Clifford Assessment Tests

Clifford Chance Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a knowledge assistant. You choose which of two training providers the firm books for its quarterly sessions. One of them offers you a free place on a course you have wanted to take, worth several hundred pounds, and says it is available because you are a regular booker. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the place as a gift you would have paid for yourself, since the course is for your own development and has nothing to do with which provider gets the firm's bookings.
   2. Decline the place and tell your manager the offer was made, so it is on record and somebody other than you decides whether anything is said to the provider.
   3. Decline the place and say nothing more about it, since refusing is enough and reporting it would make an issue of a provider being generous with a spare seat.
   4. Ask whether the place can be offered to somebody else in the firm instead, so that the value is not wasted and it does not go to the person doing the booking.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Decline the place and tell your manager the offer was made, so it is on record and somebody other than you decides whether anything is said to the provider.

   Least effective: A. Take the place as a gift you would have paid for yourself, since the course is for your own development and has nothing to do with which provider gets the firm's bookings.

   A: Takes a benefit the role forbids: you are the person who decides between the two providers, so a free place from one of them is worth something to you whatever it is called.

   C: Leaves the offer unreported: the refusal protects this quarter and the firm never learns that the provider makes offers to the person who books, so the next booker meets it cold.

   D: Keeps the benefit inside the firm without reporting it: it removes the personal gain and leaves the provider's practice of making such offers unrecorded and undiscussed.

   The most effective response is to decline the place and tell your manager the offer was made. Declining is only half of it: what protects the next booking decision is that somebody other than you knows it happened. It beats declining and saying nothing more about it, because a private refusal leaves the firm blind. It beats asking whether the place can go to somebody else in the firm, because redirecting it still leaves nobody aware of the offer. The least effective response is taking the place as a gift you would have paid for yourself: it accepts a valuable benefit from a provider you choose between, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because neither of those takes anything. The principle: refuse it, and make the refusal somebody else’s knowledge too.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a client services adviser covering the desk alone. A client is waiting in reception for a meeting that started ten minutes ago and the fee earner is not answering. Two calls are holding and a courier is at the door with a package that needs signing for. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sign for the courier first because he cannot wait, then take the two calls, and go to the waiting client once the desk is clear enough to leave for a few minutes.
   2. Speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls, telling each caller you will ring them straight back.
   3. Take the two calls first, since callers cannot see what is happening at the desk and the client in reception can see that you are busy and will understand the wait.
   4. Ask the courier to come back later and put both calls through to voicemail, so that you can go and find somebody who can take the client's meeting for you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls, telling each caller you will ring them straight back.

   Least effective: D. Ask the courier to come back later and put both calls through to voicemail, so that you can go and find somebody who can take the client's meeting for you.

   A: Clears the quickest items first: it produces a tidy desk and leaves the person who can see you ignoring her for longest, which is the one cost the firm will hear about.

   C: Uses a customer's patience as a resource: the client can see you, which makes the wait worse rather than more forgivable, and neither caller knows they are being preferred.

   D: Hands the problem on and drops the rest: it turns away a delivery, sends two callers to voicemail and leaves the desk, all to give somebody else a meeting they have not agreed to take.

   The most effective response is to speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls. Thirty seconds spent on the person who can see you costs almost nothing and removes the only cost that is growing. It beats signing for the courier first because he cannot wait, since his minute is worth less than the client’s ten. It beats taking the two calls first because callers cannot see what is happening, since a visible wait is worse than an invisible one, not better. The least effective response is asking the courier to come back later and putting both calls to voicemail while you find somebody to take the meeting: it clears your own desk by making three other things somebody else’s, without asking any of them. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, which both keep everything with you. The principle: give the person in front of you a word and a time first, then work the rest in order.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a practice assistant. You and a colleague in another team both support the same two fee earners. A recurring diary conflict between their commitments has been going wrong for a month, and each of you has been fixing it separately on the day. Your colleague says he has no time to look at the cause. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Hand the whole diary problem to your colleague's team, since the commitment that keeps clashing is theirs and it is their side that should be sorting out the cause.
   2. Carry on fixing the clash each morning as you have been, since between the two of you it has always been sorted before either fee earner has noticed anything wrong.
   3. Write down what has gone wrong on each of the four occasions and send it to both fee earners, asking which of the two commitments should give way in future.
   4. Spend half an hour tracing what causes the clash, then take what you find to your colleague with a suggested fix so the two of you can agree one change.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Spend half an hour tracing what causes the clash, then take what you find to your colleague with a suggested fix so the two of you can agree one change.

   Least effective: A. Hand the whole diary problem to your colleague's team, since the commitment that keeps clashing is theirs and it is their side that should be sorting out the cause.

   A: Passes the problem on without owning it: the clash sits between the two teams rather than in either of them, and handing it over means the daily fixing simply stops without anything replacing it.

   B: Absorbs a recurring failure: it works every day and fixes nothing, so two people keep spending time on a problem that one hour of looking would remove.

   C: Escalates before diagnosing: the fee earners are asked to choose between commitments before anybody has established what actually causes the clash, which may not be a choice either of them needs to make.

   The most effective response is to spend half an hour tracing what causes the clash, then take what you find to your colleague with a suggested fix. Half an hour spent once is less than the time the two of you already spend each week, and taking a proposal rather than a problem to a colleague with no time is what makes the conversation possible. It beats carrying on fixing the clash each morning, because doing that is what has kept it alive for a month. It beats writing up the four occasions and asking both fee earners which commitment should give way, because nobody yet knows what they would be choosing between. The least effective response is handing the whole diary problem to your colleague’s team: it moves it to a team that has said it has no time and stops the daily fixing at the same moment, so the clash reaches the fee earners unhandled. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which keep somebody on it. The principle: fix the cause once rather than the symptom daily, and take a proposal to the person you need.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a trainee solicitor. Checking a draft agreement before it goes to the client, you notice a figure that does not match the one in the instructions on the file. Your supervisor is in a meeting for another hour and the draft is due to go out at noon, which is in forty minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the figure in the draft to match the instructions on the file, since the instructions are what the client asked for and the draft is plainly the one that has gone wrong.
   2. Send the draft out at noon and say nothing about the difference, since the deadline was given for a reason and the figure can be corrected in the next version if it turns out to be wrong.
   3. Hold the draft, and use the forty minutes to look through the file for anything that explains which of the two figures is the right one.
   4. Get a note into your supervisor's meeting saying the draft has a figure that does not match the instructions, and ask whether to hold it past noon or send it as it is.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Get a note into your supervisor's meeting saying the draft has a figure that does not match the instructions, and ask whether to hold it past noon or send it as it is.

   Least effective: B. Send the draft out at noon and say nothing about the difference, since the deadline was given for a reason and the figure can be corrected in the next version if it turns out to be wrong.

   A: Substitutes own judgement for the supervisor's: the instructions may be the thing that is out of date, and a figure changed by somebody who has not been told which is right is a guess in a document.

   B: Withholds information somebody needed: the client receives a figure nobody has checked, and the one person who noticed the discrepancy has decided the deadline matters more than the doubt.

   C: Delays telling anybody: the search is sensible and it uses up the whole margin without your supervisor knowing there is a question, so she comes out of her meeting to a missed deadline.

   The most effective response is to get a note into your supervisor’s meeting saying the draft has a figure that does not match the instructions, and ask whether to hold it past noon. You cannot resolve the discrepancy and she can, and a note into a meeting takes seconds where forty minutes of searching may take you nowhere. It beats correcting the figure in the draft to match the instructions on the file, because you do not know which figure is right. It beats holding the draft and searching the file for forty minutes, because searching without telling her spends the whole margin on your own. The least effective response is sending the draft at noon and saying nothing about the difference: it sends the client a figure known to be doubtful and tells nobody, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those keep the problem inside the firm. The principle: when you cannot resolve it and somebody can, the time you have is for reaching them.

5. Question 5 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.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a billing assistant. Your team reports to the partners each month how many bills went out within five days of the month end. Two of yours went out on the seventh day because a fee earner was away. Your team leader asks you for your figures for the report this afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Record the two bills as sent on the fifth day, since the delay was not anything you did and the figure would otherwise say something about you that is not true.
   2. Give her the real dates and the reason for the two late ones, so she can decide whether the report should say anything about fee earners being away.
   3. Give her the real dates without any explanation, since she can see the absences on the team calendar and will work out why those two sat waiting.
   4. Ask her to leave your figures out of this month's report, so that two unrepresentative bills do not distort what the partners see about the team's performance.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Give her the real dates and the reason for the two late ones, so she can decide whether the report should say anything about fee earners being away.

   Least effective: A. Record the two bills as sent on the fifth day, since the delay was not anything you did and the figure would otherwise say something about you that is not true.

   A: Alters the record: the report will then describe two bills that went out on a day they did not, and the reason the delay is worth knowing about disappears with the correction.

   C: Assumes the context travels: the calendar is not in front of her when she writes the report, so the two late bills reach the partners as two late bills and nothing else.

   D: Removes the awkward data: a report with a name missing raises the question it was meant to avoid, and the absence that caused the delay stays invisible either way.

   The most effective response is to give her the real dates and the reason for the two late ones, so she can decide whether the report should mention fee earners being away. The dates are what they are, and whether they are read fairly depends on the reason travelling with them, which is her decision rather than yours. It beats giving her the real dates without any explanation, because a team calendar is not in front of somebody writing a report. It beats asking her to leave your figures out this month, because taking a name out is more conspicuous than explaining two days. The least effective response is recording the two bills as sent on the fifth day: it changes what the record says happened, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those report true dates badly. The principle: report the number with its reason, and never make the number say something else.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a filing clerk. You and another clerk share the counter run to the court each afternoon. Last week he told your manager, in front of you, that the run is usually late because of you. Today he asks you to cover his run because he has a dental appointment. There is time in your afternoon to do it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cover the run without comment, and say nothing about last week because raising it now would only make the afternoon more awkward than it already is for both of you.
   2. Do his run today, then stop passing on his counter messages because he complained about you to your manager, and leave his paperwork for him to sort out himself.
   3. Agree to cover the run, and ask him afterwards for a word about what he said to your manager, so the two of you can agree what actually causes the delays.
   4. Say you can cover it only if he corrects what he told your manager, since you should not have to help somebody who has put the blame for the delays on you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Agree to cover the run, and ask him afterwards for a word about what he said to your manager, so the two of you can agree what actually causes the delays.

   Least effective: B. Do his run today, then stop passing on his counter messages because he complained about you to your manager, and leave his paperwork for him to sort out himself.

   A: Prioritises harmony over honesty: the work gets done and the thing that will go on affecting the run is left in place, so the same remark can be made again next month with nothing having changed.

   B: Withdraws help after a disagreement: it settles a private score at the counter where the work is, so the next thing that goes wrong on the run goes wrong for the court and the clients rather than for him.

   D: Makes a condition of the work: it ties a job the court is waiting on to a personal grievance, so the run becomes the thing at stake in an argument that has nothing to do with it.

   The most effective response is to agree to cover the run, and ask him afterwards for a word about what he said to your manager. The run is covered either way, and it separates the work from the grievance while still dealing with the grievance, which is the only way the remark stops affecting the counter. It beats covering it without comment and saying nothing about last week, because that leaves an inaccurate account with your manager and the real cause of the delays unexamined. It beats offering to cover it only if he corrects what he told her, because that makes the court’s paperwork the price of an apology. The least effective response is doing his run today and then stopping passing on his counter messages: a disagreement between two people becomes a standing reduction in service, which lands on the work rather than on him. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, which both get the run done. The principle: deal with the work and the grievance separately, and never let a colleague’s behaviour change what the job gets.

8. Question 8 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.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a paralegal. A client rings while the fee earner is out and asks whether the other side has responded to the letter sent three weeks ago. The file shows no response and no chasing letter. The client says he has been unable to sleep for worrying about it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him nothing has come in yet, say you will ask the fee earner today what happens next about chasing it, and agree a time tomorrow when somebody will ring him back.
   2. Tell him these things routinely take a month or more and assure him there is nothing at all to worry about, so that he can stop losing sleep over the delay.
   3. Tell him nothing has come in, and explain that you cannot say more because the fee earner is the only person who can advise him about what the silence means.
   4. Tell him nothing has come in, and send the other side a chasing letter today so that he can see something has been done while the fee earner is out.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell him nothing has come in yet, say you will ask the fee earner today what happens next about chasing it, and agree a time tomorrow when somebody will ring him back.

   Least effective: B. Tell him these things routinely take a month or more and assure him there is nothing at all to worry about, so that he can stop losing sleep over the delay.

   B: Gives an assurance you cannot support: nothing on the file tells you what this silence means, and he will stop worrying about something that may in fact need chasing.

   C: Answers with the limits of your role: it is accurate and it leaves a man who is not sleeping with a fact and no next step, when a time for a call would have cost nothing.

   D: Acts outside your own decision: sending a chasing letter is the fee earner's call on this matter, and doing it to reassure a client makes the client's distress the reason for a step on the file.

   The most effective response is to tell him nothing has come in yet, say you will ask the fee earner today what happens next about chasing it, and agree a time tomorrow for a call back. It tells him the truth, gives him a next step that is real, and puts a time on when he will hear. It beats telling him nothing has come in and that only the fee earner can advise on what the silence means, because a fact with no next step leaves him exactly where he was. It beats sending the other side a chasing letter today so he can see something has been done, because chasing is a decision on the matter and not one you make to settle a phone call. The least effective response is telling him these things routinely take a month and there is nothing to worry about: it invents a reassurance the file does not support. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which tell him only what is true. The principle: when a client is anxious, give them the truth and a time, never a comfort you cannot stand behind.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a costs assistant. A colleague in your team accused you last week, in a team email, of sending out a bill she had not approved. It was in fact approved by somebody else covering for her. She has since been cool with you and has stopped copying you into the billing thread you both work from. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Reply to the original team email attaching the approval from the person covering for her, so everybody who read the accusation also sees the document that answers it.
    2. Ask her for a few minutes, show her the approval from her cover, and say that you need to be back on the billing thread because the work goes through it.
    3. Stop copying her into your own billing messages because she complained about you in a team email, and deal with the fee earners directly rather than through the thread at all.
    4. Raise it with your team leader and ask her to get the thread put back to normal, since a colleague cutting somebody out of a shared channel is a management matter.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Ask her for a few minutes, show her the approval from her cover, and say that you need to be back on the billing thread because the work goes through it.

    Least effective: C. Stop copying her into your own billing messages because she complained about you in a team email, and deal with the fee earners directly rather than through the thread at all.

    A: Answers in the same forum: it clears your name in front of the team and makes the exchange about the two of you, when a single conversation would settle the facts.

    C: Answers a withdrawal with your own: the billing thread is how the team's work is coordinated, and two people running their own channels is how the next bill goes out unapproved for real.

    D: Escalates before speaking to her: she has never been shown the approval, so the first thing that happens is a manager asking her about conduct rather than her seeing that she was wrong.

    The most effective response is to ask her for a few minutes, show her the approval from her cover, and say you need to be back on the billing thread. She is acting on a belief that one document disposes of, and the thread matters because the work runs through it. It beats replying to the original team email with the approval attached, because the team does not need to watch. It beats asking your team leader to get the thread put back to normal, because she has not yet been given the chance to see the approval. The least effective response is stopping copying her into your own billing messages: it matches her withdrawal with yours and breaks the channel the billing depends on, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those try to restore something. The principle: take the document to the person, and protect the channel the work runs on.