Lawsy Originals
Conversations with lawyers about the real stories behind their careers.
Lawsy Originals
Future Trainee Series: Hasti Mozhdehi
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Hasti Mozhdehi, Future Trainee Solicitor at Latham & Watkins — From Retail Management to Securing a Training Contract
In this episode, Hasti Mozhdehi shares her journey to securing a training contract at Latham & Watkins, explaining how leadership experience outside law, a focused application strategy and genuine relationship building helped her stand out.
Hasti reflects on discovering commercial law during her gap year while working her way up from sales associate to store manager in retail. Managing a retail business exposed her to financial performance, commercial decision-making, employment issues and risk management, giving her an early understanding of how law and business work together.
The conversation explores Hasti's unique journey with Latham, beginning with the firm's first-year scheme before becoming a campus brand ambassador, completing a vacation scheme and ultimately securing a training contract. She explains why remaining committed to one firm allowed her to develop meaningful relationships and gain a deeper understanding of its culture.
Hasti also discusses what initially attracted her to Latham, from its combination of US firm expertise and full-service practice areas to its commitment to continuous professional development. She explains why the firm's investment in training at every stage of a lawyer's career made a lasting impression.
A major focus of the episode is application strategy. Rather than applying to dozens of firms, Hasti explains why she prioritised quality over quantity, concentrating on firms where she had a genuine motivation to apply and investing significant time researching what truly differentiated each one.
The conversation also explores how candidates can make non-legal experience stand out. Hasti explains how her management background developed leadership, communication, emotional intelligence and commercial awareness—skills that proved invaluable throughout the recruitment process.
Hasti shares practical advice for students preparing for vacation schemes, including taking ownership of opportunities, managing workloads effectively and balancing networking, workshops and assessed tasks while maintaining enthusiasm throughout the programme.
The discussion also highlights the importance of commercial awareness, proactive learning and using resources such as Forage virtual work experiences to develop practical legal knowledge before applying to firms.
Throughout the episode, Hasti returns to one central theme: building genuine relationships. From trainees and partners to reception and support staff, she explains why taking the time to connect with everyone in a firm creates a far more rewarding experience and leaves a lasting impression.
Finally, Hasti shares advice for aspiring commercial lawyers on researching firms properly, reflecting on your own experiences and remembering that technical ability alone is never enough—successful candidates are also approachable, collaborative and genuinely interested in the people around them.
00:00 Introduction
00:20 Meet Hasti Mozhdehi
01:00 Why Commercial Law?
02:00 Retail Management & Commercial Awareness
03:00 Hasti's Journey with Latham
04:00 Why Latham & Watkins?
05:00 Training, Culture & People
06:00 Quality vs Quantity in Applications
07:00 Standing Out Through Leadership Experience
08:00 Using Forage & Building Commercial Awareness
09:00 Researching Law Firms Properly
10:00 Converting a Vacation Scheme
11:00 Managing Workload & Taking Initiative
12:00 Building Relationships Across the Firm
13:00 Being Personable During a Vacation Scheme
14:00 Final Advice for Aspiring Lawyers
Hi, and welcome back to Lawsy Originals. I am here with Hasty. Would you like to introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Hi everyone, my name's Hasty. I'm a future trainee at Latham and Watkins. I'm currently finishing my third year of undergraduate law at Queen Mary. I'll be starting my SQE in September 2026 and the training contract at Latham in 2027. So very excited to be here.
SPEAKER_00Super exciting. Now I have to break the ice with the most boring interview level question. But I'm really wondering what made you want to become a commercial lawyer.
SPEAKER_01Okay, it's a really good question. Well, um I knew I wanted to do law at um college. That's where it all started. Um, but when I knew I wanted to do commercial law was really during my gap year between college and university, um, I did a gap year where I was a store manager for Sunglass Hut at S Law Loxotica. It was the company that I had started working for when I was 17. Um, so it was my very first job. I was sales associate, then progressive supervisor, and then store manager. And what that really taught me was um both the kind of business aspects of um commercial law, but also the legal aspects. So being a store manager, you're analysing retail market trends, you are looking into financial performance, you're really understanding how a business operates, um, albeit retail, but nevertheless, it's very transferable. But then you're also exposed to the legal side of things with employee contracts, liaising with different departments from HR to audit, handling high-risk audit reports. So that was a really interesting experience because I got to see the importance of kind of mitigating legal and financial risks in order for a business to stay profitable. And so going into university, I learned more about commercial law, and then I realized it's the perfect balance between the legal elements that I was always really interested in, and also the business elements, which I later became interested in during my experience.
SPEAKER_00So you realize that you wanted to be a commercial lawyer. Now you're a future trainee at Latham. Yeah. Could you talk us through your journey with Latham? Because from my understanding, it's quite a unique one.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah. Um, so my journey with Latham has been very linear. I started with the firm in my first year. I did the three-day first-year scheme. Um, and then in my kind of second year, I was a brand ambassador for Queen Mary University of London for Latham. And then I subsequently did the vacation scheme in the summer, and then I received my training contract offer. Um, so whereas most people kind of go between firms, maybe they'll do their first year scheme at one firm, and then their brand ambassador role, should they have one at another firm, and then their vaccine at a different and all of that. For me, it was a very linear journey, very interesting in its own way, we're very demanding, but um, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So, what initially attracted you to Latham?
SPEAKER_01Uh, that's a really good question, too. So um, I think from a practice kind of point of view, um, I found the Latham platform really unique because uh being a US heritage law firm and a full service law firm, you're getting the broad exposure uh to the work, but also supplemented by the depth of the work. So you're not just getting the broad exposure, but you're really going into depth with the different practice areas. So you kind of get to a bit of everything, you get the excellence with a bit of everything, but you also have um the depth so you get to go into the complex transactions. Um, but more than anything, it was the training and the people from me. Um, again, having worked in management, I really prioritise uh the training environment. And at Latham, you not only support um training at a TC level, but also um at an associate left uh level, they have the Latham Academies. And then even at partnership level, you have kind of the partner academies and all of that. And more than anything, that just showed me that at Latham there is an opportunity for continuous personal and professional development. So you're not only supported at a trade at a trainee level, but for someone who does value growing within an organization, as I mentioned, having been with the same company I worked for now for five years, um, that was um very appealing to me. And then lastly, the people. Um, I remember going for the first year scheme, and I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely and welcoming everyone was, um, and not just the lawyers, but also the support staff. So from the reception team to the security, you know, I met a lot of wonderful people from the IT team as well, and that was really refreshing. Um, and I always say to students, it's not just about the lawyers, but you do also have to kind of go out of your way to make genuine connections with also the support staff because they do also make the business too. And um, everyone was incredibly sociable, incredibly outgoing, and um I love to talk and I have a very kind of sociable personality myself. So I found that I just naturally really fitted into the firm.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a when you know you know sort of moment. But I'm wondering, despite that, did you apply to any other firms at any stage in your journey within commercial law?
SPEAKER_01So in my first year, for the first year schemes, I applied to about eight or nine firms. But for my um vacation scheme cycle, um my approach was very different. I actually only applied to two firms. So I did um Latham and uh Wilkie. And with Wilkie, I did the written application, progress onto the video interview, and then progress onto the written exercise. And then obviously I didn't go further, and then with Latham, I had um progressed past the assessment center. And um, that's the approach I really wanted to follow because I always say to students personally, um, quality over quantity um is the best approach. I am very conscious it's a very competitive industry, and you get a lot of people that tell you to make 20 or so applications, and you should. I think if you have the capacity and you can deliver really high-quality applications, 20 of them, then you should by all means go ahead. But um I think that students should apply to firms where they do have a genuine motivation, where they can look at the firm and really pinpoint to something that stands out to them. And if you do that, you can do that really well. And I know I'm not the only one who um has applied to few uh firms for the vac scheme process, and for those individuals it has also been successful. But saying that, you do have to, you do have to put a lot of work into it because it's equally as demanding and requires a different level of consistency at that stage.
SPEAKER_00I think striking that balance in your application strategy between quality and quantity, yeah, it really depends so much on the individual, you know, their time constraints, previous experiences they have with the firm as well. So I'm wondering, in addition to going all the way with Latham, it's also quite rare to secure a training contract just in your second year. It's so early. It takes most people a couple of application cycles. So, what do you think were one or two key factors that enabled you to get a training contract so early?
SPEAKER_01I'd say there's a couple of things that go into it. Um, one of the main things for me that I believe did make my application stand out was the work I did during my gap year. So um the management experience. Not only is that part-time work experience, which allows you to develop all sorts of transferable skills that are relevant to pretty much any industry, um, but also it taught me a unique skill set that most people my age probably would not have obtained had they had an experience like that. And that means emotional intelligence, that's um delegation, that's leadership, that's communication, negotiation, being decisive. And all of those skills are very much transferable to the commercial legal industry, which is equally as demanding. Um, so for me, I do believe that did make my application stand out. Um, although I always say to students, it's not about what experience you have, you do have to talk about it well. You could have three or four experiences compared to someone who has 15 legal experiences, but the former may talk about their experiences so well and articulate it so well and get their point across so well that they actually end up kind of getting ahead. Um, but also I think being proactive in the work that you do. So uh in my second year, I actively went out of my way to apply to be a research officer for the Queen Mary Student Advancement Society, and I did that very strategically. I applied because I wanted to develop my commercial awareness by being a research officer and drafting commercial articles in preparation for my assessment centre with Latham. Um, and that was incredibly helpful for me to prepare for the assessment centre process, but also during the back scheme process. I also completed a lot of forage courses. I started with forage when I was, I think, 17 in college, and I just continuously developed um kind of more and more and more of an enjoyment for doing them. Um, and I did those throughout university too. Um, I think they provide you with a different kind of um skill set if you use it well and kind of exposure and insight. Um, I wouldn't do too many, but I would definitely target your kind of research on the firms that you're interested in, the practice areas that you're interested in. Um, and also being consistent in having a strategy and being well researched. I find that most students apply to law firms without truly having the motivation, but also researching the firm um in sufficient detail to know, okay, how is this firm really different? Um, not just because they have this um feature element that's different, but also from a client base, from a practice area base. You know, there are so many firms that are full service, for instance, what makes Latham different to, you know, Kirkland, for instance. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's honestly a different level of research that really goes into finding out a firm's unique selling point and really demarcating them from other firms in the same market. It's not enough to say that you're attracted to a firm because they have a slim cohort of trainees because there are so many firms that offer that. It's really finding a pinpoint within the firm that can make your application stand out. And on a similar realm of standing out, obviously on your VAC scheme at Latham, there would have been certain things that you did that helped you secure the training contract. What were those sort of things that you think helped you stand out on your VAC scheme itself?
SPEAKER_01So I think for converting the VAC scheme, you do have to strike to be really um well-rounded. So you are assessed on different things. So that will be for Latham at least your research task, your supervisor feedback, and your training contract interview. And I think you should aim to um kind of be consistent across all of those kind of three different elements. And for me, um, I found that I really put myself out there and took the initiative to get involved in more work, um, be it to sit in on a client meeting with my supervisor or to take part in it in a digital pro bono exercise. Um, but I I also I also say that before you go ahead and do that, you have to know your capacity and your limits. So I think I was really good at managing my time and knowing, okay, I have this research task that I need to complete by this date, but I also really want to get involved in this, I want to sit on this, I want to learn about this. So how am I going to fit that? And I plan my time really well to ensure that I was able to deliver in both contexts. And also being consistent with your energy levels. Um, the vacation schemes are quite intensive. You have many, many workshops, you have networking, you have your tasks, you have socials. You have to really stay consistent with your energy levels and your enthusiasm throughout the two weeks. So pacing yourself, um, you know, of course, smiling every day and being enthusiastic and connecting with people, but you have to do that for two weeks straight. So um consciously thinking about that and actively reflecting on your experience. Okay, what went well today? What could have gone better tomorrow? What do I want to do better tomorrow? Um, little things like that. Um, and also I mentioned this earlier, really connecting with the people, um, the commercial awareness to one side, um, the firm to one side. You know, you really do have to make an active effort to get to know the people at the firm. And that does go beyond the lawyers. Those are incredibly important because you learn so much from trainees and from associates and from partners and from the graduate recruitment. But also I have been very lucky and feel very privileged to have also been able to meet so many other people and acquaintances at the firm from the reception to uh anyone else. And that has been um really nice because now, whenever I do visit the firm, you know, I know people that can say hello. Um, and that's that feels really fulfilling for me. Um, so yeah, I think there is a lot that goes into the vaccine process, and it can be its whole episode on its own. Um, but those are the things that I found um stood out for me.
SPEAKER_00I think what stood out to me there in your response is the emphasis on being personable and being friendly. I think commercial law is well known for the long hours that can be involved. And part of the way that they assess fact schemas is they ask the question if I were working really long hours with this person, would it be a good time? Yeah. And it's important to portray yourself as somebody who is personable, happy to be there.
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely. You have to, you know, at the end of the day, these are people that you're going to work with, not just the vaccine candidates, but the partners and the associates and even the trainees. You know, you have to be likable, you have to be easy to work with. Um, and I think it's that which students often overlook, which I think is natural because you go into the industry, and as you mentioned, it's it's a difficult industry. And so you're so focused on getting all the difficult stuff right, but then you miss the kind of fine foundational skills that you need at the bottom.
SPEAKER_00I think one of the best things I did on my VAC scheme is that I looked at all of the clubs and societies that my firm runs. Please. And I emailed the head of the tennis club. It was a winter VAC scheme, so it was the dead of winter. I actually knew that they would not be running the tennis club, but I emailed anyway to ask if I could join for those two weeks, just to show you know I would be someone who would join the firm and be involved and be personable and not just come in, do my work and leave. Absolutely. Because it's so much more than that.
SPEAKER_01It is. It's I think it's a balance. Um, having the social life, um meeting the new people, but also your work as well. Um, it'll be more rewarding, I think, for the students if they also took that perspective.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you so much. I absolutely loved hearing all about your journey with Latham, all your VAC scheme tips. That was really insightful. And best of luck with the SQE. Thank you. And your training contract. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. It was been lovely.