About Hogan Lovells
Hogan Lovells is a general practice corporate law firm, formed in 2010 when the British firm Lovells merged with the US law firm Hogan & Hartson. With headquarters in London and Washington, D.C., Hogan Lovells is now one of the top twenty law firms in the world by revenue.
Hogan Lovells is attractive to trainee lawyers for a number of reasons including the wide variety of work undertaken across multiple practice areas, as well as the number of offices globally where there is the possibility of overseas secondments. Hogan Lovells offers opportunities for exciting cutting edge commercial work including teams advising in relation to cyber security, renewable energy and even space exploration.
Trainees and junior lawyers also benefit from Hogan Lovells and corporate social responsibility programme and pro Bono unit, where clients include the British Paralympic team. Hogan Lovells therefore attracts thousands of applicants for the various graduate roles and competition for places is fierce.
Hogan Lovells Application Process
There are three main parts to the Hogan Lovells application process, which is largely similar across all types of graduate applications. The only application type which doesn't conclude with the assessment day is those making an application to attend an initial insight day.
Hogan Lovells Online Application From
The first stage of the Hogan Lovells application process is to complete the online application form. It should be noted that Hogan Lovells invites applicants to the next stage on a continuous basis and does not wait for a closing date, so it is advisable to apply as soon as possible once applications open.
Tips for completing the application form include thoroughly researching not just Hogan Lovells but the law and a future legal career - and back this up with demonstrable evidence - as well as business and commercial knowledge and interest. Remember to draft all answers first, check spelling and grammar, write clearly without jargon and do not under sell your interests and achievements. Among thousands of applications, you will need to make yours stand out. Also remember that your CV will be the basis of your assessment day interviews, so make sure you can accurately expand on every word written.
Hogan Lovells Critical Thinking Test
Successful candidates are invited to complete an online Critical Thinking test. Critical Thinking tests are psychometric tests which ask you to consider information and then analyse and defend it, being able to give reasons for your decisions. In practice, this means considering a paragraph of text and selecting the best response from a series of statements - multiple choice, in other words.
The Hogan Lovells Critical Thinking test is a Watson-Glaser critical thinking test and you will have around five minutes for each question and set of answers. Watson-Glaser is one of the leading providers of these psychometric tests and used by a number of law firms, backed by psychologists. The tests assess your ability to:
- Make correct inferences
- Recognise assumptions
- Make deductions
- Come to conclusions
- Interpret and evaluate arguments
It has been proven that this sort of testing can more accurately predict successful candidates for the kind of work that lawyers carry out, which is why you'll find that doing well in critical thinking tests is crucial to progressing your application, and one that should be practiced and prepared for well in advance of taking the tests.
Hogan Lovells Assessment Day
The Hogan Lovells assessment day is either held in person at Atlantic House (their London office) or virtually online, depending on current circumstances. In any event, the activities last for a full day and will be largely the same - including watching a presentation, a tour of the office / networking session with current trainees as well as a series of tests, exercises and interviews. The in-person assessment will also include an 'informal' lunch although do not make the mistake of thinking what you say here won't be assessed too.
Hogan Lovells Critical Thinking Test
This is a paper test and while different to the one taken online prior to the assessment day, assesses the same skills. Again it will involve reading passages and selecting the most appropriate multiple choice responses.
Hogan Lovells Commercial Business Exercise
The primary objective of this test is to see how well you work in a team. You will be grouped with other candidates and together you will consider a client focused situation, working together as a team to consider and present an answer / solution. You will be assessed on approach and working through the issues, rather than specific technical legal knowledge. Bear in mind you should not be competing to get the right answer, but working well together as a team - a tricky balance in an assessed interview situation.
Hogan Lovells First interview
To delve into your reasons for wishing to qualify as a lawyer and to assess your business and legal knowledge, your first interview will be with two Hogans Lovell staff - this could be either a partner, senior associate or member of the HR team.
Hogan Lovells Second interview
The second interview is to assess the skills required to be a trainee solicitor and this will be again with two people - this time a senior associate and a member of the HR recruitment team.
To prepare for both of the interviews - which will each be up to an hour long - you should ensure that you know your CV inside out, as well as being up-to-date on commercial and legal knowledge, including that of Hogan Lovells key clients.
You should also ensure that you have prepared in advance questions to ask the interviewers, making sure that they are original ones that have not already been covered during the presentations.
