Questions to Ask Law Firm Partners
These 53 questions are for law students, summer associates and lateral candidates sitting across from a partner, whether that is a callback, a coffee during the summer or a lunch before an offer. The best questions to ask partners in an interview are the ones only a partner can answer, so the list opens on their own practice, the subject they talk about most freely. From there it runs through junior work, training, hours and the partnership itself, and ends on the advice a law student can ask a partner for outright.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Their practice
What does your practice actually consist of week to week?
Why ask it
Practice group names hide enormous variation. A litigator may spend most of the year on discovery and none in court. Ask what the last three matters were and you get the real job description rather than the website version.
How did you end up in this group?
Why ask it
Plenty of partners landed in their practice area through one matter or one mentor and not by plan, and most tell that story readily. The answer also shows how easily people move between groups here, which is the thing you are really asking about.
What are you working on at the moment that you find most interesting?
Why ask it
Partners are asked about the firm all day and seldom about their own work. One matter described with real interest shows what the group's best work looks like, and it gives you something specific to mention when you write to thank them.
Who are the clients in this group, and what do they usually come to you for?
Why ask it
The kind of client shapes the job as much as the area of law does. A group serving a handful of large institutions runs differently from one serving many smaller businesses or individuals: the pace, how soon a junior is trusted, and who picks up the phone.
What type of work do you have too much of right now and not enough people for?
Why ask it
Whatever the partner names is where you would be useful from the first week, and saying you would like to do that work gives them a reason to remember you. The answer also shows whether the group is growing or covering for departures.
How has your practice changed over the years you have been here?
Why ask it
Practices drift with clients, markets and the law itself. A partner who started in one kind of matter and now does another is showing you that a specialism picked in your first year is not permanent, and how much room the firm gives people to follow the work.
Does much of this group's work come from one or two clients?
Why ask it
A group where one client is most of the revenue is stable until it is not. You are asking about your own risk, and putting it as a question about the group, not the firm's finances, makes it comfortable to answer.
What happened in this group the last time work slowed down?
Why ask it
Every practice has cycles. The answer tells you whether the firm redeploys people, reduces hiring, or runs quiet layoffs, and that difference is worth more than any number in the offer letter.
Where do you expect this practice to be in three years?
Why ask it
Hiring a junior is a bet on future work, so the partner should have a view. Listen for something concrete, such as a new kind of client, a change in regulation they are watching, or a lateral they hope to add. 'Continued growth' is not a plan.
How closely does this group work with the firm's other offices and practice groups?
Why ask it
Some groups are self-contained and others staff almost every matter across cities. That decides who you would learn from, how many partners you would answer to, and whether your working day ends up following another time zone.
Junior work
What does a first-year in this group do in the first six months?
Why ask it
You want tasks, not adjectives. Document review, research memos, cite checking, first drafts of motions, and diligence checklists are all different educations. A rough split of the year between them is a fair thing to want.
What would a summer associate in this group actually work on?
Why ask it
Summer assignments run from research that ends up in a filed brief to exercises set aside for the summer class. Which kind this group hands out tells a law student whether the summer is a preview of the job or a long interview with lunches.
How does work get assigned here?
Why ask it
A free-market system means you must hustle for staffing and can starve while looking busy. A coordinator system means you get fed but choose less. Plenty of firms call themselves a balance of the two, so listen for which half the partner spends longer explaining.
How do you decide which associate to put on a new matter?
Why ask it
Put to the person who actually makes the call, the staffing question gets a plainer answer: whoever did good work last time, whoever is free, whoever asked. Each of those tells you what to do in your first year.
How many partners would a junior in this group typically work for?
Why ask it
Working for one partner means deep training and a single point of failure. Working for five means variety and competing deadlines. The follow-up that matters is what an associate does when two of them want the same evening.
How large is the team on a typical matter of yours?
Why ask it
A partner, one senior associate and you is a different job from being the fifth junior on a team of twenty. Small teams bring responsibility sooner and less cover when you are away. The partner's last matter is a better guide than the group's average.
How much client contact does a junior get, and when does that start?
Why ask it
Some groups put associates on client calls in month two, others shield them for years. Early exposure is how you learn what clients actually want, and it is where the habit of building your own relationships starts.
When does an associate here first run something on their own?
Why ask it
The milestones to listen for are a first deposition taken, a first motion argued, a closing call led, a small deal managed. The year in which those happen differs between firms and between groups inside one firm, and it is a clear measure of how fast people develop.
Can a junior try more than one practice area before settling?
Why ask it
Some firms hire into an unassigned pool or rotate their juniors, and others expect a choice before day one. If you are a law student who has not decided between litigation and transactional work, ask how it went for the last few hires who were in the same position.
How much pro bono work does this group take on, and do partners supervise it?
Why ask it
Pro bono matters are often where a junior first stands up in court or deals with a client directly. A partner who supervises one personally is telling you the firm treats it as real work, and you can ask what the last one was.
Training
Who reviews a junior's work, and how does feedback usually arrive?
Why ask it
Feedback that only exists in an annual review is not training. The difference to listen for is between a partner who marks up a draft and hands it back, and one who fixes it and sends it to the client without a word. Under the second, an associate can plateau without knowing it.
What training exists beyond learning on live matters?
Why ask it
Specifics are what count: deposition workshops, drafting programmes, secondments to clients. A firm that pays for structured training is usually expecting its associates to stay, which is worth knowing in itself.
Who taught you the most when you were an associate, and how?
Why ask it
Partners usually train the way they were trained. A story about a mentor who sat with them over a marked-up draft suggests they do the same now. A story about being thrown in and surviving suggests that is what you should expect.
Does each new associate have a mentor, and does it work in practice?
Why ask it
Assigned mentors look good in recruiting material and can fade after the first lunch. Ask the partner who they are mentoring at the moment and how often the two of them talk. The mentors who matter are often simply the people you work for, and nobody assigns those.
How often are associates formally reviewed, and who has a say?
Why ask it
Find out whether the review gathers comments from every partner you worked for or only from the group head. Ask too whether associates are told where they stand against their class year, since firms differ on that and not knowing wears people down.
When a junior does not understand an assignment, what do you want them to do?
Why ask it
Every partner has a preference and few state it unprompted. Some want questions up front, some want an attempt first, and some want you to go to the senior associate. Knowing which saves you from the classic first-year error of guessing.
How does the firm handle it when someone makes a serious mistake?
Why ask it
Every lawyer will eventually miss something. Whether the culture is to fix it as a team or to find the person responsible determines how quickly problems surface. An example told without names is the answer worth having.
How is this group using AI tools, and what does that change for juniors?
Why ask it
Document review and first drafts are the tasks juniors have traditionally learned on, and they are the ones the new tools are aimed at. A partner who has thought about it can say what a first-year does instead. Rules on these tools differ by firm and by client, so ask what applies in this group.
Hours
What is the billable target, and what counts toward it?
Why ask it
The headline number means little without knowing whether pro bono, business development, training, and non-billable firm work count. A lower target that excludes everything can be harder to hit than a higher one that includes pro bono hours. Policies differ by firm, and the question lands better after an offer or over a summer lunch than in a first interview.
What does a busy month look like compared with a slow one?
Why ask it
Averages hide the shape of the year. Ask for the worst month recently and the quietest, and how much notice people get before a matter goes intense. A heavy month you saw coming is easier to live with than a lighter one that kept ambushing you.
What do you expect from an associate in the evening and at weekends?
Why ask it
Asked of a partner, this is about their own habits, which are the ones you would live with. Some send messages at night and expect an answer in the morning, others within the hour. Frame it as wanting to meet their expectations and it reads as conscientious.
When an associate has a commitment they cannot move, how does the team cover?
Why ask it
The honest answers run from 'someone steps in' to 'it depends on the deal'. You find out whether cover is an ordinary part of how the teams run or a favour, without asking about the vacation policy, which is a question for recruiting.
Which days are people in this group actually in the office?
Why ask it
A written attendance policy and a group's real habits can be two different things. For a junior the practical point is whether the people you would learn from are in the building on the days you are, and the partner's own week is the best evidence.
What happens when an associate is well under or well over the target?
Why ask it
This depends on the firm: at some, falling short touches the bonus first and standing later, and going far over brings a bonus or simply more work. What you want to hear is how the group notices and rebalances, because a firm that only looks at hours at year end lets either problem run for months.
What have you seen people do to make this pace sustainable?
Why ask it
A partner has watched many associates either settle into the job or leave it. The answers are usually practical: protecting one fixed thing a week, saying early when you are at capacity, taking the quiet weeks properly. A blank look is an answer as well.
Partnership
What does the path to partner look like now, and how has it changed since you went through it?
Why ask it
The second half is the important half. Non-equity tiers, longer tracks, and counsel roles have reshaped many firms, and a partner comparing their own route to today's is giving you a candid picture without being asked to criticise anyone.
Who decides who makes partner, and what do they look at?
Why ask it
At some firms the practice group puts a name forward and a firm-wide committee votes, and elsewhere it works another way. The case for a candidate may rest on hours, on client relationships, or on a gap in the group that needs filling, and the third is the one that is easy to overlook from below.
Does the firm have both equity and non-equity partners, and what separates the two?
Why ask it
Titles vary from firm to firm, and 'partner' can mean an owner or a salaried senior lawyer. Ask how people move from one tier to the other and how long that usually takes here. It is a routine question from a lateral and a fair one from a student who asks it lightly.
How do people here build their own client relationships, and when does that begin to matter?
Why ask it
Bringing in work weighs heavily in partnership decisions at many firms, and juniors are rarely told so plainly. Ask when the firm starts expecting it and whether existing partners share credit, since a firm where nobody shares origination is a hard place to make partner.
How much of your time goes to bringing in work compared with doing it?
Why ask it
The split shows what the firm really asks of its partners. Pitches, client dinners, billing conversations and committees are the part of the job an associate never sees, and hearing about them gives you a truer picture of the role you would be working toward.
How does partner compensation work here?
Why ask it
Lockstep pay, where partners move up together by seniority, tends to reward collaboration and forgive a slow year. Pay weighted toward origination tends to reward rainmaking and can make senior partners protective of clients, which shapes how much responsibility reaches juniors. Systems vary and many are a blend, so this is mainly a lateral's question.
What happens to people who do not make partner?
Why ask it
A firm with strong client placements for departing senior associates is a different proposition from one where people simply disappear. Ask where the last two people who left this group went, which is concrete and easy to answer.
What would you expect me to bring as a lateral, and how long would I have to build it?
Why ask it
For a lateral candidate this is the central question, and a vague answer is a warning. The expectation might be a book of business, a skill the group lacks or simply capacity, and each of those implies a different first review.
Why have you stayed at this firm?
Why ask it
A partner has usually had chances to leave, so the reason they did not is real information. Listen for something that belongs to this place, such as a colleague, a client or the freedom to build a practice, and not praise that would fit any firm.
What would you change about the firm if it were up to you?
Why ask it
A partner is one of the people who run the place, so this is a fair thing to put to them and a gentler way of asking what is wrong. Most will offer something mild and true, like slow technology or too many committees. One who cannot think of anything is either being careful or has stopped looking.
Their advice
What has made an associate stand out to you?
Why ask it
The answers are rarely about legal brilliance. Partners tend to describe responsiveness, ownership of a task through to the end, and telling them bad news early. Those are learnable, and hearing them named tells you what the firm actually rewards.
What makes you stop giving someone work?
Why ask it
The sharper twin of asking who stands out, and the way to learn the real failure modes: missed deadlines, work that needs rewriting, going quiet under pressure. It takes some nerve, so keep it for a partner the conversation has already gone well with.
What do you look for when you interview a law student?
Why ask it
A student has no legal track record yet, so the partner is judging something else: curiosity, how you describe a piece of work you did, whether they could put you in front of a client. Whichever it is for this partner, you now know what to bring out for the rest of the day.
What do summer associates most often get wrong?
Why ask it
The usual answers are small: an assignment handed in without proofreading, a deadline missed without warning, taking on too much from too many people. A partner who names one has handed you the summer's scoring sheet in advance.
What should someone do in their first ninety days here?
Why ask it
This asks for a to-do list and usually gets one: meet the senior associates, learn the document system, say yes to the first few things, find out how each partner likes to receive work. Write it down, because if you join it is your plan for the first quarter.
Is there anything I should have asked you and have not?
Why ask it
It hands the partner the floor for whatever they think matters and you missed. Keep it for the end of a conversation that has had real questions in it, because asked early it sounds as if you came with none.
Who else at the firm should I talk to?
Why ask it
A partner who names a senior associate or a colleague in another group has given you a next conversation and a reason to follow up, and has shown you whose work they rate. From a summer associate it is also the easiest way to get staffed by someone new.
What do you wish someone had told you at my stage?
Why ask it
This lets a partner be generous instead of evaluative, which is a kind way to finish. The answers tend to be about choosing a mentor, saying no, or not confusing the firm's prestige with your own progress.
Talking to partners
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Adjust for the setting
At a screening interview as a law student
A campus or first-round screener leaves room for one or two questions, and the partner has heard the hours question all day. Ask about their own practice or how they ended up in the group. Nobody expects a student to have chosen a practice area, so say what you are curious about instead of pretending you have.
In a callback interview
You may have twenty or thirty minutes with each partner, and the partner is also selling. Lead with the work questions, since those get real answers, and hold partner compensation and the equity tiers for a later round or for the recruiting contact, who is paid to answer them without judging you for asking.
As a summer associate
You are inside the firm now and nobody is scoring your questions the way an interviewer does, so use the summer to ask the assignment and feedback questions of several partners in different groups. Contradictory answers about how work is assigned tell you more than any single answer.
As a lateral candidate
Ask the client concentration, compensation structure, and origination credit questions directly. At lateral level these are ordinary business questions, and a partner who deflects all three has told you something as well.
Choosing what to ask
With twenty minutes, pick five
Take one from Their practice to open, two from Junior work or Training, and two from Their advice, ending on what they wish they had been told at your stage. A partner remembers a conversation, not a checklist read from a notebook.
Ask a partner what only a partner knows
Where the work comes from, how staffing decisions are made, what the group is trying to become and who gets put forward for partner are all things an associate can only guess at. Keep the questions about last month's hours and how the vacation policy works in practice for the associates you meet the same day.
When you meet several partners in one day
Put one question, such as how work is assigned or when an associate first runs something alone, to two of them and compare. Give each partner a different opener drawn from their own biography or recent matters, so that no two conversations start the same way.
Afterwards
Within the hour, write down one specific thing each partner said. A short note of thanks that mentions the matter they described or the advice they gave is easier to write, and it shows you were listening to them in particular.
What to listen for
- Whether the partner describes juniors by name and by what they are good at, or only as a resource pool.
- Whether hours are described as intense but predictable, or genuinely unpredictable. The second is the harder one to live with.
- How they talk about associates who left. Bitterness about departures usually predicts how you would be discussed later.
- Whether they can describe the practice's next two years or only its last big matter.
- Whether anyone mentions the same two or three names as the people who train juniors. If nobody is named, training is theoretical.
Questions that will not serve you here
- Anything answered on the firm website, such as office locations or headline practice areas.
- Asking a partner to compare the firm to a named competitor, which puts them in an awkward position and produces a rehearsed line.
- Vacation policy as an opener. Ask it, but ask it of an associate or recruiting, and ask whether people actually take it.
- Broad questions about firm culture, which produce the same answer everywhere. Ask about a specific behaviour instead.
- Anything that reveals you have already decided you will not stay past two years, unless you are prepared for that conversation.