Matt Oliver
Matt is a former FTSE 100 lawyer and accredited career coach who founded Trainee Solicitor Surgery in 2009. He’s helped over 300 aspiring solicitors secure training contracts at top UK and US firms, drawing on 10 years of legal practice and 16 years of coaching expertise.
Matt shares free, trusted advice in his articles and offers expert one-on-one coaching for those who want tailored support from someone who has been on both sides of the process.
Posts
Most definitions of what corporate law is are too generic. They’re usually something like “the law that governs companies”. They then go on to list some related practice areas and focus mostly on M&A. Whilst this is all true, you need a deeper understanding of what corporate law is if you want a training contract…
Most descriptions of commercial law give you a high-level definition. They tell you it’s the law that governs business, then list a few of the practice areas it includes. That’s broadly accurate. But in my experience coaching aspiring solicitors, it’s far too general an understanding to succeed in the training contract recruitment process. The truth…
Recently, I spoke with a third-seat trainee who’d realised she didn’t fit at the firm where she was training. The work was out of line with who she was and what she valued. Looking back, she’d never properly thought about the type of lawyer she wanted to be before deciding where to apply. She’d chosen…
Most TC candidates can’t explain what makes a good lawyer beyond the obvious answers. And that’s a problem, because firms want to see you understand the qualities that set good lawyers apart. During my 10 years as a commercial lawyer, I worked with many brilliant lawyers. And I’ve spent many years since coaching TC candidates…
“Why this firm?” is one of the most common application and interview questions. And every cycle, I see candidates make the same mistakes when answering it. It’s also one of the most important. The firm needs to know you’re clear about your motivations. If your answer isn’t convincing, it gives the recruiter an easy reason…
In my coaching and mentoring work, I regularly speak to aspiring solicitors who are unsure whether to undertake virtual law work experience or the value it offers. There are real benefits to virtual experience, but there are also misconceptions. And way too many candidates fail to utilise them in the right way. In this article,…
Many candidates seek to pursue a career as a commercial lawyer without knowing much about what commercial lawyers do (I know I didn’t for some time!). Having spoken to 100s of candidates about this, it seems that it’s difficult for them to understand because it’s a hard thing to explain. There are numerous articles on…
Many candidates claim to want to become a corporate lawyer without understanding what the role entails beyond a superficial level. Not only is this risky when making important career decisions, but firms will also pick up on it, and it will lead to rejections. In this post, I will outline the business matters that corporate…
Many training contract candidates I speak to struggle to distinguish what finance lawyers do. Often, this is tied to a lack of understanding about the broad range of work finance lawyers do. In this post, I’m going to give you a simple overview of what is commonly meant by “finance lawyers”, the different types of…