Herbert Smith Freehills Assessment Tests

Herbert Smith Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a client services adviser. A caller says she is the daughter of a client and asks you to confirm the date of his next appointment, saying he is confused and she is trying to help. You have no record of her being authorised on the file. She sounds genuine and is clearly worried. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you cannot confirm anything about the file, and suggest she asks her father to ring the firm himself if he would like somebody else involved in his appointments.
   2. Take her details and pass them to the fee earner without telling her anything about the appointment, and leave it there since it is now somebody else's decision.
   3. Confirm the date and assure her that her name is on the file, since she is plainly trying to help a confused man and an appointment time is hardly something anybody could misuse.
   4. Explain that you cannot confirm details to somebody not on the file, take her number, and tell her you will ask the fee earner today to contact her father about adding her.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Explain that you cannot confirm details to somebody not on the file, take her number, and tell her you will ask the fee earner today to contact her father about adding her.

   Least effective: C. Confirm the date and assure her that her name is on the file, since she is plainly trying to help a confused man and an appointment time is hardly something anybody could misuse.

   A: Answers with the rule and stops: it is right about the limit and it leaves a worried caller with a task she has told you her father cannot manage.

   B: Hands it on without closing the loop: the fee earner gets a message and the caller gets no idea what will happen next or when, which is the part she can act on.

   C: Asserts an authority that has not been checked: nothing on the file says who she is, and a sympathetic voice is what an unauthorised caller sounds like as well as an authorised one.

   The most effective response is to explain that you cannot confirm details to somebody not on the file, take her number, and tell her you will ask the fee earner today to contact her father about adding her. It holds the line the file requires and gives her a route that could actually solve her problem, with somebody committed to starting today. It beats telling her to have her father ring the firm himself, because that hands the task back to the person she says cannot manage it. It beats passing her details to the fee earner without telling her anything, because she leaves the call knowing what happens next. The least effective response is confirming the date and assuring her that her name is on the file: it releases information about a client to somebody whose authority nobody has checked, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because neither of those tells her anything. The principle: sympathy does not verify anybody, so hold the line and offer the route that gets them verified.

2. Question 2 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a court clerk at the end of a difficult fortnight in which you have been covering two roles. You realise you sent a hearing bundle to the wrong court office last Thursday, and it has not been returned. The hearing is in nine days. Your manager has been managing complaints about the team all week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ring the office you sent it to and ask them to forward it, and tell your manager only if the bundle has not turned up by the middle of next week.
   2. Prepare a replacement bundle from the file so there is a second set ready, and conceal the misdirected one, since the hearing will not be affected either way.
   3. Tell your manager now, before you have found out whether the bundle can be recovered, so that she knows about it at the earliest possible moment.
   4. Ring the office to ask them to return it, then tell your manager today what happened, what you have done and what you will do if the bundle is not back by Friday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Ring the office to ask them to return it, then tell your manager today what happened, what you have done and what you will do if the bundle is not back by Friday.

   Least effective: B. Prepare a replacement bundle from the file so there is a second set ready, and conceal the misdirected one, since the hearing will not be affected either way.

   A: Sets a private deadline for telling somebody: the chasing is right and the condition means your manager learns about a nine-day problem with three days left, which is when her options run out.

   B: Covers your own error: a second bundle solves the hearing and hides that a client's papers are sitting in the wrong court office, which is the part somebody else needed to know about.

   C: Escalates without the facts: she gets a problem and no information, in a week when she is already short of time, and the two calls that would have told her how bad it is have not been made.

   The most effective response is to ring the office to ask them to return it, then tell your manager today what happened, what you have done and what you will do if it is not back by Friday. Nine days is enough time to fix it and the fix is worth more with the facts attached, so the call comes first and the conversation follows the same day. It beats ringing the office and telling her only if the bundle has not turned up by the middle of next week, because a private deadline for telling her is her time being spent without her knowing. It beats telling her before you have found out whether it can be recovered, because a bare problem in a difficult week is harder to act on than a problem with a position. The least effective response is preparing a replacement bundle and concealing the misdirected one: it produces a working hearing and leaves the misdirected papers unreported. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which tell her eventually. The principle: find out what you can, then tell the person who needs to know, today.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a business development assistant. A client emails to say the firm’s seminar invitation went to a colleague who left her company two years ago, and asks how the firm still has that contact. The mailing list is maintained by an outside agency. The client is not angry but wants an answer. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply that the list is held by an agency and that you have asked them to look into it, and give her a day by which you will come back with what they say.
   2. Reply today confirming the contact will be removed, ask the agency how the record survived, and tell her what you find once you have it.
   3. Give up on establishing it, on the basis that the agency will pick the stale record up in its next refresh, and reply to the client to say the list is cleaned regularly and the entry should drop off.
   4. Forward the client's email to the agency and ask them to reply to her directly, since they hold the list and are the only people who can explain how the record got there.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Reply today confirming the contact will be removed, ask the agency how the record survived, and tell her what you find once you have it.

   Least effective: C. Give up on establishing it, on the basis that the agency will pick the stale record up in its next refresh, and reply to the client to say the list is cleaned regularly and the entry should drop off.

   A: Passes the timing to a third party: the commitment is real and it rests on an agency answering, so the date you give her is one you cannot actually keep.

   C: Assumes the problem solves itself: nobody has asked the agency anything, and the client is told a refresh will handle a record that has already survived two years of refreshes.

   D: Hands the client to a supplier: she wrote to the firm, and being answered by an agency she has no relationship with makes a small question into an odd experience.

   The most effective response is to reply today confirming the contact will be removed, ask the agency how the record survived, and tell her what you find. The part she cares about can be settled today and by you, and the part you cannot answer is chased in parallel without her waiting. It beats replying that the list is held by an agency and giving her a day by which you will come back, because that makes her wait before anything happens. It beats forwarding her email to the agency and asking them to reply to her directly, because she wrote to the firm. The least effective response is telling her the list is cleaned regularly and the entry should drop off: nothing is asked, nothing is fixed, and she is told a process will deal with something it has already failed twice. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which actually put the question to the agency. The principle: do the part you can do today, and chase the part you cannot without making the client hold.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a records assistant. A colleague blocked a change you proposed to how closed files are labelled, and said in a meeting that your version would have caused chaos. Since then she has been slow to answer your queries about her own files, which is holding up three closures. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop answering her queries as promptly after that meeting, so that she sees what it is like to be waiting on somebody and starts replying properly again.
   2. Ask her for a short conversation, say the three closures are waiting on her answers, and ask whether the labelling disagreement is affecting how she deals with your queries.
   3. Close the three files with the information you have and flag the gaps, so that the closures move without you having to depend on answers she is not giving.
   4. Raise it with your team leader, since three closures held up by slow answers is a delivery problem rather than something the two of you should be settling privately.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask her for a short conversation, say the three closures are waiting on her answers, and ask whether the labelling disagreement is affecting how she deals with your queries.

   Least effective: A. Stop answering her queries as promptly after that meeting, so that she sees what it is like to be waiting on somebody and starts replying properly again.

   A: Withdraws responsiveness after the disagreement: it makes the records the battleground, so files on both sides are delayed to make a point between two people.

   C: Works around the person: three files close with gaps in them, and the reason her answers are slow is left entirely unexamined for the next three.

   D: Escalates before asking: she has never been told her answers are holding up three closures, so a manager raises it with her before she has had the chance to fix it.

   The most effective response is to ask her for a short conversation, say the three closures are waiting on her answers, and ask whether the labelling disagreement is affecting how she deals with your queries. The closures are a concrete shared cost, and naming them is what makes the second half of the question askable at all. It beats closing the three files with the information you have and flagging the gaps, because closing files with gaps to avoid a conversation stores up worse problems. It beats raising it with your team leader as a delivery problem, because she has not been told. The least effective response is answering her slowness by being slower with her queries: it makes the records what suffer. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which try to move the work forward. The principle: name the cost, ask the question, and never let the shared work become the weapon.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a practice assistant. Four times this month a fee earner’s expenses claim has come back for a missing receipt, and each time you have found the receipt in the paper tray and re-submitted it. Nobody else knows this is happening. The finance team’s deadline is the same each month. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Carry on finding the receipts and re-submitting the claims, since it takes ten minutes and the claims have all been paid on time every month so far.
   2. Tell the fee earner to put his receipts somewhere other than the paper tray, and leave it there since the problem is his to avoid rather than yours to solve.
   3. Write down what has happened on each of the four claims and take it to the office manager with a suggestion for where receipts should go instead.
   4. Hand the whole expenses process for that fee earner to somebody else who has more time, since the re-submitting is eating into work you are supposed to be doing.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Write down what has happened on each of the four claims and take it to the office manager with a suggestion for where receipts should go instead.

   Least effective: D. Hand the whole expenses process for that fee earner to somebody else who has more time, since the re-submitting is eating into work you are supposed to be doing.

   A: Absorbs a recurring failure: it works and it guarantees a fifth month, and the finance team's rejection rate goes on looking like a problem with the fee earner.

   B: Fixes one person and not the process: it may work for him and it leaves the same trap for everybody else, and nobody who could change the process knows about it.

   D: Passes the problem to a colleague: it moves the ten minutes onto somebody who has not agreed to it, tells them nothing about the pattern, and leaves the cause exactly where it is.

   The most effective response is to write down what has happened on each of the four claims and take it to the office manager with a suggestion for where receipts should go. Four claims with a common cause is a process problem, and she is the person who can move where they go. It beats carrying on finding the receipts and re-submitting the claims, because absorbing it guarantees it continues. It beats telling the fee earner to put his receipts somewhere other than the paper tray, because that fixes one person and leaves the trap. The least effective response is handing the whole expenses process for that fee earner to somebody with more time: an undocumented recurring task goes to a colleague who has not agreed to it, so the cost moves and the cause survives. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which keep it with people who know what is going on. The principle: when you have absorbed the same failure four times, describe it to whoever can change it.

7. Question 7 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.

8. Question 8 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.

9. Question 9 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.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a reception coordinator. A journalist calls asking to confirm whether a named company is a client of the firm, saying she already knows it is and just needs it on the record. The firm’s rule is that client identities are never confirmed to anybody outside. She says the story runs tonight either way. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Tell her the firm does not confirm client identities and end the call there, since anything further risks saying something she can use in the story tonight.
    2. Neither confirm nor deny, but tell her she should assume the story is substantially right unless somebody rings her back before this evening.
    3. Confirm that the company is a client, since she says she knows already and a flat refusal will simply make the firm look evasive in a story that is running tonight regardless.
    4. Tell her the firm does not confirm client identities, take her deadline and her number, and get the call to the person who handles press enquiries straight away.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Tell her the firm does not confirm client identities, take her deadline and her number, and get the call to the person who handles press enquiries straight away.

    Least effective: C. Confirm that the company is a client, since she says she knows already and a flat refusal will simply make the firm look evasive in a story that is running tonight regardless.

    A: Closes the call without passing it on: the refusal is right and nobody in the firm learns that a journalist is running a story about a client this evening.

    B: Confirms by implication: an instruction to assume the story is right is a confirmation dressed as a refusal, and she will report it as one.

    C: Breaches a stated rule about client confidentiality: what she already knows is not the test, and the firm's confirmation is the thing her story needs.

    The most effective response is to tell her the firm does not confirm client identities, take her deadline and her number, and get the call to the person who handles press enquiries. The refusal is not negotiable, and the useful part is that somebody who handles press learns tonight’s deadline while there is still a day to use it. It beats telling her the firm does not confirm client identities and ending the call there, because that leaves the firm unaware. It beats neither confirming nor denying while telling her to assume the story is substantially right, because telling her what to assume is a confirmation. The least effective response is confirming that the company is a client: it gives an outsider the firm’s word on a client identity, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because neither of those does. The principle: hold the line, and pass the deadline to whoever can act on it.