate bias in the process, we run ‘blind assessments’ during which none of our interviewers or assessors have details of an applicant’s background.

We also use a contextual recruitment tool, which further helps us understand the context in which applicants’ experiences have been gained and to identify outperformers.

Typos, grammatical errors and getting the firm name incorrect are the most common ways candidates let themselves down! You should proofread your form as it’s your first opportunity to make a good impression. If you can, ask someone else to read the application form too. Alternatively, print a copy to read – it’s easier to spot errors on paper than on screen.

Our application form doesn’t request information about work experience. Instead, you’re asked to answer questions and may discuss work experience in your responses if relevant. Additionally, during the assessment centre interview, the partners will want to get to know you as an individual. This is your opportunity to share any work experience you have gained, as well as other interests outside of your studies.

It’s very important. A good candidate should know about our key practice areas, clients and the work we’ve done for them.

As a corporate lawyer, commercial awareness is extremely important. Throughout the process, it’s important that you can show what you know about the business, economic and legal world, as well as how it relates to Ropes & Gray.

Yes. Our assessment day is intentionally rigorous. The assessments are designed to assess the skills and attributes we’re looking for. Students should prepare by researching the firm and answering potential interview questions. It’s also worth trying to gain experience of the skills we’re assessing you on, so you can practise beforehand. If your careers service is running mock interviews or negotiation exercises, I’d take advantage of those.

We attend on-campus fairs to access as many students as possible and encourage them to attend our virtual presentations, which provide opportunities to learn more about the firm’s culture and life as a trainee.

First-year students should use law fairs as an opportunity to discover which firms interest them the most or the type of law they want to practise. Second and third-year students should use law fairs to identify which firms they’d like to apply to and come prepared with questions to help inform their decisions. The fairs are a great opportunity to make a good impression on law firm representatives ahead of submitting your application. They’re also a good way to source information to include on your application form.

My top advice would be to ensure a career in commercial law is what you truly want. Ropes & Gray is a corporate law firm specialising in providing advice to private capital clients. Therefore, an understanding of and interest in this area is important before applying to the firm. I’d also recommend having an application strategy and understanding why you’re applying to each firm, so you can submit thoughtful, bespoke applications.

I love dramatic shows like Bloodhounds and Agent Kim Undercover! They’re great escapism.