Clifford Chance Doesn’t Believe In Second Chances

// Some firms want to maintain a reputation for supporting the budding lawyers they take on staff. Clifford Chance is not one of them. After falling short on test scores, the only support these students got from the firm was a boot. From Legal Cheek:

Magic Circle giant Clifford Chance has revoked the training contract offers of future trainees who recently failed the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). Legal Cheek understands that the firm contacted around four future trainees to inform them that their TC offers had been rescinded because they failed to pass SQE1 on the first attempt.

It is believed some students missed out by just a few marks. Members of the firm’s HR team apparently delivered the bad news via a phone call last week and…included advice on what students can do next as well as career consultancy support.

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There’s no word on if the advice included “delete the firm’s number from your phone,” but that wouldn’t be out of line with closing the door over a few points. Would it really have strained the firm’s pockets to defer the offer and let the students re-take the exam?

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Aspiring solicitors should take this as motivation to hit the books a little harder. Life doesn’t always afford redos — Netflix can wait.

Exclusive: Clifford Chance cancels TC offers for students who failed SQE [Legal Cheek]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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Biglaw, Clifford Chance