Questions to Ask During Law Firm Interview
62 questions to ask in a law interview, whether it is a short OCI screener, a callback for a summer associate position or a lateral move between firms: how work is assigned, what the hours and billable target really mean, how associates are reviewed and paid, and what happens to those who do not make partner.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Who would I be working with day to day, and how does work get assigned: a central pool or individual partners?
Why ask it
Free-market staffing rewards associates who can market themselves internally and can leave quieter ones underused. Central assignment spreads work more evenly but gives you less say over practice area and supervisor.
What did your last month look like in hours?
Why ask it
More useful than asking about work-life balance, which invites a rehearsed answer. A specific month, including the weekends worked, gives you something concrete, and hesitation about answering is informative in itself.
What is the billable target, and what counts toward it: pro bono, training, business development, recruiting?
Why ask it
Two firms with the same target can differ by hundreds of hours depending on what is creditable. Ask what proportion of associates hit it last year, since a target most people miss functions as a pay cut.
What does a first or second year associate actually do on a matter of this kind?
Why ask it
Ask about a specific type of matter rather than in general. The answer separates firms where juniors take depositions and draft substantive sections from those where the first two years are document review and diligence.
How many associates joined this practice group in the last three years, and how many are still here?
Why ask it
The cleanest attrition question, and it is about the group rather than the firm, which is the unit that matters. Interviewers usually know the answer for their own group and will often give it plainly.
Who reviews my work, and how would I get feedback other than at the annual review?
Why ask it
Junior lawyers improve through marked-up drafts and short debriefs. A firm whose only mechanism is a yearly evaluation form is one where you will find out about a problem long after it could have been fixed.
How is associate compensation set: lockstep, discretionary, or a mix, and what drives the discretionary part?
Why ask it
In a discretionary system, the criteria are what matter, and firms vary in how openly they will state them. Ask what the bonus has actually paid at your level for the past two or three years.
How is origination credit handled, and can an associate get credit for work they bring in?
Why ask it
Origination determines partner pay and, in some firms, who gets to keep a client relationship. Whether an associate can hold any credit at all tells you how the firm treats business development below partner level.
How much client contact would I have in the first two years?
Why ask it
Direct contact is how you build a practice rather than a list of matters worked on. Ask who is on the calls and emails, since firms differ sharply on whether juniors are visible to clients or filtered through a partner.
What is the pro bono policy, and how many hours did associates in this group log last year?
Why ask it
Almost every firm has a policy; the hours logged show whether it is used. Ask whether the hours are fully billable-creditable and whether anyone has been discouraged from taking on a matter.
What happens in a practice group when work slows down?
Why ask it
Transactional groups in particular go quiet with the market. The answer tells you whether associates get lent to other groups, told to find work themselves, or let go, which is the difference between a lean year and a layoff.
How does the partnership track work now, and how many people were promoted in the last two years?
Why ask it
Ask about the non-equity tier if there is one, and how long people typically sit in it. Recent numbers are what matter; the historic policy may have been overtaken by a firm restructuring.
Where have associates who left in the last couple of years gone?
Why ask it
Departures to in-house roles at good clients suggest a firm that trains people well. Departures to competitors in the same city more often reflect something about conditions here.
What does parental leave look like in practice, and how does it affect the partnership clock and the billable target?
Why ask it
The written policy is easy to find. What matters is whether the target is prorated, whether the clock pauses, and whether anyone senior in this office has taken the full entitlement recently.
How firm are the in-office expectations, and how does this group actually work?
Why ask it
Firm-wide policies are frequently applied differently by practice group and by partner. Ask what the group's own norm is and what happens when someone does not meet it.
Which clients or matters would I most likely be staffed on first?
Why ask it
Turns the practice area description into something specific. It also reveals concentration risk: a group where most of the work comes from one or two clients is more exposed than the pitch suggests.
How have the firm's revenue and headcount moved over the past two years?
Why ask it
Much of this is published for larger firms, so you are checking their account against the public record and hearing how they explain it. Lateral partner departures in your group are worth asking about directly.
What kind of associate does well here, and what kind struggles?
Why ask it
The second half is the useful half. Answers about needing to chase work, or about tolerating unpredictable hours, describe the actual working conditions more honestly than any culture statement.
What is the least appealing part of this job that people only discover once they start?
Why ask it
A fair question asked directly, and most interviewers respect it. If the answer is that there is nothing, you have learned about the interviewer rather than the firm.
Is there anything in my application you would like me to address now?
Why ask it
Gives you the chance to explain a transcript, a gap, or a practice area switch while someone is in front of you. It is also a normal close that signals you would rather be told than left to guess.
What did associates in this group actually bill last year?
Why ask it
Real averages usually sit above the stated target, and the gap is the truth about the group. If the interviewer does not know or will not say, that answer is worth as much as a number.
Does the billable target apply from day one, and is it adjusted while I am still in training?
Why ask it
Many firms prorate the first year or exclude formal training, and many do not. The difference is several hundred hours in a year when you are also slowest, so ask for the number a first-year is actually measured against.
What are the norms around evenings, weekends and vacation, as opposed to the written policy?
Why ask it
Ask for the norm and you will usually get a real answer: expected response times, whether vacation gets interrupted, how a closing week runs. An answer that only cites the policy is worth checking with an associate later.
How many of your matters reach a hearing or trial, and how many resolve on paper?
Why ask it
It changes what you learn. A litigation group that settles nearly everything teaches negotiation and written advocacy, and a junior hoping for courtroom time should know that before accepting rather than three years in.
How much of the first year is document review, and who decides when that changes?
Why ask it
Document review is real work and there is usually a lot of it. What matters is whether someone is tracking your mix and moving you on, or whether you stay on it because you are good at it.
How do associates get staffed on matters outside their own practice group?
Why ask it
Cross-group work is how you find out what you actually like practicing before you are committed. In siloed firms it is discouraged quietly, through staffing rather than policy, so ask for recent examples.
What happens when two partners need me at the same time?
Why ask it
This is the defining problem of junior practice, and how a firm answers reveals whether anyone is responsible for protecting associates. Answers about learning to manage expectations mean the problem is entirely yours.
Where does the group's work come from, and how concentrated is it among a few clients?
Why ask it
Client concentration is a risk to your seat, not only to the firm. One client at a large share of the group's billings means your workload rests on a single relationship.
How does fee pressure from clients reach associates: fixed fees, discounts, write-offs?
Why ask it
When a matter is priced flat, someone absorbs the overrun, and it is usually the junior whose recorded time gets written down. Ask how write-offs are treated at review time, because that is where the pressure lands.
Where is this practice group heading, and how is it being resourced?
Why ask it
Ask about headcount, laterals planned, and whether the group's work is tied to one or two clients. A group carried by a single relationship can be reorganized quickly, and juniors are moved first.
What do the first six weeks look like: orientation, shadowing, or straight onto a live matter?
Why ask it
The shape of the start predicts the first year. Ask how many days are structured, who you sit with, and whether anyone is responsible for you before your first matter arrives.
How does development work here: a CLE budget, assigned mentoring, or is it left to me?
Why ask it
Listen for a named person and a budget line. Firms that describe an open-door culture instead of a structure are usually telling you that training depends on which partner you happen to sit near.
What happens the first time I get something badly wrong?
Why ask it
You will, and the answer separates a group that treats errors as training from one that treats them as evidence. Listen for whether they can describe the process, who finds out, and whether it follows you into the review.
Who do juniors go to when they are stuck at ten at night?
Why ask it
Ask for a name or a role. Firms that answer with a rota, a supervising associate, or a partner who genuinely takes calls are describing a support structure. Firms that answer with a culture of collegiality are describing a hope.
How does the firm handle an ethics or conflicts question raised by a junior lawyer?
Why ask it
You want to hear about a named person or committee, a route that does not run through the partner you are worried about, and ideally an example. Vagueness here is the most serious kind in a law firm interview.
What happens after a weak review, and have you seen someone come back from one?
Why ask it
Every firm has a process on paper. Whether an associate can name someone who had a bad cycle and recovered tells you if a single difficult year here is survivable or terminal.
What support is there for attorneys under strain, and is it actually used?
Why ask it
Every firm has a program. What differentiates them is whether taking a step back is career-ending. Listen for whether they can describe someone who reduced their load and stayed on track without naming them.
What systems would I be using for research, document management and time entry?
Why ask it
Sounds mundane and eats hours. Old document management and clumsy time entry mean unbilled time at the end of every day. Whether they know what associates use is also a hint about how recently anyone asked.
What systems and support would I have on day one: assistant, paralegal, business development help?
Why ask it
A lateral is judged on output from the first month, and the infrastructure decides how much output is possible. This is also the question that reveals whether anyone has actually planned your arrival.
What made you choose this firm when you were going through OCI yourself?
Why ask it
Suits a screening interview, where there is time for one or two questions and the interviewer may well have come in through on-campus interviewing too. Set the reasons they give for joining against what they say has kept them, and you can see how closely the pitch matched the job.
What happens at the callback, and how many people would I meet?
Why ask it
A fair thing to ask as an on-campus interview winds up. A half day of one-to-one meetings with partners and a lunch with two junior associates call for different preparation, and recruiting will usually tell you which to expect.
How large is the summer associate class in this office, and how is it spread across practice groups?
Why ask it
Class size shapes the whole summer. A few summer associates in a busy group tend to get real assignments quickly, while a large class can mean competing for the same projects and the same partners' attention.
Do summer associates rotate through practice groups, or commit to one before they arrive?
Why ask it
Rotation lets you try a practice before you are tied to it. Under a fixed placement, a preference you mention in a short screening interview can follow you into your first years, so find out how binding it is.
How much of the summer is real assignments, and how much is events and training?
Why ask it
Lunches and outings are pleasant and say little about the job. Whether last year's summer associates saw their drafts reach a client or a court is the better preview of first-year work.
Is there a formal mid-summer review, and who delivers it?
Why ask it
Feedback at the halfway point leaves weeks to correct a problem. Without it, the first assessment you hear may be the offer decision itself.
What does the firm weigh when it decides who gets an offer after the summer?
Why ask it
Some firms run the summer as a long confirmation and others as a genuine audition. Hearing whether the decision turns on written work, on the assigning lawyers' evaluations or on something looser shows you where to put your effort.
How many of last year's summer class received offers, and how many are still here?
Why ask it
The offer rate is the number firms quote. The second half is the one that matters, because a full offer rate followed by early departures says the programme sells something the job does not deliver.
Is an offer at the end of the summer for a specific practice group, or for the firm in general?
Why ask it
A general offer can leave you placed by need a year later, sometimes in a group you never worked with. Ask how the most recent class was placed and how many got the group they asked for.
Can a summer associate split the summer with another office, a second firm or a public interest placement?
Why ask it
Split policies differ between firms and can change from one year to the next, so ask how it works here before planning around one. It is also reasonable to ask whether splitting has ever counted against someone at offer time.
Is the start date fixed, and what support is there between the bar exam and day one?
Why ask it
Deferred starts, study stipends and bar course fees vary widely and are rarely volunteered. Ask early, because the gap between graduation and your first pay cheque is one you have to fund.
If I clerk for a judge after graduation, does the offer stay open, and how is that year counted?
Why ask it
Firms differ on whether a clerkship counts toward class year and on what, if anything, they pay for it, and the terms move over time. The clearest answer is what happened for the last person who left to clerk and came back.
Why is this seat open, and what happened to the person who had it?
Why ask it
Growth, a departure, and a partner who could not keep an associate are three different jobs. The answer also sets up everything else you ask, because a replacement hire inherits the reasons the last person left.
What seniority would I be credited with, and how does that map to my year of qualification?
Why ask it
Firms sometimes discount a lateral by a year, which moves your review, your pay band, and your partnership timetable all at once. Get the year in writing rather than agreeing to be slotted in later.
How many laterals joined this group in the last two years, and how many are still here?
Why ask it
Laterals fail at a higher rate than internal promotions, usually for reasons of integration rather than ability. A group that has absorbed several and kept them has a working process; one that has not may not know it needs one.
Which of my current clients would create a conflict, and who runs that check before an offer?
Why ask it
Conflicts can remove the exact practice you were hired for. Ask when the check happens, how detailed it is, and whether the offer is contingent on it clearing.
What would I be expected to bring with me, and what happens if it does not follow?
Why ask it
If any part of the offer assumes portable work, that assumption should be stated out loud now rather than raised at your first review. Ask what the expectation is in hours or revenue and over what period.
How is the partnership timetable applied to someone joining from outside?
Why ask it
Internal candidates accumulate years and sponsors that a lateral does not. Ask what the last person who joined at your level was told, and how long it actually took them.
Are there salaried or non-equity partner tiers, and how long do people stay in them?
Why ask it
An intermediate tier can be a genuine step or a permanent holding pattern. Ask how many people are in it now and how long the longest-serving has been there.
Is there a long-term non-partner track, and how is it regarded internally?
Why ask it
Counsel and staff attorney roles can be a sensible landing place or a holding pattern for people who were passed over. How the interviewer talks about the people in those roles tells you which it is here.
When a senior role opens, does the firm promote or hire laterally?
Why ask it
A pattern of lateral partners means the ceiling for associates is lower than the track suggests. It also affects your daily life: a firm absorbing laterals is often reorganizing teams and reassigning matters.
What does the firm's record look like on retaining and promoting attorneys from underrepresented groups?
Why ask it
Recruiting figures and promotion figures diverge, and the promotion figures are the informative ones. A pivot to committees and events, with no numbers about who stayed and who was elevated, answers the question in its own way.
What did you believe about this place when you interviewed that turned out to be wrong?
Why ask it
Gentler than asking what is wrong with the firm and usually more revealing, because it draws out the specific gap between how the group presents itself and how it runs.
Interviewing at a Law Firm
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Match the Question to the Interviewer
Junior associates for conditions
Hours last month, whether the target is realistic, what a first-year actually drafts, how feedback arrives. Ask these of someone two to four years in, and ask them one at a time rather than as a list.
Partners for the practice and the market
Where the work comes from, what the group is trying to build, how staffing decisions get made, and what they expect a new associate to be capable of by year three.
Recruiting for the numbers
Billable target definitions, what counts toward it, bonus history, leave policy, and promotion figures. They hold the written answers and are used to being asked.
At OCI, save the numbers for the callback
An on-campus screening interview usually leaves room for one or two questions. Choose ones the interviewer can answer from their own experience, such as why they joined or what their first matters were, and hold the billable target and bonus history until the callback or a conversation with recruiting.
Ask the same question twice
Put the hours question to a partner and to a junior associate separately. The gap between the two answers is usually the most reliable information you get all day.
Question Sequences
What the job is
- 1How does work get assigned: a central pool or individual partners?
- 2What does a first or second year associate actually do on a matter of this kind?
- 3Which clients or matters would I most likely be staffed on first?
- 4How much client contact would I have in the first two years?
What it costs you
- 1What is the billable target, and what counts toward it?
- 2What did your last month look like in hours?
- 3What happens in a practice group when work slows down?
- 4What does parental leave look like in practice?
Where it leads
- 1How many associates joined this group in the last three years, and how many are still here?
- 2How does the partnership track work now, and how many were promoted in the last two years?
- 3Where have associates who left in the last couple of years gone?
- 4How is compensation set, and what drives the discretionary part?
Common Mistakes
- Asking about hours as a wellbeing question. Ask for last month's number instead, from someone junior enough to know it.
- Avoiding every difficult subject in case it seems negative. Attrition, slow periods, and bonus history are standard questions from serious candidates, and dodging them is how people end up somewhere unsuitable.
- Asking what is in the firm's published materials, including headcount, offices, and practice areas. Read those first and ask about what they do not cover.
- Treating a summer or vacation scheme interview as low stakes. The questions you ask are one of the few things distinguishing candidates with similar transcripts.
- Judging a firm on the two or three people assigned to charm you rather than on the group you would actually work in.
- Forgetting to ask what happens if you do not make partner, which is the outcome for most associates and is worth knowing in advance.
Afterwards
- 1Write down the numbers the same day: billable target, what counts toward it, hours last month, promotion figures.
- 2Note where two interviewers gave different answers, and put that question to a third person before you decide.
- 3Reach out to one associate who left the firm recently. Former associates are noticeably more direct than current ones.
- 4Ask recruiting for anything you were told verbally about bonus or leave in writing before you accept.
- 5Compare offers on assignment system, group attrition, and where recent leavers went, rather than on starting salary alone.