My two cents worth here as a partner looking at law graduates to be retained.

While there is no discrimination against SMU students, I noticed that a number of SMU students lack basic legal knowledge whether due to the way the modules are taught or otherwise.

In addition, they are more outspoken which is a good trait except when they argue over legal points without any legal basis.

Think what the poster above say is correct. I'm a recruitment partner in a law firm as well and this has been the general observation.

Rubbish. It isnt possible to fail part A even if you showed up dead drunk and high on glue. You need to actively try to fail it to even succeed.

And if this year is really reflective of the general standards of students that have been slipping through for the past countless cohorts, then by all means they should fail 75% of the students next year for the good of the profession

Any tips for how future law students can land a TC? Sad that in a jurisdiction so tightly regulated like singapore, law grads are now having to fight tooth and nail to get qualified like in the US, UK or Australia. And with the third law school opening real soon, I'm sure all the students there are all unreservedly going to practice community law (/sarcasm). Gahmen really dropped the ball on this one.

Be rich/well-connected. Otherwise, internships, getting into a good school and having good grades would help. Better still, don't choose law as your major.

I'm a 3 PQE in an international firm and have spoken to the partners / HR. One factor is that they need to justify their overall hires to the international headquarters once in a while. Not individual hires, but overall hire statistics in the Singapore branch. Of course, NUS students are at an advantage because NUS law is ranked #1 in Asia, and it is easy to justify hires from NUS law. It is far more difficult to justify SMU law hires to international lawyers who are unlikely to have heard of SMU.

I know a lot of my clients who are SME owners not highly educated one but make big bucks... like few hundred k to millions a year.

The thing is to think out of the box. With supply keep increasing and demand relatively constant the salary simply can't keep up.

the point is peoples are retiring older now and supply just keep piling up. simple finance.

my 2 cents..

So? Govt's fault for not giving SMU/NUS law grads a monopoly? Every other sector have to face competition and fight tooth and nail, law must be special and must be exempt from competition? Check your sense of entitlement leh.

Not only in law. I worked a short stint with a certain large(5000 employees) organisation recently. I found out that the HR basically had a blanket ban on SMU grad for new hires. They felt that SMU grads really just couldn't fit in as an efficient employee. They are very outspoken, which is a good trait depending on which industry you are in. But they tend to question protocol and directives and it hinders workflow rather than speeds things up. Especially when they are challenging it without having any experience and without any basis.

heard that sile actually sent out emails to local grads who were still looking for a tc, with a view to help them find one. sense of entitlement indeed.

the application and interview process for local firms is already pretty darn easy (submit grades, submit cv, write a nondescript email, answer max 5 generic questions at interview), especially if you compare it to the uk (multiple rounds of interviews, situational exercises, presentations). if you can't hustle, then maybe you're just not suited for the industry.