Situational judgement
12-15 scenarios · Untimed (suggested 15-20 minutes)
What it tests. People agility and solutions agility: collaboration, emotional intelligence, organisation, drive and resilience, including upward management and ethical integrity under pressure.
Worked example. A partner wants a 150-page credit agreement proofread by 5pm; at 2pm a senior associate needs an urgent company search for a closing happening now. The most effective option assesses both deadlines, explains the conflict to the associate, and suggests contacting the partner about shifting the proofreading or finding another trainee.
Common traps. The hero complex (doing everything yourself overnight), second-guessing what a 'hard-nosed lawyer' would do and picking overly aggressive options, and making binding judgements outside a trainee's authority.
How to handle it. Filter every choice through the firm's assessment framework, communicate upward and early, and treat internal colleagues with the same professional respect as clients.
Numerical reasoning
10-12 questions · Untimed (suggested 12-15 minutes)
What it tests. Mental agility (numeracy): interpreting data, manipulating financial statistics, and calculating percentages, ratios, margins and currency conversions from dense exhibits.
Worked example. Given Company Alpha (£14.2m revenue, 12% net margin) and Company Gamma (£9.8m revenue, 18% net margin), the combined net profit to two decimals is (14.2 x 0.12) + (9.8 x 0.18) = 1.704 + 1.764 = 3.47.
Common traps. Rounding to the wrong decimal place so the free-text validation flags it, confusing thousands, millions and percentages, and analysis paralysis on one hard question because there is no clock.
How to handle it. Use a dedicated calculator and scrap paper, isolate the exact columns the question needs (charts contain deliberate noise), and sanity-check that a profit is never larger than its revenue.
Verbal reasoning
10-12 questions · Untimed (suggested 12-15 minutes)
What it tests. Mental agility (critical thinking): comprehending dense text, distinguishing definitive fact from assertion, and drawing precise conclusions strictly from the passage.
Worked example. A passage on the National Security and Investment Act notes commentators argue it dampens foreign direct investment and that fewer than 5% of notified deals faced Phase 2 review. The statement 'the Act has reduced total FDI into the UK' is Cannot Say, because the text never supplies the actual volume figures.
Common traps. Injecting outside commercial or legal knowledge, and marking a statement True because it seems likely in the real world despite the text not proving it.
How to handle it. Apply strict literalism, treating the text like a statutory provision, and read the question first to prime your scan for the relevant keywords and logical pivots.
Video interview / motivation
2 questions · Strictly timed: 1 minute prep, 2 minutes recording per question
What it tests. Drive and motivation plus communication: unscripted articulacy on why you want to practise commercial law at A&O Shearman, awareness of the global operating model and the realities of a trainee's workload.
Worked example. Question one asks which practice area or recent transaction motivated your application; question two asks for a time you adapted your communication style to collaborate across different professional or cultural backgrounds.
Common traps. The generic-firm trap, reading from a script (reviewers spot the lack of eye contact and natural cadence), and speaking for the full two minutes with no structure.
How to handle it. Use the STARR method, anchor to specific firm elements such as Fuse or named practice groups, and look at the lens while speaking at about 85% of your normal pace.