About Mishcon de Reya
Mishcon de Reya is an independent law firm employing over 1,400 people, including more than 650 lawyers, and has grown quickly, with more than 40% revenue growth over the past five years. The firm operates from London, Oxford, Cambridge, Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE, working across three connected sectors: the Innovation Economy, Private Wealth and Capital, and Real Estate. It’s also known as a disputes powerhouse, with dispute resolution capacity across the firm.
The challenge
Like many employers, Mishcon de Reya was navigating rising application volumes, the growing use of AI-generated responses, and the risk of candidate impersonation, all of which can make manual screening slower, costlier, and more prone to bias. Having listened to candidate feedback from previous recruitment cycles, the firm identified room to improve the experience, and wanted a way to get to know candidates better, earlier in the process.
The partnership
For its 2026 graduate recruitment season, Mishcon de Reya became the first organisation to use Bright Apply, an AI-powered candidate interviewing platform, marking the firm’s first use of the tool and the technology’s debut.
Bright Apply was integrated with Mishcon’s existing CVmail system to screen approximately 5,000 candidates, with a completion rate of around 70%. Human screening led the process throughout, with AI scoring run in parallel: every interview produced a transcript and a structured score against Mishcon’s own framework, along with the reasoning behind it and an indication of AI use, while final hiring decisions stayed firmly in human hands. Occupational psychologists reviewed the system to help ensure every stage supported equitable decision-making.
For candidates, this meant a more consistent and accessible experience, with clear guidance, real-time interview notes, a candidate-friendly chat interface, and voice transcription options, including practice interviews of particular benefit to neurodivergent candidates.
The results
100% of candidates in some groups received offers – reflecting consistently strong talent at intake.
- 80% AI-human scoring correlation, beating the 44–74% agreement typically seen between two human interviewers¹.
- 80% CSAT rating.
- No adverse impact observed, using the 4/5ths rule.
¹ Huffcutt, A. I., Culbertson, S. S., & Weyhrauch, W. S., 2013
In their words
“We are really excited to be partnering with Bright Apply on this new tool which will help us to get to know our candidates better at an earlier stage. As a tech-focused and tech-enabled firm we are keen to embrace AI where it can improve candidates’ experience. We listened to candidate feedback from previous cycles, and we know there was room for improvement in the old process.
“Bright Apply puts candidates at the heart of the process, giving them a better chance to show us who they are and what they are able to bring to our firm, at an earlier stage of the process. Our candidates are able to tell us more about themselves, instead of being limited to a certain number of characters on an application form. Not only does this give candidates an opportunity to detail their achievements, experiences and motivations but it also helps our recruiters to make more informed decisions at an early stage of the process.”
Looking ahead
Through the partnership, Mishcon de Reya and Bright Apply aim to set a new standard for inclusive, efficient graduate recruitment, one where technology supports recruiters and candidates equally.
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