Top Law Schools

Hey!

I am currently summering at a mid-sized regional firm and so I was excited to receive my first big law interview offer.

I am still waiting on some other New York firms but I currently have an interview set-up with Davis Polk. I just wanted to know how much background information I need to know about the firm and what to expect.

Any advice would be much appreciated

You will meet with 4 interviewers for a half hour, 1-2 partners/counsel and 2-3 associates. They will typically ask a few questions about your resume as ice breakers but will (some more quickly than others) get to questions designed to gauge your analytical ability/intellect and ability to think off script. Assuming you opt for as much, you will then go to lunch with 2 junior associates (probably first years) who help answer questions in a more relaxed setting and otherwise gauge your personality. You will not find out the identities of any of your interviewers before walking in the door so you won't be able to internalize their biographies in advance.

It's probably a good idea to know what the firm does and where they do it but (like it and most peer firms) it basically does everything and at least thinks it does everything well, so it's tough to get trapped by selling something that doesn't exist. I'd just read the chambers and vault profiles and skim the website.

Anonymous User wrote:You will meet with 4 interviewers for a half hour, 1-2 partners/counsel and 2-3 associates. They will typically ask a few questions about your resume as ice breakers but will (some more quickly than others) get to questions designed to gauge your analytical ability/intellect and ability to think off script. Assuming you opt for as much, you will then go to lunch with 2 junior associates (probably first years) who help answer questions in a more relaxed setting and otherwise gauge your personality. You will not find out the identities of any of your interviewers before walking in the door so you won't be able to internalize their biographies in advance.

It's probably a good idea to know what the firm does and where they do it but (like it and most peer firms) it basically does everything and at least thinks it does everything well, so it's tough to get trapped by selling something that doesn't exist. I'd just read the chambers and vault profiles and skim the website.

Does DPW specifically not tell you who your interviewers are? I didn't have a callback there, but every other firm I interviewed at would tell you who you would be meeting with if you asked recruiting the night before.

Avian wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:You will meet with 4 interviewers for a half hour, 1-2 partners/counsel and 2-3 associates. They will typically ask a few questions about your resume as ice breakers but will (some more quickly than others) get to questions designed to gauge your analytical ability/intellect and ability to think off script. Assuming you opt for as much, you will then go to lunch with 2 junior associates (probably first years) who help answer questions in a more relaxed setting and otherwise gauge your personality. You will not find out the identities of any of your interviewers before walking in the door so you won't be able to internalize their biographies in advance.

It's probably a good idea to know what the firm does and where they do it but (like it and most peer firms) it basically does everything and at least thinks it does everything well, so it's tough to get trapped by selling something that doesn't exist. I'd just read the chambers and vault profiles and skim the website.

Does DPW specifically not tell you who your interviewers are? I didn't have a callback there, but every other firm I interviewed at would tell you who you would be meeting with if you asked recruiting the night before.

Yes. I unfortunately learned that the hard way.

ETA: Different anon.

Avian wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:You will meet with 4 interviewers for a half hour, 1-2 partners/counsel and 2-3 associates. They will typically ask a few questions about your resume as ice breakers but will (some more quickly than others) get to questions designed to gauge your analytical ability/intellect and ability to think off script. Assuming you opt for as much, you will then go to lunch with 2 junior associates (probably first years) who help answer questions in a more relaxed setting and otherwise gauge your personality. You will not find out the identities of any of your interviewers before walking in the door so you won't be able to internalize their biographies in advance.

It's probably a good idea to know what the firm does and where they do it but (like it and most peer firms) it basically does everything and at least thinks it does everything well, so it's tough to get trapped by selling something that doesn't exist. I'd just read the chambers and vault profiles and skim the website.

Does DPW specifically not tell you who your interviewers are? I didn't have a callback there, but every other firm I interviewed at would tell you who you would be meeting with if you asked recruiting the night before.

Yes, they told me I will interview with 4-5 attorneys and then go to a two hour lunch. The lady I spoke with sad they will let me know who I will be interviewing with when I arrive that morning! They did mention they would try to select attorneys in the practice area I was interested in.

With your other NYC interviews did you find that the interviews were fairly conversational? What types of questions were asked?

MAK4 wrote:

Avian wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:You will meet with 4 interviewers for a half hour, 1-2 partners/counsel and 2-3 associates. They will typically ask a few questions about your resume as ice breakers but will (some more quickly than others) get to questions designed to gauge your analytical ability/intellect and ability to think off script. Assuming you opt for as much, you will then go to lunch with 2 junior associates (probably first years) who help answer questions in a more relaxed setting and otherwise gauge your personality. You will not find out the identities of any of your interviewers before walking in the door so you won't be able to internalize their biographies in advance.

It's probably a good idea to know what the firm does and where they do it but (like it and most peer firms) it basically does everything and at least thinks it does everything well, so it's tough to get trapped by selling something that doesn't exist. I'd just read the chambers and vault profiles and skim the website.

Does DPW specifically not tell you who your interviewers are? I didn't have a callback there, but every other firm I interviewed at would tell you who you would be meeting with if you asked recruiting the night before.

Yes, they told me I will interview with 4-5 attorneys and then go to a two hour lunch. The lady I spoke with sad they will let me know who I will be interviewing with when I arrive that morning! They did mention they would try to select attorneys in the practice area I was interested in.

With your other NYC interviews did you find that the interviews were fairly conversational? What types of questions were asked?

There were some random questions about interesting bits on my resume, but it was clearly just to make conversation. They all seemed to be very focused on fit and letting you ask questions rather than grilling you. If you get to the callback stage you've almost certainly met their grade cutoff so fit is the most important consideration. That said, just because you get a callback does not mean that the position is yours to lose. Some firms extend callbacks to a large number of people, so you still have to bring your A game.

Avian wrote:

MAK4 wrote:

Avian wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:You will meet with 4 interviewers for a half hour, 1-2 partners/counsel and 2-3 associates. They will typically ask a few questions about your resume as ice breakers but will (some more quickly than others) get to questions designed to gauge your analytical ability/intellect and ability to think off script. Assuming you opt for as much, you will then go to lunch with 2 junior associates (probably first years) who help answer questions in a more relaxed setting and otherwise gauge your personality. You will not find out the identities of any of your interviewers before walking in the door so you won't be able to internalize their biographies in advance.

It's probably a good idea to know what the firm does and where they do it but (like it and most peer firms) it basically does everything and at least thinks it does everything well, so it's tough to get trapped by selling something that doesn't exist. I'd just read the chambers and vault profiles and skim the website.

Does DPW specifically not tell you who your interviewers are? I didn't have a callback there, but every other firm I interviewed at would tell you who you would be meeting with if you asked recruiting the night before.

Yes, they told me I will interview with 4-5 attorneys and then go to a two hour lunch. The lady I spoke with sad they will let me know who I will be interviewing with when I arrive that morning! They did mention they would try to select attorneys in the practice area I was interested in.

With your other NYC interviews did you find that the interviews were fairly conversational? What types of questions were asked?

There were some random questions about interesting bits on my resume, but it was clearly just to make conversation. They all seemed to be very focused on fit and letting you ask questions rather than grilling you. If you get to the callback stage you've almost certainly met their grade cutoff so fit is the most important consideration. That said, just because you get a callback does not mean that the position is yours to lose. Some firms callback a large number of people, so you still have to bring your A game.

Thank you so much for the advice! One more question, how long after the call back did they offer you? From the research I have done it seems like most big firms let you know within a few days.

I heard back from most in a couple of days.