Law Tests

Law Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a knowledge assistant. You raised with a colleague that the case summaries she writes for the bulletin are arriving too long to use, and she took it as criticism of her work. She has since stopped attending the weekly planning call that the two of you and two others use to divide the month. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Divide the month between the three of you who still attend, and send her whatever is left over, since the call cannot wait for somebody who has decided not to come.
   2. Stop sending her the bulletin plan because she said you were being pedantic, since somebody who will not come to the call has no particular claim on knowing what the rest of you decide.
   3. Ask her for a few minutes, say the point was about length rather than about her writing, and ask what would make the planning call worth coming back to.
   4. Raise it with the person who owns the bulletin, since a contributor refusing to attend the planning call is affecting the output and is not really yours to sort out.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Ask her for a few minutes, say the point was about length rather than about her writing, and ask what would make the planning call worth coming back to.

   Least effective: B. Stop sending her the bulletin plan because she said you were being pedantic, since somebody who will not come to the call has no particular claim on knowing what the rest of you decide.

   A: Works around the absence: it keeps the call going and makes her permanently peripheral, so the summaries get worse and the reason she stopped attending is never touched.

   B: Withdraws information after the disagreement: the person writing several summaries stops knowing what the month contains, so the bulletin is worse because two people fell out.

   D: Escalates before asking: she has never been told that the comment was about length rather than quality, so the first thing that happens is somebody senior asking her why she stopped coming.

   The most effective response is to ask her for a few minutes, say the point was about length rather than about her writing, and ask what would make the planning call worth coming back to. She has drawn a conclusion the feedback did not carry, only you can correct that, and the call is what the shared work runs on. It beats dividing the month between the three of you who still attend and sending her the remainder, because making her peripheral guarantees the summaries stay unusable. It beats raising it with the person who owns the bulletin, because nobody has yet told her what was actually meant. The least effective response is stopping sending her the bulletin plan: it answers her withdrawal with yours and cuts the person writing the summaries out of the plan, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those try to keep the output intact. The principle: correct what the feedback was taken to mean, and protect the meeting the work depends on.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a client services adviser. The firm’s booking system will not let you hold a meeting room for more than two hours, and three times this month a longer meeting has had to move rooms halfway through. You have found that the limit can be got round by making two bookings back to back under different names. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write up the three occasions and what the two-hour limit did to each, and take it to the office manager with the suggestion that the limit be changed.
   2. Tell the fee earners who book long meetings about the two-booking method, so that they can use it themselves whenever they need a room for longer.
   3. Raise the two-hour limit with the office manager when you next see her, and carry on moving meetings halfway through in the meantime as everybody has been doing.
   4. Use the two-booking method whenever a longer meeting comes up, since it solves the problem today and nobody is harmed by a room being held under two names.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Write up the three occasions and what the two-hour limit did to each, and take it to the office manager with the suggestion that the limit be changed.

   Least effective: D. Use the two-booking method whenever a longer meeting comes up, since it solves the problem today and nobody is harmed by a room being held under two names.

   B: Spreads the workaround: it turns one person's trick into the way the firm books rooms, and it puts the diary further from the truth every time it is used.

   C: Raises it without the evidence: three occasions with what each cost is an argument, and mentioning a limit in passing is a remark that will be lost among everything else she has.

   D: Builds a workaround around a control: bookings under names that are not the people meeting make the room diary describe something that is not happening, and the limit itself is never looked at.

   The most effective response is to write up the three occasions and what the two-hour limit did to each, and take it to the office manager with the suggestion that the limit be changed. Three occasions with their consequences is what turns an irritation into a case, and she is the person who can change it. It beats raising the limit with her when you next see her while carrying on moving meetings halfway through, because the same point made without the evidence goes nowhere. It beats telling the fee earners who book long meetings about the two-booking method, because teaching a trick to more people is not a fix. The least effective response is using the two-booking method whenever a longer meeting comes up: it puts bookings in the diary under names that are not meeting there, so the record stops describing the building. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, because it is you rather than the system that makes the diary wrong. The principle: take the evidence to whoever owns the rule rather than routing around it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a compliance assistant. Your team reports each month how many new files had their checks completed before work started. One of this month’s files had its check completed the day after work began, because the fee earner was told the wrong thing by somebody else. Your team leader asks for the figures. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Record the check as completed before work started, since the check was done and the reason it was a day late had nothing to do with the fee earner or with the compliance team.
   2. Give her the figure with the exception shown, and leave the explanation to whoever asks about it, since the numbers are what the report is for.
   3. Give her the figure with the exception shown and a line explaining that the fee earner was given wrong information, so the report carries the cause as well as the count.
   4. Ask her whether the one late file needs to be in the figures at all, given that it was caused by something outside the process the report is meant to measure.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Give her the figure with the exception shown and a line explaining that the fee earner was given wrong information, so the report carries the cause as well as the count.

   Least effective: A. Record the check as completed before work started, since the check was done and the reason it was a day late had nothing to do with the fee earner or with the compliance team.

   A: Marks a file as compliant when it was not: the whole point of the figure is that it counts checks done before work began, and a file recorded as fine removes the only trace of what went wrong.

   B: Reports the number without its cause: the exception will be read as a fee earner ignoring a check, and the thing that actually needs fixing is somebody giving out wrong information.

   D: Invites the data to be trimmed: the report measures whether checks were done before work started, and this one was not, whatever the reason.

   The most effective response is to give her the figure with the exception shown and a line explaining that the fee earner was given wrong information. The figure is what it is, and the one line is what turns an apparent breach into something the firm can act on. It beats giving her the figure with the exception shown and leaving the explanation to whoever asks, because an unexplained exception will be read as the wrong kind of failure. It beats asking whether the one late file needs to be in the figures at all, because the measure is about what happened, not about whose fault it was. The least effective response is recording the check as completed before work started: it records the file as compliant when it was not, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those leave the exception visible. The principle: report the exception and its cause together, and never make the record say the exception did not happen.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a compliance assistant. You have noticed that the firm’s new file-opening form asks for a date of birth in a box that most people leave blank, and that nothing downstream uses it. Three fee earners have asked you what it is for. The form was designed by the operations team last year. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Hand it to the fee earners' own team leader and let her raise it with operations, since it is her people who keep asking and the request will carry more weight from her.
   2. Tell the three fee earners the box can be left blank, so that nobody wastes time on it while the form stays as it is.
   3. Mention it to the operations team next time you speak to them, since it is a small thing and there is no need to make a piece of work out of one box on a form.
   4. Write down what the box asks for, how often it is completed and that nothing downstream uses it, and take it to the operations team with a suggestion.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Write down what the box asks for, how often it is completed and that nothing downstream uses it, and take it to the operations team with a suggestion.

   Least effective: A. Hand it to the fee earners' own team leader and let her raise it with operations, since it is her people who keep asking and the request will carry more weight from her.

   A: Passes it on without owning it: the person who knows what the box does and does not do gives it to somebody who does not, and adds nothing they could put to operations.

   B: Spreads a workaround: it saves three people a moment and it makes the form permanently half-used, since nobody who could change it hears anything.

   C: Raises it without the evidence: a remark in passing about a form somebody designed is easy to set aside, where three questions and a completion rate are an argument.

   The most effective response is to write down what the box asks for, how often it is completed and that nothing downstream uses it, and take it to the operations team with a suggestion. What makes this actionable is the three facts you have and nobody else does, and they can change the form. It beats telling the three fee earners the box can be left blank, because that leaves the box. It beats mentioning it to operations next time you speak to them, because a passing remark about somebody’s own design is easy to put aside. The least effective response is handing it to the fee earners’ team leader to raise on the theory that it carries more weight from her: the only assembled account goes to somebody without it. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which at least carry what you know. The principle: the person holding the evidence takes it to the team that owns the thing.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a reception coordinator. Three times this month a client has arrived for a meeting that was not in the room diary, and each time you have found a room at the last minute. Nobody has complained. You have noticed that all three bookings came from the same team and were made by email rather than through the system. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply to the next email booking asking the sender to use the system instead, and do the same each time until that team gets used to booking the way everybody else does.
   2. Carry on finding rooms as you have been, since no client has been kept waiting and raising it would make trouble for a team that is plainly under pressure.
   3. Set out the three occasions, what happened each time and where the bookings came from, and take it to the office manager with a suggestion for closing the gap.
   4. Block out two rooms every morning so there is always somewhere to put an unbooked meeting, which removes the risk without anybody needing to change how they work.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Set out the three occasions, what happened each time and where the bookings came from, and take it to the office manager with a suggestion for closing the gap.

   Least effective: B. Carry on finding rooms as you have been, since no client has been kept waiting and raising it would make trouble for a team that is plainly under pressure.

   A: Corrects one message at a time: it works only when somebody happens to email you, and it puts the fix in the hands of the team that has been getting it wrong for a month.

   B: Passes the risk quietly forward: three saves in a month is luck rather than a system, and the first time there is no free room a client will be standing in reception with nowhere to go.

   D: Builds a workaround: it takes two rooms out of use every day to cover an occasional fault, and it makes the underlying booking problem permanently invisible.

   The most effective response is to set out the three occasions, what happened each time and where the bookings came from, and take it to the office manager with a suggestion. Three occasions with a common source is a pattern rather than three accidents, and she is the person who can change how that team books. It beats replying to each email booking asking the sender to use the system, because correcting them one at a time leaves the next to chance. It beats blocking out two rooms every morning, because holding rooms empty pays for the fault every day and hides it. The least effective response is carrying on finding rooms as you have been: it keeps a run of luck going and leaves nobody able to act, so the first failure lands on a client. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which at least change something. The principle: when you have absorbed the same fault three times, the absorbing is the problem.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a records assistant in a week when half the team is off. A fee earner has twice raised with your team leader that files are taking too long to retrieve, and this morning said in the corridor, where others could hear, that the records team has stopped bothering. You know the delays are the staffing. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him in the corridor that half the team is off this week, and that his files would come back faster if he stopped complaining and started planning ahead.
   2. Say nothing to him and raise the staffing with your team leader, since she is the one he has complained to twice and the one who can explain it to him.
   3. Prioritise his requests above everybody else's for the rest of the week, so that the complaints stop and he sees for himself that the team has not stopped bothering.
   4. Tell him quietly that the team is at half strength this week, give him a realistic time for his current request, and say you will flag the staffing to your team leader.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell him quietly that the team is at half strength this week, give him a realistic time for his current request, and say you will flag the staffing to your team leader.

   Least effective: A. Tell him in the corridor that half the team is off this week, and that his files would come back faster if he stopped complaining and started planning ahead.

   A: Answers a complaint with a criticism of the complainer: it turns a question about retrieval times into an exchange between two people in a corridor with an audience.

   B: Leaves the wrong account standing: he will carry on believing the team has stopped bothering until somebody tells him otherwise, and nothing says she will.

   C: Rewards the loudest voice: it fixes one person's experience by making everyone else's worse, and it leaves the staffing problem unreported because the symptom has gone quiet.

   The most effective response is to tell him quietly that the team is at half strength this week, give him a realistic time for his current request, and say you will flag the staffing to your team leader. He is missing one fact, he needs a time he can work with, and the staffing belongs in front of the person who can act on it. It beats saying nothing to him and raising the staffing with your team leader, because he will otherwise keep the wrong account. It beats prioritising his requests above everybody else’s for the rest of the week, because moving him to the front hides the cause. The least effective response is telling him in the corridor that his files would come back faster if he stopped complaining: it answers his complaint by criticising him, in front of whoever is there. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which makes it about him. The principle: give the missing fact quietly, give a real time, and send the cause upward.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a knowledge assistant. You notice that a precedent letter on the firm’s system still names a fee arrangement the firm stopped offering last year. Three teams use that letter. The person who owns the precedent library is at a conference until Monday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Message the three teams today to say the letter is out of date and should not go out until it is corrected, and email the library owner so it is dealt with on Monday.
   2. Say nothing until Monday, when the person who owns the library is back and can decide what to do about a precedent that has been wrong for the better part of a year already.
   3. Correct the letter yourself so that nobody sends the old fee arrangement out, and tell the library owner what you changed when she is back on Monday.
   4. Email the library owner setting out the problem so that it is at the top of her messages on Monday, and carry on with your own work in the meantime.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Message the three teams today to say the letter is out of date and should not go out until it is corrected, and email the library owner so it is dealt with on Monday.

   Least effective: B. Say nothing until Monday, when the person who owns the library is back and can decide what to do about a precedent that has been wrong for the better part of a year already.

   B: Withholds a warning people needed: three teams can send that letter to a client at any point before Monday, and the only person who knows it is wrong has decided to wait.

   C: Changes a controlled document without authority: the correction may well be right and it is made by somebody who does not own the precedent, in a library whose whole value is that its contents are approved.

   D: Fails to warn the people at risk: the email reaches the right person and reaches her after the weekend, while the three teams who might send the letter hear nothing at all.

   The most effective response is to message the three teams today to say the letter is out of date and should not go out, and email the library owner for Monday. The urgent part is that three teams could send a wrong letter before Monday, and that is fixed by telling them; the correction itself belongs to the owner. It beats correcting the letter yourself and telling her what you changed on Monday, because amending an approved precedent is not yours to do. It beats emailing her so it is at the top of her messages, because that protects Monday and not the next four days. The least effective response is saying nothing until Monday: the only person who knows sits on it while three teams carry on, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those at least act on somebody. The principle: warn the people exposed today, and route the fix to whoever owns it.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a billing assistant. A fee earner asks whether a client has paid an invoice from last month. The accounts system shows a payment of the right amount but not which invoice it was for, and the person who allocates payments is off today. He wants to open a further piece of work on the strength of it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him the payment is showing and that it has not yet been matched to an invoice, and offer to get the bank reference checked this morning so he has something definite.
   2. Tell him you cannot confirm it until the person who allocates payments is back tomorrow, since matching a payment to an invoice is her job rather than yours.
   3. Tell him it has been paid and state it as confirmed, since the amount matches exactly and no other invoice on the account is anywhere near that figure.
   4. Tell him a payment is showing, and note on the account that he asked, so there is a record of the query for whoever picks up the allocation tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell him the payment is showing and that it has not yet been matched to an invoice, and offer to get the bank reference checked this morning so he has something definite.

   Least effective: C. Tell him it has been paid and state it as confirmed, since the amount matches exactly and no other invoice on the account is anywhere near that figure.

   B: Answers with the obstacle: it is accurate about who does what and it leaves him a day behind, when the bank reference could settle it in half an hour.

   C: Asserts a fact the record does not carry: the system shows money in and not what it was for, and he is going to open new work on the strength of your answer.

   D: Records the question instead of answering it: the note helps tomorrow and he is making a decision today with half a fact.

   The most effective response is to tell him the payment is showing but not yet matched to an invoice, and offer to get the bank reference checked this morning. He needs to know what the record does and does not show, and the reference can turn that into a definite answer within the morning. It beats telling him you cannot confirm it until the person who allocates payments is back tomorrow, because a day’s wait is not necessary. It beats telling him a payment is showing and noting the query on the account, because a note does not reach the decision he is about to make. The least effective response is telling him it has been paid and stating it as confirmed: he is given something the system does not support, and he will commit the firm to further work on it. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which are clear about what is unmatched. The principle: say exactly what the record shows, and go and get the rest.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a new enquiries adviser. A colleague on the same desk has twice taken enquiries that were passed to you while you were on another call, and both became instructions credited to him. He says he was only keeping the callers from waiting. The team’s figures are reviewed monthly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Speak to him directly, say what you have noticed on both occasions, and agree between you what should happen to a transferred enquiry when the person it was passed to is busy.
   2. Ask two others on the desk, behind his back, whether he has done the same to them, so that you know whether this is a pattern before you decide what to do about it.
   3. Let it go on the basis that his explanation is reasonable, and make a point of getting to transferred calls faster yourself so that the situation does not come up again.
   4. Raise it with your team leader before the monthly review and ask her to look at how the two enquiries were credited, given what was happening when each of them came in.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Speak to him directly, say what you have noticed on both occasions, and agree between you what should happen to a transferred enquiry when the person it was passed to is busy.

   Least effective: B. Ask two others on the desk, behind his back, whether he has done the same to them, so that you know whether this is a pattern before you decide what to do about it.

   B: Canvasses colleagues behind his back: it collects a view of a person from people who were not involved, so by the time he is asked anything the desk has already made up its mind about him.

   C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: it accepts an explanation without testing it and puts the whole remedy on you, so the same thing happens the next time you are on a long call.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: it turns a two-person question into a management one without him ever being asked, and does so shortly before the figures that make it worth something to you.

   The most effective response is to speak to him directly, say what you noticed on both occasions, and agree what should happen to a transferred enquiry when the person it went to is busy. There is a real question about transferred enquiries and a real question about credit, and both are answerable in one conversation. It beats letting it go and getting to transferred calls faster yourself, because his explanation has not been tested and the remedy it accepts is entirely yours. It beats raising it with your team leader before the monthly review, because a manager is the right destination only once he has been asked. The least effective response is asking two others on the desk whether he has done the same to them: it gathers opinion about him from people with no part in it, so the desk forms a view before he has said a word. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which involves anybody who was not already in the situation. The principle: ask the person first, and never build a case about them among people who were not there.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a paralegal. You have been asked to complete two schedules by five today. At two you realise the second one needs a figure from the client, who does not usually reply the same day. The fee earner who asked for them is in the building. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Finish both schedules using an estimate for the missing figure, and mark that figure clearly as provisional until the client confirms it.
    2. Email the client asking for the figure, finish the first schedule, and let the fee earner find out at five which of the two is ready and which is not.
    3. Ring the client repeatedly through the afternoon until you get the figure, leaving the first schedule until you have it so that both can be finished together.
    4. Email the client, finish the first schedule, and tell the fee earner now that the second depends on a reply that may not come today.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Email the client, finish the first schedule, and tell the fee earner now that the second depends on a reply that may not come today.

    Least effective: B. Email the client asking for the figure, finish the first schedule, and let the fee earner find out at five which of the two is ready and which is not.

    A: Fills a gap with a number nobody gave you: a schedule containing an estimate is not the schedule that was asked for, and a provisional marking is easy to lose once it is passed on.

    B: Leaves somebody to discover it at the deadline: he is in the building all afternoon, and at five the options he had at two, including asking the client himself, have all gone.

    C: Stakes everything on the uncertain half: the schedule you could certainly deliver is put at risk for one that depends on somebody who may not answer today.

    The most effective response is to email the client, finish the first schedule, and tell the fee earner now that the second depends on a reply that may not come today. Everything you can do is done, the client is asked, and he learns at two rather than five, when he can still chase them himself. It beats finishing both schedules using an estimate for the missing figure, because an estimated figure is not the figure. It beats ringing the client repeatedly and leaving the first schedule until you have the number, because that risks the one that was certain. The least effective response is emailing the client, finishing the first schedule, and letting him find out at five: it produces the same work as the best answer and tells him nothing, so he discovers it when nothing can be done. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which at least leave him with something at five. The principle: when a commitment starts to depend on somebody else, say so while there is still afternoon left.