Sua SponteMy law school odyssey: the ongoing narrative.
Twenty Things to Ask a Lawyer on the Recruiting Path When You Are Otherwise At a Loss for Something to Say:
[Authorship credit: cribbed from an email I rec'd today]
1. What changes have you seen in your practice over the last couple of years?
2. What changes do you expect to see in your practice in the near term?
3. What are the firm's plans for the future?
4. What do you think distinguishes your practice from others?
5. What recent matters/cases/deals best demonstrate your firm's strengths?
6. What's the pace of work like in your office?
7. Do you have a typical client? Describe the firm's clients.
8. How much client contact would I have as a summer clerk, new associate?
9. What projects are on your desk now?
10. What's a typical day like for a summer clerk? For a new attorney in your office?
11. Would I have the opportunity to do "x" (something you want to do) at your office?
12. Do attorneys here work mostly alone or as part of a team?
13. How is feedback given at the firm? How do associates/clerks know how they are doing?
14. Tell me more about the firm's practice in x,y,z field.
15. How many positions do you typically have in your summer class?
16. In what areas of your firm's practice do you foresee the most growth over the next couple of years?
17. Why did you choose this firm?
18. Why did you choose your particular practice area?
19. What is your firm's pro bono policy?
20. How would you describe your office's culture/atmosphere?
Apologies; this is more of a public-service post, not particularly amusing. Maybe Jeremy can come up with a suitable parody.
UPDATE: Here's Jeremy's version.
thus spake /jca @ August 22, 2003 05:54 PM | TrackBack"Suitable" parody - heh.
Somebody'd better, you're liable to prove a challenge to sleep-deprived associates with the likes of these (not to mention we more jaded and often equally sleep-deprived senior citizens...).
Knowing a lot about the firm before you go in consistently is a big points-getter. These sorts of questions would lose many of their somnambulistic qualities if they were tied to concrete things about the firm or the lawyer that had actually piqued your interest. Law firm Web sites and Google are your friends! And any firm recruiting staff worth its salt will be happy to provide you in advance with the names of the attorneys you'll be meeting (subject to last minute changes of course; be ready to improvise).
Posted by: Denise Howell at August 22, 2003 08:45 PMThese sorts of questions are useful if (1) you already have the offer in hand and are trying to obtain more information to help make your choice or (2) the interview is a snooze and you're trying to fill up the last few minutes without embarrassment. Otherwise, except for #8, #10, #11, #13, #17, no.
See more at my web site.
Posted by: Max Power at August 24, 2003 03:32 PMYou know, I still recall with amusement the response I once received to the question, "What makes your firm special?" when I interviewed for my first law job 12 years ago.
It was a hot day and the air conditioning hadn't been working. The interviewer--a squat man in a conservative suit--was literally drenched in sweat. He leaned forward, conspiratorially, and he said: "There are days in law when you'll want to loop your tie over the ceiling fan and hang yourself, but it's the people you work with who will keep you from doing it. We got those kind of people."
The firm dissolved two years later.
Ron
P.S. The most unusual question that *I* was asked while interviewing at a New York firm as a law student was: "One final question: Are you keenly and rigorously analytical, or are you a mush head?!?"
I went with keenly and rigorously analytical.