How do you answer: "Why do you want to work for this law firm?"

Nov 22, 2021

Written By Natasha Jones

This question always comes up in some shape or form during the training contract application process, or even when applying for legal jobs as a law graduate. To help you answer the inevitable “Why us?”, we explore what factors you could highlight about a firm and why they might appeal to you.

Practice areas

Firstly, ask yourself what a firm’s key practice areas are. For example, if you’re an aspiring competition law solicitor, it will likely be a selling point for you if the firm has a strong competition and anti-trust practice.

A good way to research a firm’s core practice areas is to use websites such as Chambers or the Legal 500. These websites give firms nationwide rankings across their practice areas.

Sectors

Some firms pride themselves on being sector focused. This means that they define themselves by the industries that most of their clients operate in, and their lawyers have a deep understanding of those industries.

For example, a firm with expertise in the education sector may have several university clients that seek their services across practice areas, including advice on commercial contracts or employment law issues.

Perhaps a firm’s sector approach stands out to you because you worked in-house and enjoyed being immersed in a particular sector? Or maybe you’re simply keen to know the ins and outs of the commercial context in which your clients operate? Bringing this up during your application will show off your knowledge of the firm as well as eagerness to get involved with its work.

Clients & deals

Another way to highlight your interest in a firm is to identify some of their key clients and what kind of work the firm does for them. Some publish examples of work they’ve done for key clients on their website and on platforms such as LinkedIn, for example. Or when researching a firm’s clients, you may also stumble across news of a recent deal secured by the firm.

You’ll want to integrate knowledge of any recent deals and interesting clients into your answer, explaining why they stood out to you and what’s interesting about them.

A top tip is to set up a Google Alert for the name of the firm you’re applying to, as these often pull up interesting news about current client matters and keep you ahead of the curve.

Size of the firm

Another consideration is the size of the firm. How many trainees does the firm take on, for example? Some national firms have a small to midsize trainee intake of below 25, whereas some large international firms have a large trainee intake of over 100.

A smaller intake could mean that trainees are given more responsibility from the get-go. Think about whether this would be appealing to you. Could it be an important factor for you when deciding where to apply?

On the other hand, you might feel that a large intake would lead to having a stronger support system around you during your training contract.

Company culture

Although it may seem like all law firms use the same buzzwords to describe their culture and their people, a firm’s culture really should play a big part in whether you can see yourself working there.

Take the buzzwords with a pinch of salt. The best way to determine what a firm is really like is to ask its employees. What do they say about it?

LinkedIn is a great platform to reach out to current trainee solicitors, associates and even partners. Ask them why they chose to work at that law firm, and if they have worked there for a while, ask them what’s keeping them there. You can even mention their names in your training contract application.

Having a thorough understanding of a firm’s culture will demonstrate to graduate recruitment that you have gone above and beyond in your research, and that you’re taking the training contract seriously.

Personal motivations

Finally, and probably most importantly, think about your personal motivations for applying to the firm..

Is there a cause close to your heart that this law firm champions? Has the firm adopted a strong diversity and inclusion initiative, for example? Does the firm have a focus on social mobility? Does it run any pro bono initiatives that you would like to get involved with?

Thinking about these factors will help to personalise your answer and allow graduate recruitment to see why you would be a good fit for the firm.

Think about why these features matter to you

The important thing to remember when answering “Why this law firm?” is to really emphasise why a particular feature of the firm stood out to you, and to link it back to your own interests and experiences.

Although it’s great to identify that you read up on a recent deal made by the firm, this is just a starting point: you need to explain why that deal interested you personally.

Selection & Assessment