Section 1
What is a legal case study interview?
A legal case study interview is a law firm assessment exercise where you receive a short business brief, prepare a recommendation under time pressure, and then walk a partner or interviewer through your thinking. Unlike a written exercise — where the output is the end point — the case study interview is a conversation. Your preparation is the starting point, not the deliverable.
You do not need a law degree to do this well. The brief is usually a business situation — a company considering an acquisition, a business under financial pressure, or a client weighing up two options. Your job is to work out what actually matters, explain it clearly, and say what should happen next.
Section 2
What happens in the interview
- 1You receive the brief. Usually a few pages covering a client, their business situation, and what they need. You will have 15–25 minutes to read and prepare.
- 2You present your recommendation. State your position first — not a summary of the facts. The strongest answers lead with a clear view, then explain why.
- 3The interviewer challenges your reasoning. They may change a fact, ask why you ranked one issue above another, or push back on your conclusion.
- 4You hold your position or update it with a reason. If you have a reason for your view, defend it. If they raise something you had not considered, explain what it changes.
Section 3
What firms are really assessing
Firms are not looking for the right answer. They are looking for structured thinking, a clear view, and the ability to explain and defend it.
Issue spotting
Can you find the two or three facts that actually matter, rather than treating everything in the brief as equally important?
Commercial judgment
Can you explain why a risk matters to the client — not just that the risk exists?
Prioritisation
When there are seven things in the brief, can you rank them and explain your reasoning?
Structured communication
Does your answer have a spine? Recommendation first, then the reasons, then what you would do next.
Decisiveness
Do you actually take a position? “It depends” without a clear view on what it depends on is not an answer.
Reasoning under challenge
When the interviewer pushes back, do you engage with the point or simply agree?
Section 4 · Candidate Brief
Example brief: should Northbank buy FlowLedger?
Read this as you would in an assessment centre. Then use the sections below to see how to structure your answer.
Northbank Capital — proposed acquisition of FlowLedger Ltd
Role and task
You are a junior member of the advisory team. A partner has asked you to prepare for a call with Northbank Capital, a private equity investor, before it decides whether to proceed with a majority acquisition of FlowLedger Ltd. You have 20 minutes. Identify the three issues you would raise first, explain why each one matters to the buyer, and say what you would want to find out before the deal goes ahead.
The target business
FlowLedger Ltd is a UK software company that sells workflow and inventory tools to large retailers on annual subscription contracts. The business was founded five years ago and has grown quickly. Northbank likes the subscription model, the management team, and the market. Its concern is whether the growth story is strong enough to justify the price.
Financial position
Revenue grew from £8m to £14m last year. The company is not yet profitable. Cash collection has slowed, and several large customers are asking for longer payment terms — 90 to 120 days instead of the standard 30.
Customer concentration
A single retailer, PrimeLine Group, accounts for 34% of FlowLedger’s annual recurring revenue. The PrimeLine contract expires in six months. It can be cancelled by PrimeLine on 30 days’ notice at any time, for any reason, with no penalty.
Operational dependency
FlowLedger’s entire technology runs on a single cloud provider. All its implementation and support work is delivered through one third-party partner. Neither of these relationships has a signed long-term contract — both are month-to-month.
Key people
The CTO and three senior engineers designed and built the core product. None of them has a formal long-term employment agreement or financial incentive to stay if the company changes hands. The CTO has indicated he may leave depending on how the new owner intends to run the business.
Data and compliance
FlowLedger’s platform handles retailer staff records, inventory data, and end-customer order information across the UK and EU. The seller states the business is “fully compliant with data protection law.” No supporting documents — no audit reports, no records of regulatory correspondence — have been shared with Northbank’s team.
What to notice: The brief has six sections but three carry nearly all the weight — the PrimeLine concentration, the CTO and technical team’s intention to leave, and the unverified compliance claim. The strongest answers lead with these three and explain what each one does to the deal.
Section 5
How to structure your answer
You do not need legal vocabulary to answer this well. What you need is a clear view on what matters most — and the ability to explain why, in plain terms, connected to the facts in front of you.
One sentence. “I would advise Northbank to proceed, but only if three things are confirmed first.” Or: “The deal looks attractive, but the PrimeLine situation needs to be resolved before the price makes sense.” Do not build up to a conclusion — lead with it.
PrimeLine, the technical team leaving, and the unverified compliance claim. Say why you chose that order. The interviewer will ask.
PrimeLine affects whether the revenue survives. The CTO issue affects whether the buyer is acquiring the product capability it thinks it is buying. Compliance affects whether Northbank inherits hidden liability.
Ask about PrimeLine renewal conversations, whether the CTO and key engineers would stay, and what evidence sits behind the data compliance claim. You are not expected to have the answers — you are expected to ask the right questions.
Proceed — but only if PrimeLine’s contract is confirmed or the price reflects the risk. Proceed — but only once the key people have agreed to stay. Do not leave the interviewer uncertain about where you stand.
Example answer opening — the standard to aim for:
“I would advise Northbank to proceed, but not at the current price and not before three things are confirmed. The core question is whether the revenue is actually as durable as it looks. My first concern is PrimeLine — one customer representing 34% of recurring revenue, on a contract that can be cancelled on 30 days’ notice. If PrimeLine walks before or after this deal closes, the business is materially different from the one Northbank agreed to buy. I would want to know what the renewal conversations look like and whether the deal could be made conditional on PrimeLine staying. Second, the CTO and technical team — the product is largely their work, and if they leave the buyer may not own what it thinks it is acquiring. Third, the compliance position has been stated but not demonstrated. I would want to see the actual records before Northbank takes on that liability.”
Section 6
Strong answers vs weak ones
The difference is almost always specificity — not length or vocabulary.
Weak answer
“There are risks and opportunities here. The revenue is growing, which is positive, but there are also concerns around customers, staff and compliance. Overall it depends on further investigation.”
No position. No specifics. This describes the situation rather than advising from it.Strong answer
“I would proceed conditionally. The biggest risk is PrimeLine — they represent 34% of recurring revenue and can leave with 30 days’ notice. If they go, the business Northbank is paying for does not exist at this price.”
Clear position, specific data point, concrete consequence and practical ask.Section 7
Follow-up questions — and how to handle them
These questions test whether you understand the business situation, not whether you know the law. Answer them in plain commercial terms.
What is Northbank actually buying here?
Not just a software product. A recurring revenue stream from subscribers, a customer base that trusts the product, and the team of people who built it and know how to maintain it.
A strong answer points out that if the risks materialise, Northbank ends up with a piece of software and no team, one-third fewer customers, and an unverified compliance position. That is not what anyone agreed to pay for.
What is the biggest risk in the brief?
Choose — and explain your choice. The PrimeLine situation is probably the most urgent because it is specific, time-bound, and quantifiable: 34% of revenue, expiry in six months, terminable on 30 days’ notice.
A strong answer picks PrimeLine, explains why, and acknowledges why a reasonable person might choose differently — without abandoning the view.
The seller says the compliance position is standard. Is that enough?
No. “Standard” is confidence, not evidence. FlowLedger processes staff records and customer data at scale across two jurisdictions. The claim needs documents: audit reports, complaints history, regulatory correspondence, and evidence of proper processes.
The CTO says he might leave. What do you do about that?
Find out what it would take for him to stay — and build that into the deal before it is signed, not after. Once the deal closes, Northbank’s leverage over the CTO disappears.
Would you advise Northbank not to proceed?
Probably not — but with conditions. The business has real qualities: strong growth, a subscription model, and a clear market need. The better answer is: proceed conditionally, only once the PrimeLine, CTO and compliance questions have answers.
Section 8
Common mistakes
Saying “there are risks around customer concentration, staffing, and compliance” is a summary. The assessor wrote the brief — they know what is in it. Show them what you would do about those risks.
The brief has seven sections. Three drive the answer. The rest are context. A candidate who addresses all seven equally has not prioritised — they have listed.
“PrimeLine is a risk” is not enough. “The deal should be conditional on PrimeLine confirming renewal, or the price should come down to reflect the fact that 34% of revenue might not exist in six months” is.
“It depends on due diligence” is not a recommendation. Name the specific thing it depends on, and say what you would do with each possible answer.
If the interviewer suggests compliance might be worse than PrimeLine, engage with the point. Do not simply agree. Explain what would change your ranking and what would not.
Section 9
How to practise
MiniSeat does not yet simulate the live interview conversation. It helps you build the foundation: reading a realistic brief under time pressure, identifying what matters, and producing a structured recommendation before you have to defend it in the room.
The written exercise is where to start. Once you can produce a clear recommendation from a realistic brief, you are in a much stronger position to explain and hold that reasoning when a partner is asking the questions.
Section 10
FAQ
Do I need a law degree to do well in a case study interview?
How is this different from a written exercise?
What should I do with my preparation time?
What if my reasoning is different from what the assessor expected?
Practise the written analysis first
Work through a timed case study with AI feedback on your structure, prioritisation and commercial judgment.