Cravath, Swaine & Moore · Live Interview
Cravath, Swaine & Moore's first-round live interview is where strong written applications become offer pipelines or go nowhere. Below: the real questions Cravath, Swaine & Moore asks, what they're testing for, and how to practise live until it feels routine.
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The format
The callback is the final substantive stage, immediately after the live screener.
An intensive 3-4 hour day of four to six back-to-back interviews plus a fully evaluative lunch; no technical finance or consulting case studies.
Two to three partners and two to three associates, balanced across Corporate and Litigation, plus two junior associates at lunch.
Sequential one-to-one interviews, not a panel; a final cross-department interviewer tests breadth.
Duration. 20-45 minutes per slot; 3-4 hours total.
Rounds at this stage. Four to six callback interviews in one day, then Hiring Committee deliberation.
Format breakdown
Phone, video, and in-person each have distinct mechanics. The interviewer scoring rubric is the same, but the operational preparation is different.
Initial outreach and the offer itself typically come by partner phone call.
Virtual callbacks via Flo Recruit or Zoom mirror the in-office structure; lunch becomes a virtual coffee chat.
The firm prefers in-office callbacks at Two Manhattan West, with organic transitions and a restaurant lunch.
Question categories
Question types cycled through the interview. For each, a real example, what the firm is screening for, plus weak and strong answer signals.
Why Cravath specifically, over another V10 firm.
“Why Cravath given your interest in a less structured practice environment?”
What they test. Understanding of and willingness to adapt to the Cravath System
Weak answer. Generic praise for the firm's prestige or great culture, with no mention of the rotation system.
Strong answer. An explicit desire for the lockstep rotation because it forces generalist development, prevents early specialization and eliminates internal competition for work.
“Why practice corporate law in New York when your resume shows deep California roots?”
What they test. Flight risk and commitment to the market
Strong answer. Point to specific New York-centric transactions, a clear personal or professional tie to the city, and why NYC is the epicenter of the complex cross-border work you want.
Granular probing of your writing sample, internships and thesis.
“Walk me through the legal argument you made in this 1L legal writing brief.”
What they test. Communication under pressure and mastery of your own work
Weak answer. Fumbling the details or saying it has been a while since you looked at it.
Strong answer. A concise 60-second summary of issue, rule, application and conclusion, delivered without hesitation.
“What was the most complex procedural issue you encountered as a pre-law paralegal?”
What they test. Substantive engagement with past employment
Strong answer. Describe a discovery dispute or jurisdictional challenge, your role researching the solution, and what it taught you about strategy.
How you handle the pressures of BigLaw.
“Tell me about a time you managed conflicting deadlines from two senior stakeholders.”
What they test. Prioritization and professional diplomacy
Strong answer. Proactively communicate bandwidth to both, propose a realistic timeline and facilitate alignment, rather than doing both poorly overnight.
“Describe a significant mistake you made on a project and how you handled the aftermath.”
What they test. Accountability and integrity
Weak answer. Deflecting blame, minimizing the impact or waiting for someone else to discover it.
Strong answer. Take instant ownership, notify the supervisor with a proposed solution already drafted, and add a personal check system.
Cravath expects business advisors, not just legal technicians.
“What recent regulatory development will significantly impact our M&A practice over the next 18 months?”
What they test. Macro commercial awareness
Strong answer. Discuss heightened FTC/DOJ antitrust scrutiny and updated merger guidelines, and how they alter deal certainty, breakup fees and closing timelines.
“If you could change one Supreme Court precedent from the last fifty years, which and why?”
What they test. Analytical creativity and reasoned, non-ideological argument
Weak answer. A charged political speech, or a case chosen without rigorous legal reasoning.
Strong answer. Pick a commercially or procedurally significant case (personal jurisdiction, administrative law, class certification) and walk through the ramifications.
Technical depth
There is no technical finance content: no WACC, DCF or LBO. "Depth" means defending your own written work and reasoning aloud under direct challenge.
Commercial logic of M&A and capital raises, the value of generalist rotation across a client's full capital structure, and a real Cravath deal you can discuss.
Defending a writing-sample thesis against the opposing side, the lifecycle of a dispute, and how corporate mechanics shape discovery strategy.
The rubric
The interviewer is checking against a scorecard. Knowing the categories is half the battle.
Aggregation. Each interviewer submits a vote (Strong Offer, Offer, No Offer or Hold); the Hiring Committee aggregates qualitatively rather than averaging.
Pass threshold. Consensus-driven: a single No Offer or a negative associate lunch write-up can derail a strong partner showing, while a passionate partner advocate can pull a borderline candidate through.
How to practise
Conversational mocks that read your Resume, ask Cravath, Swaine & Moore-specific questions, push back when answers are weak, and produce a scored report.
Lazard · IB Analyst
Technical Interview · Resume-aware
Interviewer
I see from your Resume you completed Insight Program at Lazard. Walk me through a deal you observed during that placement.Interviewer
You mentioned trading comps. Walk me through how the peer set was selected, what criteria were used, and were there any borderline cases?Full report when you end
Why candidates fail
Specific failure patterns documented across past applicants. Most are avoidable with focused preparation.
Inconsistency across interviewers
Being sharp with partners but casual, lazy or arrogant with associates at lunch reads as an unreliable persona.
A weak "why Cravath" narrative
A generic answer that fits any V10 firm, or motivation driven only by prestige or pay, signals no grasp of the rotation system.
Poor lunch behavior
Treating lunch as a break, complaining about law school, badmouthing other firms or showing poor manners; rudeness to waitstaff is an immediate disqualifier.
No meaningful questions or shallow firm knowledge
Running out of questions, asking website-answerable ones, or wanting niche work the firm does not focus on signals weak preparation.
What works
Concrete moves drilled by candidates who clear the cut, drawn from applicant accounts and recruiter feedback.
Tailored firm and system knowledge
Articulate precisely how the lockstep rotation fits your learning style and long-term goals.
A consistent, authentic narrative
Thread your past experiences, law school performance and desire to join Cravath into one clear story.
Smart, segment-specific questions
Ask partners about strategic trends and associates about workflow logistics and mentorship.
Poise under pressure
Stay calm and analytical on curveballs; acknowledge a partner's point, then re-anchor in case law or facts.
From past applicants
Anonymised candidate accounts of how recent Cravath, Swaine & Moore applicants handled the live round. Each covers prep, the experience, and the outcome.
Corporate track callback (2L, T14 school)
Prep. Spoke with alumni beforehand to articulate why rotating across M&A and capital markets under one partner builds a better advisor.
Experience. Four in-office interviews plus lunch; two partners dove straight into my undergraduate economics thesis in plain English, and every interviewer asked why I wanted a rotation-based system. Lunch with two juniors stayed conversational but professional.
Outcome. Received an offer by partner phone call the following afternoon.
Litigation track callback (2L, top-20 school, virtual)
Prep. Knew the 1L writing sample cold and was ready to defend it.
Experience. Three partners and two senior associates; one partner took the opposing side of my writing-sample argument and asked me to defend it on the spot. I acknowledged his point, then walked through the case law that supported my interpretation, and he moved on.
Outcome. Offer arrived about three days later; the test was intellectual resilience, not knowing every answer.
What gets you through
FAQ
It is a 3-4 hour day of four to six back-to-back 20-45 minute interviews split across corporate and litigation partners and associates, plus a fully evaluative lunch with two junior associates. There are no technical finance or consulting case interviews: no WACC, DCF or LBO. Instead you face conversational, behavioral and commercial-awareness questions, granular probing of your own writing sample and resume, and explicit testing of your alignment with the Cravath System and New York.
It is 100% evaluative. Associates complete assessment forms afterward, answering whether you are pleasant to spend twelve hours a day with, mature enough to sit in front of corporate clients, and genuinely interested in the firm. Order clean, mid-priced food, never order alcohol, treat waitstaff flawlessly, keep the conversation flowing without monopolizing it, and never complain about law school or badmouth other firms. Entitlement indicators are noted negatively and can sink an otherwise strong day.
Know your writing sample and resume cold, prepare a consistent narrative you can deliver to every interviewer, anchor your motivation in the rotation system and New York, follow a recent Cravath matter you can discuss, and prepare smart, segment-specific questions for partners versus associates. Practice staying poised when a partner challenges your position. Intervyo runs realistic, firm-specific mock interviews with conversational follow-ups and instant feedback on your reasoning and composure.
The other rounds
Live interview is one of four rounds. The Pack covers all four end to end.
Cravath, Swaine & Moore Pack
Live AI mocks tuned to Cravath, Swaine & Moore, scored after every session. One Pack covers HireVue, online assessments, live interviews and the superday.
Get the Cravath, Swaine & Moore Pack · $89Intervyo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Interview questions are sourced from past applicants and the firm's published guidance; verify on the firm's careers site. Sector: Commercial Law.
Cravath, Swaine & Moore Pack
$89 one-time