Covington & Burling Interview Questions
& Process

Overall it was a nice experience, though there was a lot of waiting involved. We had lunch, then a group exercise, followed by a case study and then an interview with two partners. The case study was quite different from what I'd done before; it was basically an essay question. The group exercise was alright, but with about six other people, it was hard to get your points across, and you really had to push your perspective. The interview itself was fine, the partners were nice. They asked a lot of hypothetical and situational questions. They have a set list of questions they pick from, and the whole assessment center is scored numerically, so you get a score at the end. They don't cover travel expenses.

The interview process involved a written exercise and then an interview. The interview included a discussion of the written exercise. The written exercise was about drawing a conclusion from some articles and explaining why you reached that conclusion. The interview was competency based.

There was a 20-minute screening chat about my law school experience and why I'm interested in the firm. They asked about my first and second years, my curriculum choices, and any practice areas I might be interested in down the line and why. It was just one interviewer, and she was super nice! They requested a writing sample beforehand.

It was a really chill interview, very conversational with two super nice partners. Started off with the usual 'why law / why Covington' stuff, plus some questions about teamwork, leadership, and overcoming challenges. They dug into my written application for commercial awareness, asking me to expand on points. They challenged my answers but in a friendly, chatty way. We finished with some small talk. I got to ask them about their own career paths. It was supposed to be an hour but wrapped up in 45 minutes.