What Not to Ask

“How many lawyers does your firm have?” “How many lawyers in this office do IP?” “When did this office open?” “What practice areas is this office known for?” Here is what your interviewer is thinking when he or she hears these questions: “Are you kidding me? I have to waste .2 hours of my otherwise billable time regurgitating publicly available information because you were either too lazy to Google it or cannot think of something better to ask? For that reason alone I don't want to hire you! Most firms have Websites, which contain all kinds of useful information. There is also NALP, Vault.com, and other helpful resources that have answers to these questions. Use them first, and only ask your interviewer a question if the answer is not available anywhere else.

Additionally, remember to mention that you did all the groundwork before asking the question. This will convince your interviewer that you are serious about his or her firm and willing to invest time in research. Asking something like “I know that your firm's D.C. office has a large private equity group, but do they also do real estate work?” will ensure that you question will be received better than if you simply asked the interviewer to list all the practice groups in the DC office. Your mantra should be “research first, ask questions later.”