Wachtell Video Interview Questions and How to Prepare

Does Wachtell Lipton use HireVue? An honest answer

Many pages on this topic imply there is a known, fixed 'Wachtell HireVue' with a published question list. There isn't. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz does not publish its interview process in detail, and we have no inside knowledge of its current screening format, questions or scoring. Anyone who claims to have the exact questions is guessing.

What we can say is general. Elite corporate law firms commonly rely on live, conversational interviews with partners and associates, and some firms in the wider market use recorded one-way video or live video calls for early screening. Which applies to you depends on your stage, your route in (such as a summer associate programme or a lateral move), and the firm's current practice.

So the first step is practical: read your invitation email carefully. If it says 'one-way', 'recorded' or links to a video platform, you will be answering on-screen prompts with no interviewer present. If it names an interviewer and a time, it is a live video call. Prepare differently for each, and contact the recruiting team if the format is unclear.

How a one-way video interview works

In a typical one-way format (HireVue is the best-known platform), you see each question as text or a short recording. You get a brief preparation window and then a fixed time to record, often one to three minutes. Some platforms allow a limited number of retakes and others allow none, so check the instructions before you begin.

A human reviewer may watch your recordings, and some employers also use software to support the review. Either way, the safest approach is the same: give a clear, structured answer that a busy person could follow on a single viewing.

• Read every instruction screen. Timings and retake rules vary by employer.
• Use the preparation window to choose your example and your first sentence, not to write a script.
• Aim to finish a little before the timer ends, with a clear closing line.

Question themes to expect at a top corporate firm

Because the firm's questions aren't public, prepare by competency. Selective corporate firms typically want evidence of motivation, intellectual rigour, accuracy, resilience under pressure and the ability to work with others. The prompts below are representative examples of those themes, not actual Wachtell questions.

• Motivation: 'Why corporate law, and why this kind of firm?' Anchor your answer in specific, publicly reported work and in what you want to learn, not in prestige.
• Attention to detail: 'Tell me about a time a small error could have had large consequences.'
• Pressure and deadlines: 'Describe a time you had to deliver high-quality work very quickly.'
• Teamwork: 'Tell me about a disagreement in a group and how you handled it.'
• Intellectual curiosity: 'Describe a complex problem you had to get to grips with quickly.'
• Judgement: 'Tell me about a decision you made with incomplete information.'

Structure answers with STAR, with a worked example

STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Spend roughly 15% of your time on Situation and Task together, 60% on Action and 25% on Result. The common mistake is spending most of the answer on background and rushing the part that shows what you did.

Here is an example answer to 'Tell me about a time attention to detail mattered', written for a law student. Adapt it with your own facts rather than reusing it.

Situation: 'In my final year I co-led a pro bono clinic team preparing a client's housing appeal bundle with a filing deadline on Friday.' Task: 'I was responsible for checking the document index and chronology against the source documents before submission.' Action: 'While cross-checking, I noticed two witness statements carried dates that didn't match the chronology. I traced both back to the originals, found a transcription error, corrected the chronology and then built a short checklist so the team verified every date against its source. I flagged the change to our supervisor so she could confirm it.' Result: 'The bundle went in on time and the supervisor adopted the checklist for later cases. It taught me to verify against primary sources rather than trust a summary, which I'd bring to document-heavy deal work.'

Notice what makes it work: one clear problem, first-person verbs, a specific action and a result that links back to the role without overclaiming. If you have a measurable result, include it, but never invent one.

Set-up and delivery: a do and don't checklist

In a video interview, your environment and delivery are part of the message. Reviewers can't ask follow-up questions, so clarity does that work for you.

• Do test your camera, microphone and connection beforehand, and use a plain, well-lit background with the light in front of you.
• Do place the camera at eye level and look at the lens when making your key points.
• Do use a short opening line that answers the question directly, then move into your STAR structure.
• Don't read from a script. It sounds flat and makes the pacing hard to control.
• Don't ramble past the timer. Practise ending on your result and a one-sentence takeaway.
• Don't dress casually because it is 'only a recording'. Match the formality of a live interview.

How to prepare in a week

Start with public sources: the firm's website, reputable legal press coverage of its published matters and your own notes on what draws you to that kind of work. Aim for two or three specific, accurate points you can mention naturally, rather than a list of facts.

Next, build a bank of five or six STAR stories that cover teamwork, pressure, accuracy, initiative, a setback and a difficult decision. Most competency questions can be answered with a well-chosen story from this set.

Finally, practise out loud, on camera and against a clock. Watching yourself back shows filler words, drifting eye contact and over-long set-ups far faster than rehearsing in your head. A tool like ScreenReady lets you do this with timed prompts and AI feedback on structure and clarity, but recording yourself on your phone and reviewing it honestly also works.