Dentons Assessment Tests

Dentons Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a billing assistant. Two fee earners have each told you the other is responsible for a bill that has not gone out, and each has asked you to say so if the month-end figures are queried. The bill is now three weeks late and the client has asked about it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the month-end review, if it comes up, that neither of them has taken responsibility, so that the record shows what actually happened rather than either account.
   2. Ask them both for ten minutes, put the client's question and the three weeks in front of them, and ask which of them will get the bill out this week.
   3. Draft the bill yourself and send it to both of them for approval, since the client is waiting and somebody has to break the stalemate before month end.
   4. Blame each of them to the other in front of the billing team, so that they both understand the position and can settle who is responsible between themselves.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask them both for ten minutes, put the client's question and the three weeks in front of them, and ask which of them will get the bill out this week.

   Least effective: D. Blame each of them to the other in front of the billing team, so that they both understand the position and can settle who is responsible between themselves.

   A: Answers a question nobody has asked yet: it prepares a position for a meeting instead of getting the bill out, and the client is still waiting either way.

   C: Works around the stalemate: the bill may go out and the question of who owns it is left exactly as it was, so the next one stalls the same way.

   D: Carries private remarks between colleagues: it makes the argument about the two of them rather than about a bill the client is waiting on, and neither can unhear what the other said.

   The most effective response is to ask them both for ten minutes, put the client’s question and the three weeks in front of them, and ask which of them will get the bill out this week. Those are facts neither disputes, and putting both in front of them together turns a blame exchange into a decision. It beats drafting the bill yourself and sending it to both for approval, because drafting round them leaves ownership unresolved. It beats telling the month-end review that neither has taken responsibility, because a bill is still not out. The least effective response is blaming each of them to the other in front of the billing team: it relays each account to the other, so a late bill becomes a quarrel. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which repeats anything anybody said. The principle: put the shared fact in front of both, and never carry remarks between them.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a disclosure assistant. Your team records the number of documents each person reviews per day and reports the totals to the client each Friday. You have been slower this week because a batch you were given is unusually complex. Your team leader asks you for your figures before she sends the report. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Give her the number and tell her why it is lower this week, so that whatever she sends the client carries the reason along with the figure.
   2. Record a higher figure for the last two days than you actually reviewed, since you will make the difference up next week and the client only ever sees the weekly total.
   3. Give her the number without comment, on the basis that she has the same view of the batches as you do and can see for herself why the week looks like this.
   4. Ask her to leave your figures out of this week's report until the complex batch is finished, so that the client sees a fair picture rather than an unusual week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Give her the number and tell her why it is lower this week, so that whatever she sends the client carries the reason along with the figure.

   Least effective: B. Record a higher figure for the last two days than you actually reviewed, since you will make the difference up next week and the client only ever sees the weekly total.

   B: Alters a record: it puts a number into the client's report that describes work nobody has done, and it does so in the one system anybody would later use to check.

   C: Assumes the context is obvious: she is about to send the figure onwards and may not have looked at what was in your batch, so the reason travels only if you send it with the number.

   D: Removes the awkward data: a report with a person missing invites exactly the question it was meant to avoid, and it treats an unusual week as something to be hidden rather than explained.

   The most effective response is to give her the number and tell her why it is lower this week, so whatever she sends the client carries the reason along with the figure. It beats giving her the number without comment because she can see the batches herself, since she is the person sending it on and cannot supply a context she has not been given. It beats asking her to leave your figures out of this week’s report, because leaving a name out is more conspicuous than a low number with an explanation. The least effective response is recording a higher figure for the last two days than you actually reviewed: it changes what the record says happened, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those report a true number badly and this one reports a false one. The principle: send the number with its reason, and never make the number say something else.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a new enquiries adviser. Every enquiry has to be logged with the time it came in and the time it was answered. Yesterday you answered one two hours late because the system was down for the afternoon. Your team leader asks for the log before she reports the week’s response times. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Log the real times and leave it, since the outage was reported to everybody by email and she will connect the two when she sees the gap.
   2. Ask her whether the enquiry should be excluded from the week's figures, given that the delay was caused by an outage rather than by anything the team did.
   3. Log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached.
   4. Alter the entry so the record shows the enquiry answered within the usual window, since the delay was the system rather than you and the figure would otherwise say something untrue about your work.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached.

   Least effective: D. Alter the entry so the record shows the enquiry answered within the usual window, since the delay was the system rather than you and the figure would otherwise say something untrue about your work.

   A: Assumes the context travels: she is writing a report from a log, and a two-hour gap on one enquiry does not carry an outage notice with it.

   B: Invites the data to be trimmed: the measure is how long clients waited, and a client waited two hours whatever caused it.

   D: Records a time that did not happen: the log exists to show when enquiries were answered, and an entry adjusted for fairness stops describing anything.

   The most effective response is to log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached. The time is a fact and the outage is the fact that explains it, and both belong in front of the person writing the report. It beats logging the real times and leaving it because the outage was emailed to everybody, since a log does not carry an email with it. It beats asking whether the enquiry should be excluded from the week’s figures, because the client waited whatever the cause. The least effective response is altering the entry so the record shows it answered within the usual window: it puts a time in the log that describes nothing that happened, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those record the truth. The principle: log what happened and report the cause beside it.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a knowledge assistant. A directory submission closes at noon tomorrow and the partner who signs off every submission is in a hearing all day. The firm’s rule is that no submission goes out without her approval. You have a complete draft and one figure you are unsure of. Missing the deadline means no entry this year. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the submission yourself before noon, since the draft is finished and the rule about approval exists to catch problems rather than to lose the firm its entry for a whole year.
   2. Ask the partner's assistant to approve it on her behalf, so that somebody in her office has signed it off and the submission can go before the deadline.
   3. Accept that the deadline will be missed, and put a note in the file explaining that the partner was unavailable so the firm knows why there is no entry this year.
   4. Send the partner the draft now with the doubtful figure flagged and a note that you need ten minutes of her time before noon, and tell her assistant it is waiting.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Send the partner the draft now with the doubtful figure flagged and a note that you need ten minutes of her time before noon, and tell her assistant it is waiting.

   Least effective: A. Send the submission yourself before noon, since the draft is finished and the rule about approval exists to catch problems rather than to lose the firm its entry for a whole year.

   A: Breaches a stated control: it decides for yourself which rules are worth keeping, and the one thing approval exists to catch is the sort of figure you have just said you are unsure of.

   B: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: an assistant is not the person the rule names, so this manufactures an approval that looks like the real one and is not.

   C: Gives up before trying: the partner is in a hearing rather than uncontactable, and a hearing has breaks, so the note records a defeat that nobody has yet established was unavoidable.

   The most effective response is to send the partner the draft now with the doubtful figure flagged and a note that you need ten minutes before noon, and tell her assistant it is waiting. It does everything that can be done without her, puts the one real question in front of her in a form she can answer in a break, and uses her assistant for what an assistant can actually do. It beats asking the assistant to approve it on her behalf, because it seeks her approval rather than a substitute for it. It beats accepting that the deadline will be missed and noting why in the file, because nobody has yet tried to reach her and a hearing is not a closed door. The least effective response is sending the submission yourself before noon: it sends unapproved work carrying the exact uncertainty the approval exists to catch. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, which both stay inside the rule even where they misjudge it. The principle: when a rule stands between you and a deadline, work the rule faster rather than around it.

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 paralegal. A client emails asking for an update on a matter that has been quiet for two months. The fee earner who runs it has been off sick for three weeks and no cover was arranged. The file shows nothing since a letter in June. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply that the fee earner is away and that you will ask her to contact the client as soon as she is back, since the matter is hers and she will know where it stands.
   2. Read the file, reply with what has happened up to the letter in June, and say that nothing has moved since and that you are finding out who will pick it up.
   3. Read the file, take it to the department head today asking who covers it, and reply to the client the same day with a named contact and a time for a proper update.
   4. Treat it as not yours to chase, on the basis that the department will pick it up, since a matter that has been left unattended is a supervision question rather than something a paralegal should be answering the client about.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Read the file, take it to the department head today asking who covers it, and reply to the client the same day with a named contact and a time for a proper update.

   Least effective: D. Treat it as not yours to chase, on the basis that the department will pick it up, since a matter that has been left unattended is a supervision question rather than something a paralegal should be answering the client about.

   A: Waits for the absent owner: nobody knows when she is back, and the client is asked to wait on an event with no date after two months of silence.

   B: Tells the client before finding out: it is honest and it announces that the matter has no owner before anybody in the firm has been asked to be one, which leaves the client worse informed than before.

   D: Assumes somebody else has it: no cover was arranged for three weeks, which is precisely the evidence that leaving it with the department will produce nothing, and the client hears nothing at all.

   The most effective response is to read the file, take it to the department head today asking who covers it, and reply to the client the same day with a named contact and a time. The client needs a name and a time, and both exist only once somebody senior has assigned cover. It beats replying that the fee earner is away and that you will ask her to make contact when she is back, because an unknown return date is not a plan. It beats replying with what has happened up to the June letter and saying you are finding out who will pick it up, because telling a client their matter has no owner, before it has one, helps nobody. The least effective response is treating it as a supervision question rather than yours to chase: it hands the problem back to the arrangement that has already failed for three weeks and leaves the client unanswered. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which at least reply. The principle: get the matter an owner, then give the client the name and the date.

8. Question 8 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.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a records assistant. Two jobs are due by the end of today: a retention review that the office manager needs before a meeting tomorrow, and a set of file closures the finance team wants for the month end. You will not finish both. The finance team asked first. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell both the office manager and the finance team now that only one will be finished today, say which you propose to do first and why, and ask them to say if they disagree.
   2. Do the file closures because finance asked first, and leave the retention review for tomorrow morning and do not tell anybody about to the office manager that it will not be ready.
   3. Work on both and get each as far as you can, then send what you have to both of them at the end of the day with a note explaining where each one reached.
   4. Do the retention review because the meeting is tomorrow, and tell the finance team afterwards that the closures will now be with them on the first working day of next month.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell both the office manager and the finance team now that only one will be finished today, say which you propose to do first and why, and ask them to say if they disagree.

   Least effective: B. Do the file closures because finance asked first, and leave the retention review for tomorrow morning and do not tell anybody about to the office manager that it will not be ready.

   B: Withholds information somebody needed: she is preparing for a meeting on the strength of a review she thinks is coming, and the first she will hear otherwise is when she looks for it.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: a partial retention review is no use before a meeting, and a partial set of closures does not close a month, so the day produces two unusable outputs.

   D: Decides for the other party after the fact: the ordering may well be right and finance learns of a month-end miss once it is too late to do anything about it.

   The most effective response is to tell both the office manager and the finance team now that only one will be finished today, say which you propose to do first and why, and ask them to say if they disagree. Neither of them knows the other exists, and one message turns your guess into a choice they can correct while there is still a day. It beats working on both and sending what you have at the end of the day, because neither job is worth anything half done. It beats doing the retention review because the meeting is tomorrow and telling finance afterwards, because they can react to a month-end miss today and not tomorrow. The least effective response is doing the file closures because finance asked first and not telling the office manager: she prepares for a meeting around something that is not coming, so the person worst affected is the only one not told. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which tell everybody something. The principle: when two deadlines collide, tell both owners before you choose, not after.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a paralegal. Two people in your team have stopped speaking after an argument about who lost a set of exhibits. Work that needs both of them is now going through you, which is slowing everything down. Neither has raised it with your supervisor. A bundle they both have to check is due on Friday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Keep passing the work between them yourself until Friday, on the basis that the bundle matters more this week than whatever is going on between the two of them.
    2. Criticise each of them to the other in front of the rest of the team, so that they can see how unreasonable the other one has been about the whole thing.
    3. Ask them both for ten minutes together, say plainly that the bundle needs them both by Friday, and ask what has to happen for the checking to be done properly.
    4. Raise it with your supervisor now and ask her to sort out the disagreement, since it is affecting the team's work and neither of them has taken it to her.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Ask them both for ten minutes together, say plainly that the bundle needs them both by Friday, and ask what has to happen for the checking to be done properly.

    Least effective: B. Criticise each of them to the other in front of the rest of the team, so that they can see how unreasonable the other one has been about the whole thing.

    A: Avoids the difficult conversation: it gets Friday's bundle out and leaves you permanently in the middle, so the same slowdown arrives with the next piece of work that needs both of them.

    B: Carries private remarks between colleagues: it makes the argument about the two people rather than about the exhibits, and it puts words in front of each of them that they cannot now unhear.

    D: Escalates prematurely: nobody has tried the direct conversation yet, and going over their heads first makes a small dispute into a managed one before anybody has asked them to fix it themselves.

    The most effective response is to ask them both for ten minutes together, say plainly that the bundle needs them both by Friday, and ask what has to happen for the checking to be done properly. It puts the work in front of both at once, gives them a shared deadline rather than a shared grievance, and asks a question neither has to concede anything to answer. It beats passing the work between them yourself until Friday, because acting as the channel keeps the problem alive past then. It beats asking your supervisor to sort out the disagreement, because a supervisor is the right destination only once the direct route has been tried. The least effective response is criticising each of them to the other in front of the team: it turns a dispute about a missing set of exhibits into a dispute about the two of them. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which leave the relationship where they found it. The principle: put the shared work in front of both people, and never carry remarks between them.