Latham and Watkins Vacation scheme - January 2025

What was the full recruitment process?

1. Application

2. Psychometric test: situational judgement test and automated video interview question (“Tell me about a time you demonstrated integrity”).

3. Assessment centre

4. Vacation scheme

What does this report cover?

Vacation scheme assessment centre 

Where did the assessment centre take place?

The firm’s London office

What does the assessment centre involve? 

1. Written task: fictional commercial scenario (45 minutes, in a room with other assessment centre attendees and graduate recruitment)

2. Case study interview: oral presentation on advice I would give a client based on a fictional transactional scenario (20 minutes preparation, 10 minute presentation with 1 partner)

3. Partner interview: competency and motivation interview (~35 minutes, with 1 partner)

Written task 

The written task was the same for everyone. 

I was presented with a situation where the client had only ever used employees for their business and wanted to bring on a team of 10 contractors. However, there were several different issues / points to raise that were highlighted within the information.

• One of the contractors didn’t have the right to work in the UK.
• Another was a former employee of the company meaning a different process was required - there is a required time gap in order for this to be a valid transition.
• 2 of the contractors were based in different countries.

I was also given an extract of the law on relationships between employees and contractors. 

I had to draft an email to a partner which summarised the information, and also provided an analysis of the above issues for the client.

Make sure you include an introduction and explanation of the issues before getting into the main parts of your written answer. There are some red herrings within the text (information intended to catch you out) and you will be marked on your ability to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information. Also keep in mind that the skills that Latham are looking for are analytical thinking, effective communication and being detail oriented.

Case study interview 

I was given a small 4 page booklet relating to a charity acquiring another charity. The documents provided background information about the charity, such as it being aligned with negative political figures and there being missing information from the balance sheet. You are asked to decide whether you believe the client should go ahead with the acquisition and are required to outline this at the beginning of your presentation. 

7 minutes into your presentation, you get cut off by the interviewer and receive additional information (which is why they ask you to outline your stance before starting). If you’ve said you don't wish to go ahead with the transaction, you receive some of the missing information from the balance sheet. If you’ve said you do wish to go ahead with the transaction, you receive a note that the information provided by your colleague about the political stance was incorrect. 

The goal of this assessment is to see how you think and there is no wrong or right answer as long as you can substantiate what you are saying. There is also a Q&A at the end of the case study. I was asked: 

• How did I find working with the 2 other trainees (during the case study you are given the information on political stance and missing balance sheet from other trainees in the fictional scenario).
• If I could go back, is there anything I would do differently?

The skills that Latham are looking for are clear communication, handling the interruption well/not getting flustered, and good presentation skills. 

Partner interview 

This interview varied across people in the assessment centre. It was very much dependent on which interviewer you get as they had a list of questions to choose from. 

Competency questions

• What skills do you have that will make you a good trainee at Latham?
• How do you stay motivated during mundane tasks such as drafting?
• Tell me about a time where you provided a service / improved a service to deliver something for a customer or client.
• Have you ever had to deal with somebody dishonest? 

Motivation questions

• Why law?
• Why Latham?
• What do you want to get out of a TC at the firm?

What was the outcome? 

The firm emailed me a week after the assessment centre to tell me I had been unsuccessful. 

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare? 

When practising for the written task, use Chat Gpt to give you similar scenarios that you may come across and assess your work against the skills mentioned above. This is something that was quoted in my feedback call with the firm. The written task is the most challenging task you’re given on the day. It's marked by lawyers in the employment team. 

The competency interview is very straightforward. They really push you to understand what it is about Latham that inspires you, so just be personable and ensure you get this across well. 

The case study was also very straightforward. It’s important to bring commercial awareness into your answer, for example relating the impacts of a negative political stance/alignment to the boycotts of companies like McDonald’s seen in the media.

Latham & Watkins Vacation Scheme – February 2024

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application: 3 questions, 300 words each

2. Situational judgement test: short test asking how you would respond in different situations, including questions where you had to rank answers, and position yourself on a sliding scale between some attributes (e.g. prefers to work alone vs prefers to work in a team). This was followed by a pre-recorded video interview question, which was something along the lines of “How do you deal with setbacks?”. I think I had ~1 minute to prepare and ~2.5 minutes to answer.

3. Assessment centre 

Which aspect does this report cover?

Vacation scheme assessment centre 

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

In person

What did the assessment centre involve?      

1. Written assessment: I was provided with information about a fictional scenario, then given 45 minutes to write up a research report based on this information, summarising the law and advising a fictional client in a digestible manner.

2. General interview: commercial, motivation and competency questions (~60 minutes with one partner). 

3. Case study presentation: commercial case study, involving a presentation and subsequent discussion with my interviewer (~1 hour with one associate). 

General interview 

Motivation questions

I was asked questions designed to test my motivation for pursuing a career in commercial law, and for wanting to work at Latham & Watkins in particular, including:

• Why do you want to be a lawyer?
• Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer?
• What would you enjoy about being a lawyer?
• Why Latham & Watkins?
• What practice area are you most interested in?
• What skills do you think make a good commercial lawyer?

Competency questions

I was also asked a range of questions about me, my previous experiences and the skills I had developed as a result, including:

• How do you balance your responsibilities?
• What is the difference between working in a team and working alone, and how have you been able to adapt to team work?

These were not rigid competency questions. It was more conversational, with the interviewers at times seeking clarification or wanting me to elaborate.

They also asked about specific experiences in my CV, including questions such as:

• How did this role change you?
• What did you learn managing this type of team?

Asking questions

I was given 15 minutes to ask questions at the end. I asked my interviews:

• About their experiences at the firm.
• What they enjoyed the most about their job.
• Why they chose their practice areas.

Case study 

I was given some statistics, financial statements and research carried out by other colleagues and asked to draw on this information to advise a client in connection with an M&A transaction, including advising on whether they should go ahead with it. 

I was given 30 minutes to prepare, and then had to deliver a 10-minute presentation on my findings / conclusion. 

I began with my conclusion, then presented the risks and opportunities (pros and cons) to the client, before highlighting extra information that we want to access to gain a better understanding and reach a more informed decision. 

After, my interviewer asked follow-up questions and debated my conclusion. Additional background information was introduced at this stage and I was asked if this changed my findings. I was then asked some questions about myself, my CV, my interest in Latham, and my interest in commercial law. 

Always shows that you are thinking during the case study. Have a clear framework for your analysis, and carefully consider how the data fits this framework, and how new data might change your decisions. Also, when presenting, reference the background materials to help guide your interviewers (e.g. “As seen on page x…), and give them time to get to the relevant page.

What was the outcome?

The firm called me a week after the assessment centre to tell me that I had been successful.

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?                              

• Personality is a large part of the assessment process. Be yourself. Show your personality. Smile and be relatable (don’t sound like a robot, sound like a human). Be honest and humble at all times, especially when they ask you where else you are applying. 
• Read up on the firm well. Latham is a full-service, global firm that focuses on entrepreneurial spirit. Also understand the differences between firms.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for thinking time.
• Work on your commercial awareness. Start by reading Jake Schogger’s Commercial Law Handbook to understand what commercial awareness means. Then start reading the news and thinking about why companies take certain actions.
• Know your CV well, and prepare multiple STAR-structured stories to show your personality and values.

Latham & Watkins Vacation Scheme - February 2023

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application: 3 questions, 300 words each

2. Written assessment: 30 minutes to read four articles on a particular news story, then answer three questions on the topic. 

3. Assessment centre 

4. Vacation scheme: This involved 2 pieces of assessed work. I had to write a two page research memo based on a specific piece of legislation, as well as a note summarising the five most important covenants to include in a loan agreement. 

5. Training contract interview: this included three competency questions, a discussion around my experience and learnings from my vacation schemes, two motivation questions (why law and why L&W), and a discussion around my other experiences (the interview wasn’t CV blind).

Which aspect does this report cover?

Vacation scheme assessment centre 

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

Zoom

What did the assessment centre involve?      

1. Presentation preparation (materials received 1 week before my interview)

2. Interview: M&A presentation, commercial questions, motivation questions, competency questions(~60 minutes with two partners)

Interview   

Presentation

I was sent an 8-page PDF one week before my interview. This provided information relating to a fictional M&A deal, including details about the target, the acquirer, the market and the potential risks. I was told I would have 10 minutes to deliver a presentation to my interviewers covering potential solutions to the issues set out in the materials, as well as how Latham & Watkins could help.

I created a PowerPoint deck for my presentation, which I shared via Zoom and referred to whilst presenting. After my presentation on the day, I was asked follow-up questions for a few minutes, including (for example):

• Which risk do you consider is the greatest in relation to the acquisition: the potential for a dispute arising, or financial complications?
• Set out hypothetical scenarios to see if my viewpoint would change.
• How could you mitigate certain risks? This involved discussing force majeure clauses, plus warranties and indemnities.
• Within a loan agreement, what are the most important clauses and why? We discussed, for example, the interest rate and change of control clause.
• How would you conduct due diligence to investigate certain potential issues? I mentioned that I would work with other teams within the law firm, carry out further research into certain areas of the deal, and ask questions to the seller.

Motivation questions

I was asked questions designed to test my motivation for pursuing a career in commercial law, and for wanting to work at Latham & Watkins in particular, including:

• Why do you want to be a lawyer?
• Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer?
• What would you enjoy about being a lawyer?

●Why Latham & Watkins?

Competency questions

I was also asked a range of questions about me, my previous experiences and the skills I had developed as a result, including:

• How do you balance your responsibilities?
• What was your latest post on your commercial awareness-focused Instagram page?
• What is the difference between working in a team and working alone, and how have you been able to adapt to team work?
• You seem to be going for transaction-focused practice areas. What skills do you think make you a good transactional lawyer?
• What practice area are you most interested in?
• What do you think the future of AI is going to look like, particularly for law firms?

These were not rigid competency questions. It was more conversational, with the interviewers at times seeking clarification or wanting me to elaborate.

Asking questions

I was given 15 minutes to ask questions at the end. I asked my interviews about:

• Their experiences at L&W.
• The key lessons they have learned.
• What they enjoyed the most about their job.

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm called me 5 days after the assessment centre to tell me that I had been successful.

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?                                                    

• Be honest at all times, especially when they ask you where else are you applying.
• Understand the differences between firms.
• When presenting, reference the background materials to help guide your interviewers (e.g. “As seen on page x…), and give them to get to the relevant page.
• Stick to your presentation time limit.
• Read up on contract law fundamentals in advance.
• Be yourself. Show your personality. Smile and be relatable (don’t sound like a robot, sound like a human)
• Don’t be afraid to ask for thinking time.
• Work on your commercial awareness. Start by reading Jake Schogger’s Commercial Law Handbook to understand what commercial awareness means. Then start reading the news and thinking about why companies take certain actions.

Latham & Watkins Vacation Scheme - November 2021

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application: 3 questions, 300 words each

2. Written assessment: 30 minutes to summarise a piece of legal advice.

3. Assessment centre 

4. Vacation scheme: I believe this involves an assessed piece of work and an assessed group presentation.

5. Training contract interview 

Which aspect does this report cover?

Vacation scheme assessment centre 

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

Zoom

What did the assessment centre involve?      

1. Presentation preparation (materials received 1 week before my interview)

2. Interview: M&A presentation, commercial questions, motivation questions, competency questions (~60 minutes with two partners)

Interview   

Presentation

I was sent an 8-page PDF one week before my interview. This provided information relating to a fictional M&A deal, including details about the target, the acquirer, a market analysis, and potential risks. I was told I would have 10 minutes to deliver a presentation to my interviewers covering potential solutions to the issues set out in the materials, as well as how Latham & Watkins could help.

After my presentation on the day, I was asked follow-up questions for a few minutes, including (for example):

• Give me an example of a company struggling to keep its CEO or founders in-check.
• How could a lawyer try to reduce the legal risks that could arise out of this situation?
• If you were to recommend legal due diligence, what would be the next steps in this process?
• How would you quantify (whether that be by modelling or “guestimation”) the risk of this acquisition in terms of cost on a pound-for-pound basis?

Motivation questions

I was asked questions designed to test my motivation for pursuing a career in commercial law, and for wanting to work at Latham & Watkins in particular, including:

• Why do you want to be a lawyer?
• Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer?
• What would you enjoy about being a lawyer?
• Why Latham & Watkins?

Competency questions 

I was also asked a range of questions about me, my previous experiences and the skills I had developed as a result, including:

• What are your three biggest weaknesses?
• Questions about my extracurriculars and work experience.
• What makes a good trainee?

These were not rigid competency questions. It was more conversational, with the interviewers at times seeking clarification or wanting me to elaborate.

Questions

I was given 15 minutes to ask questions at the end. I asked why the partners decided to qualify into their practice areas, as well as a series of questions that naturally followed on from our previous discussions.

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm called me 4 days after the assessment centre to tell me that I had been successful.

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?                                                       

• Know the firm inside and out.
• Fully understand why you want to be a lawyer and why you want to work for an American firm versus a UK firm.
• Read up on commercial and legal concepts such as the difference between a share sale and asset sale, warranties vs. indemnities, legal due diligence, and so on.
• Try to make the presentation short and to-the-point (i.e. under 10 minutes) and expect to be stopped and challenged during the presentation.