First off, congratulations for clearing the 1st round! The tough work you put in for the screening interview paid off with a callback.Usually, a firm will tell you through phone if you have made the callback. Otherwise, they will tell you by mail in the event of a no.The callback is mostly held at the firm's office with one single purpose : to approve the screening interviewer's impression and conclude if you're an ok match for the legal company. Fundamentally , the law firm wants to respond to this question :"Would I be willing to work with this guy?" Customarily , your "fit " is decided by having you interviewed by a gang of lawyers - between 4 to 6 - half whom would usually be partners. Later on you can be sent off to lunch with two junior associates. This could simply span the whole length of a day, and the hardest part of the callback becomes sustaining your energy and fervour for 6-8 hours.

Tip : Choose your clothes fastidiously.Most law practices dress totally in business-casual clothes nowadays, so showing up in a stuffy suit might work against you. It's better to call ahead and ask about the dress code at the law firm's office and conform accordingly.

Ask Questions
Sure, the callback interview is a break for your future employer to estimate your character and capability, but its also a possibility for you to comprehend the law firm and gorge any oddities. The interviews in the callback are long enough - about half an hour per interview - to offer you adequate time to ask about the firm, its work atmosphere, practice, and so on. The firm itself would like to see such curiosity in an applicant - they are in fact, making an investment in you.Try and avoid asking canned, cliche questions. Do not ask about the work load given to new associates ( they have heard that query potentially one thousand times from each applicant ). Instead, try and show interest in the working of the firm. Ask about their pro bono activities between summer, or any special litigation coaching camps.Demonstrate real interest in the firm, and you can move one step closer to bagging the job.

Do You Research
The precise legal company offering you the callback could be the place you can finish up working at for the subsequent several ( or all ) years of your life. You need to make certain that you gather all info about coaching, coaching, partner contact, for example. You may also go a step farther and ask about the partnership - the method, the timeline for making a partner at the firm, the different partner tracks, the amount of partners made every year. Also make investigations about the counsels' life-style : the working hours, compensation, responsibilities, etc.During your lunch with the junior associates, ask about life at the firm. They will much more may be more open with you in an informal lunch setting than the senior lawyers interviewing you, and give you the genuine lowdown of working at the firm.Most importantly, reflect. Glance at the senior partners. Would you need to be that sort of a counsel in fifteen years? Answer yourself truthfully, and make a choice to join the firm ( provided you are given a position ) only if you can answer in the affirmative.

Be Diplomatic
The callback interview is a technique built to determine your suitability to the firm. But its also made to help you understand the interior workings of the firm. Keeping that under consideration, if there's anything brazenly arguable about the firm - say, a really restricted number of minority partners, or a past history of protecting tobacco firms - you wish to find out before you land the job. If its especially troublesome, ask in the interviews itself. If otherwise, wait till you get the offer.

Be Fair
Don't exaggerate your experiences. If you are not conscious of any specific publication, or a specific case the interviewing attorney touches on, don't nod in accord. It will not only be embarassing if you get found out, but it will also cost the offer.Also, if you are interviewing in your 3L because you did not get any offers in your 2L, face up and reveal why.Try to put yourself in a positive light. Talk about what you learned over the summer, and how it's helped you become a better counsel. The interviewing lawyer will be more impressed by a truthful admission than an exaggerated lie.

Be Respectful
Its easy to let your attention wander in the long course of the callback interview, especially in the lunch with the junior associates.Because they are from your own peer group, it may seem proper to deviate totally from debating about the firm and the job, but fight the urge. These junior associates will relate all thing back to the senior partners ( who'll finally make the call ), and not talking about the firm will send out the signals that you are not actually interested after all.