Morton Fraser MacRoberts Training Contract (2027) - August 2025

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application

2. Video interview

3. Group interview/written task 

4. Assessment centre

Which aspect does this report cover?

Video interviews, group interview/written task, and training contract assessment centre

Video interview

This had to be completed before applications were reviewed. I completed it online, I believe via the firm's website. 

I was asked two questions:

• Why MFMac?
• What will you bring to the firm?

I had 2 minutes to record my answers to each. I had unlimited time to prepare and could re-record three times per question.

A week or so afterwards, I was invited to the group interview/written exercise stage.

Group interview/written task

This stage took place via Microsoft Teams, and lasted around 2 hours (1 hour for each component).

Group interview

In a group of ~9, one at a time, we had to introduce ourselves and explain why we wanted to work at the firm.

We were then each asked two questions and had to choose one to answer (with no prep time). These questions were random. For example, I was asked Tell me about your university or tell me about an interesting hobby. Others were asked about their dream holiday or an interesting gadget.

Each question had to be answered in 2 mins or less. Otherwise the speaker would be cut-off.  

Written task

After the group interview, we were emailed a task which we had 1 hour to complete. The task was a note on a new piece of legislation (Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023) - we were also given the Scottish Law Commission report which recommended the legislation. 

The note had to include certain information e.g what a Corporeal moveable was or why the previous methods of securing moveable property were inconvenient.

A week or so afterwards, I was invited to the assessment centre.

Assessment centre

This took place at the firm's main office in Edinburgh. It involved:

1. Roleplay exercise: I was given a legal scenario, where I had to roleplay a client meeting, acting as a trainee solicitor (30 minutes, one partner acted as the client, and HR was also present).

2. Interview: full interview (20-30 minutes, with a partner and a HR employee).

Roleplay exercise

I was given a scenario where a company had not been getting paid by a client. I was given a letter explaining the scenario and was tasked with finding out more information. I was also given some information about the law relevant to the dispute. I was given about 12 mins to prepare for the meeting.

To summarise the scenario: 

• The client offered ad-hoc catering services for events.
• The counterparty had used this service before.
• However, after a wedding event, the counterparty did not pay the invoices.
• The client had attempted to contact the counterparty; the counterparty claims that the client did not adhere to their T&Cs. 
• The client argues that the counterparty’s T&C do not apply.
• You are to meet with the CFO and discuss the legal issues and next steps.
• You are also tasked to find out what extra information the CFO needs to provide. 

I acted out the meeting with the CFO (one of the partners was acting as the client), pretending I was a trainee tasked with finding out more information about the case. I explained the law to the CFO, and requested that he send over some additional information, I also stated that I would send a follow-up email.

To prepare for this, learn how client meetings should be structured. Always say that you will send a follow-up email, and learn how to easily present legal issues to a non-lawyer.

Interview

The interview was with a partner and a HR employee. I was asked questions including...

Motivation questions

• Why do you want to work in a law firm as opposed to in-house?
• What do you hope to get out of this traineeship?

Scenario-based questions

• You are working on a tight deadline, when a client urgently comes to the office and asks for a meeting. How do you proceed?
• Would you rather give okay work to a client, but within the deadline, or hand perfect work to a client, but late.
• What would a personality test say about you? 

Commercial awareness questions

• Sell me this firm.
• A client is planning to open a gym, what are the top 5 commercial considerations?
• In the next 5 years, what are the top 3 legal issues? 

For the interview, it was clear the firm was looking for short and snappy answers. Do not talk for too long. Do lots of firm research and research upcoming legal issues.  

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm emailed me in the evening and told me I had been unsuccessful. We were told on the day that we would be informed of the results on the same day.