- Feb 17, 2018
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I came across a list of general questions I had prepared to ask law firms at interviews. I thought I'd share in case you need some back up questions (ideally, you wanna go for genuine questions). I've split them between questions to ask partners/trainees/graduate recruitment.
A little warning: some are pretentious/cheesy/only relevant to particular firms, so use them at your own risk
Questions to ask partners
A little warning: some are pretentious/cheesy/only relevant to particular firms, so use them at your own risk
Questions to ask partners
- Is the firm dominated by the states or more collaborative? What do you make of the relationship between offices?
- How does the London office fit in with the broader strategy of the firm?
- Does the US cultural influence make any difference on your day to day work?
- How involved are you with US lawyers on a typical case? Does this pose challenges regarding time zones?
- How involved is London in the firm’s overall decision making?
- What are the biggest challenges about working on multi-jurisdictional deals (that aren’t related to the actual work)?
- What proportion of partners trained within the firm?
- Do you think there will be any consolidation among the major city firms?
- Why do you think the best friend's network/alliance/merger is the best model for global practice?
- Why do you do what you do? What gets you up in the morning?
- Is the aim for the firm’s culture to be uniform across borders or distinct in each jurisdiction?
- How did you end in at your practice area? Where would you have gone if you hadn't ended up here?
- Is there any scope to contribute ideas to the firm as a trainee?
- How is it ensured that trainees on client secondments get the same standard of training?
- How do you view the rise of US firms in London?
- How would you describe X firm’s place in the market?
- In terms of personal training/development, what does the law firm offer?
- What are you most looking forward to in your future?
- How many of you tend to work on a deal?
- Do you find the culture non-hierarchical? Open door policy?
- How involved are you with business development (BD) and promoting the firm?
- What do you wish you’d known about being a trainee before you started that you now do?
- How does the lack of billable hours affect your practice?
- With the best friends network/alliance approach, has do secondments work?
- Because there are fewer trainees at this firm, would you say there is greater trainee responsibility/exposure?
- What was it like when you actually began at the firm? How did you find the transition?
- How are seats allocated?
- What are the skills you look for in a trainee?
- Is there a mentoring programme available on the training contract?
- Why did you join?
- Can you tell us about the structure of your training contract assessment days?
- How do trainees receive feedback? Is there a formal appraisal?
- Are there opportunities for pro bono work?
