Top Law Schools

Going on a lunch interview with some transactional partners for a lateral move. During the preliminary interview, these guys were all dressed rather casually, with sweaters and slacks. Nobody was wearing a suit and tie. The most important question is, do you think it's safe to wear a suit and button down, but skip the tie? I think that it shows a degree of social intelligence and intuition to skip the tie, because it shows you pick up on their more casual vibe and the fact that you're going to lunch instead of meeting in a more formal setting. On the other hand, you could always get a more traditional interviewer who expects you to be more formal and conservative at all times during the process. Opinions?

Any other input on behavior during lunch interviews would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

It's still an interview. Suit and no tie sounds like the correct answer. Once you get to the restaurant, you can take off the jacket if you think that's the right call.

I'd be in favor of still doing business formal, complete with tie - I don't think there's any cognizable risk of a partner getting irritated by an interviewee dressing up for an interview. (Whereas I think there is a pretty significant chance of a partner being rubbed the wrong way by an interviewee "not taking the interview seriously enough.") As the above poster mentions, you can consider taking the jacket off when you sit down to eat, assuming none of the partners is dressed up. Obviously, if there's even a single partner with a jacket on, you keep your jacket on.

Totally different story if you're doing a second look post-offer - then I think business casual is OK given the prevailing dress code you describe.