Simpson Thacher 2028 screening and callback guide

For
2028 summer associates
Sources
11 cited

Got a Simpson Thacher first interview or callback for the 2028 summer associate program? Here is the format, who you meet, the questions its interviewers ask and what happens before an offer.

A law student in a charcoal suit talking with a partner across a small desk in a law firm office, a row of plain closing binders on the credenza behind and late morning light through the blinds.
A Simpson Thacher full round is four interviews of about 20 minutes each, with two partners and two associates.

Key facts

  • Before interviews: Every 2028 applicant completes Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment as part of the application.2
  • When: For summer 2028, the firm expects to interview from November through February, with offers on a rolling basis after first-semester transcripts.2
  • First interview: Questions on projects from your previous summer or analyzing questions of law in law school or a clerkship, teamwork and activities.1
  • Full round: Four interviews of about 20 minutes each: two partners and two associates.1
  • Format: The firm offers in-person and virtual interviews, and virtual callbacks run on the Flo Recruit platform.1
  • Questions: Each attorney has their own style and there are no scripted questions, but interviewers typically discuss understanding the client's business.1
  • What they look for: How you might approach the job, whether you communicate well, are enthusiastic and would fit a collegial environment.1
  • Callback to offer: Across firms, 47% of callback interviews led to offers in the 2025 cycle (summer 2026).5

If your full-round schedule changes at the last minute, the replacement attorney knows you have not had a chance to research them.1

What the Simpson Thacher interview looks like

  1. Before the first interview

    You apply directly through Simpson Thacher's website with a resume and transcripts, and complete Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment, which every 2028 applicant takes. Interviews run from November through February.2,1

  2. The first interview

    Expect to be asked about every single thing on your resume. Interviewers ask about projects you worked on the previous summer, or how you analyzed questions of law in law school or a clerkship, and about teamwork and activities. Be honest about what and where you want to practice, including if you are not sure yet. Screeners at law firms usually run 10 to 30 minutes.1,6,7

  3. The full round

    A full round is four interviews of about 20 minutes, two with partners and two with associates, in person or on Flo Recruit. Research matters more here: know the practice areas, and come with questions about each interviewer and the deals or cases they have worked on.1

  4. What interviewers listen for

    Each attorney interviews in their own style, with no scripted questions. They want to see how you might approach the job, whether you communicate well and are enthusiastic, and whether you would fit a collegial environment. Interviewers typically also discuss understanding the client's business, and candidates who show they understand it have a distinct advantage.1

  5. After the full round

    Offers are made on a rolling basis after the firm has your first-semester transcript. Summer associates are later paired with an associate and a partner mentor, sometimes from a connection made during the interview process.2,3

From application to offer, step by step

Suited assessment About 20 to 30 min
Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment, required of every 2028 applicant. Take it somewhere quiet.
First interview About 10 to 30 min
Your resume, past work, teamwork and activities.
Full round Four, about 20 min each
Two partners and two associates, in person or on Flo Recruit.
Your questions In every interview
About each group's work and the interviewer's own deals or cases.
Offer Rolling
After the firm has your first-semester transcript.

The steps come from Simpson Thacher's How to Apply page and Chambers Associate. The assessment and first-interview lengths are Intervyo's reading of law school guidance.1,2,6,7,9

Before your Simpson Thacher interviews

  • Finish the Suited Cognitive Skills Assessment soon after you apply, in a quiet slot.
  • Prepare to discuss every line of your resume in depth.
  • Have one project from last summer or a legal question you analyzed ready to walk through.
  • Learn the practice areas and be ready to ask what each group does day to day.
  • Read each full-round interviewer's firm bio and note a deal or case they worked on.
  • For a virtual round: test Flo Recruit, camera at eye level, a plain background.
  • Bring spare copies of your resume, transcript and a writing sample.
  • Send a separate thank-you email to each interviewer within 24 hours.

The questions

Expect conversation, not technical tests. The questions fall into a few groups: your resume and past work, teamwork and activities, where you want to practice, and the questions you ask them.1

  • Past work: Projects from your previous summer, or a legal question you analyzed in law school or a clerkship.
  • Resume: Every line on your resume, in depth.
  • Teamwork and activities: How you work on teams, and what you did in your extracurriculars.
  • Practice and office: What and where you want to practice, and it is fine to be unsure.
  • Your questions: What each group does and what a day looks like, and the interviewer's own deals or cases.

Which division question you get

Corporate (M&A, private funds, capital markets)
Interviewers often discuss understanding the client's business, so be ready to explain why a deal made sense for the client. Corporate has the most junior associates, and summer associates can take work across practice groups.1,3
Litigation
Expect to talk through a legal question you analyzed, in school or a clerkship. Summer associates write briefs and motions and help with depositions and witness preparation, so bring your writing sample.1,3,8
Banking and credit, restructuring
Simpson Thacher groups restructuring and bankruptcy within Banking and Credit. Expect questions on why finance work and what you know of how lenders and borrowers interact.3
TaxBest guess
Expect questions on why tax, and on any finance or accounting background on your resume.

The Tax line is our best guess from the pattern in the other practices: why the practice, plus your own background in it.

Example questions and how to answer them

Past work"Tell me about a project you worked on last summer."1
  1. 1Name the project and the question it had to answer.
  2. 2Say what you did yourself, step by step.
  3. 3Give the result and who used your work.
  4. 4End on what you learned and how you would do it now.

Tip: Simpson Thacher asks about projects from your previous summer directly. Pick work you can explain in depth, not the most impressive line.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Intervyo example.

Last summer I interned at a state attorney general's consumer protection unit. I was asked whether a lender's late fees broke the state's cap. I read the statute and the three cases interpreting it, then pulled 200 consumer complaints to see how the fees were charged in practice.

The cases turned on whether a fee was tied to a real cost, so I built a table matching each fee to the lender's stated reason. My memo became the basis for a demand letter. What I learned is to start from the facts: the complaints showed a pattern the statute alone would not have.

Teamwork and activities"Tell me about a time you worked on a team."1
  1. 1Set the scene: the team, the goal and the deadline.
  2. 2Say what you did yourself and how you worked with the others.
  3. 3Give the result.
  4. 4Say what you would repeat or change.

Tip: The firm is judging whether you would fit its collegial environment. Show how you helped others, not just what you delivered.

Practice and office"What kind of law do you want to practice, and where?"1,3
  1. 1Give your honest answer, with the reason from a class or a job.
  2. 2If you are not sure, say what you want to try first and why.
  3. 3Name the office and your tie to the city.

Tip: Be honest about what and where you want to practice, including if you are not sure yet. Summer associates can try work across groups.

Your questions"What questions do you have for me?"1
  1. 1Ask about the interviewer's own deal or case, from their bio.
  2. 2Ask what a day looks like in their group.
  3. 3Ask how summer associates get work in that group.

Tip: The questions you ask can count for more than your answers, and partners are impressed by questions about specific deals or cases they worked on.

Past work"Walk me through your writing sample."8,6
  1. 1Say what the document is and the question it answers.
  2. 2Give your conclusion first, then the steps of reasoning.
  3. 3Name the strongest counterargument and how you handled it.
  4. 4Say what you would change now.

Tip: Bring spare copies to the full round in a folder, along with your resume and transcript.

More Simpson Thacher interview questions

Past work

  • “What projects did you work on last summer?”1

    Wording ours

  • “How did you analyze a question of law in law school or a clerkship?”1

    Wording ours

Resume

  • “Walk me through this line on your resume.”1

    Interviewers ask about every line

  • “What challenges did you face in that role?”6

Practice and office

  • “What area of the law are you most interested in?”7

  • “Why are you interested in our firm?”7

  • “Why this office?”7

    Best guess

    Firms want to know you are serious about the office

Client business

  • “Why do you think this client did the deal?”1

    Wording ours; interviewers often discuss the client's business

  • “What do you know about the business of one of our clients?”1

    Best guess

    From the same advice

Practice for Simpson Thacher with Intervyo

Start free to practice Simpson Thacher questions and track when it opens. Go deeper on Simpson Thacher with the pack, or cover every firm you apply to with the Season Pass.

Free

Try it and track Simpson Thacher

$0no card

Sign up free
  • 2 HireVue-style questions, scored
  • A resume review and a cover letter
  • An online assessment in the real format
  • The tracker, with alerts for 5 companies

Season Pass

Save 63%

Every company you apply to

$16.58a month

Get the Season Pass
  • 20 live AI mock interviews a month
  • 130 HireVue-style questions a month, every company
  • 150 online assessment runs a month
  • 5 final round simulations a month
  • 30 resume reviews and 90 cover letters a month

$199 a year, or $44.99 monthly. Cancel any time.

How long to hear back after the interview

Simpson Thacher expects to interview from November through February, and makes offers on a rolling basis once it has your first-semester transcript.2

  1. 2025 (summer 2026)

    All firms, NALP survey

    47% of callback interviews led to offers. May 2025 was the busiest offer month, and 85% of offers went out before July.5

  2. 2025 (summer 2025 class)

    Simpson Thacher summer program

    All 230 2L summer associates received full-time offers.4

  3. Nov 2025 to Mar 2026 (summer 2027)

    Simpson Thacher, all US offices

    Applications opened on Nov 1, 2025, with interviews expected from November through March.10

  4. Nov 2026 to Feb 2027 (summer 2028)

    Simpson Thacher, all US offices

    The expected interview window for the 2028 2L program.2

  5. Jan 8 to 13, 2027 (summer 2028)

    Harvard Early Interview Program

    Virtual screeners for private sector employers, for the Class of 2029's 2L summer jobs.11

Response times vary by firm more than by candidate. If two weeks pass after your full round with no word and no timeline, a short follow-up email is reasonable.6

Best guessWith interviews running November through February, expect your first interview within a few weeks of applying and an offer soon after fall grades are in, from January 2027.

What happens after the interview

  1. Online application

    Resume and undergraduate transcript through each office's link, then your 1L transcript by email.2

  2. Suited Cognitive Skills Assessment

    Required of every 2028 applicant, from the link on the How to Apply page.2

  3. Screening interview, then full roundYou are here

    This page. A first interview on your resume and past work, then four interviews with two partners and two associates.1

  4. Offer

    On a rolling basis, after the firm has your first-semester transcript.2

First interview vs full round

The first interview checks your resume and how you think; the full round tests fit with the lawyers you would work with. Research matters even more at the second stage.

Where

First interview

A law school program or after a direct application.1

Full round (callback)

In person or virtually on Flo Recruit.1

Who

First interview

Fewer people, in a single short meeting.6,7

Full round (callback)

Two partners and two associates.1

Length

First interview

About 10 to 30 minutes.6,7

Full round (callback)

Four interviews of about 20 minutes each.1

Focus

First interview

Your resume, past work, teamwork and activities.1

Full round (callback)

Fit, enthusiasm, understanding of the client's business.1

Top tip

First interview

Know every line of your resume in depth.1

Full round (callback)

Ask what each group does, and about the interviewer's own deals or cases.1

2028 summer associate status

The summer runs 10 weeks. A small team of partners and senior associates assigns work from every department, each summer associate has an associate and a partner mentor, and a Recruiting Committee partner meets each summer associate at mid-summer and at the end.4,3

FAQ

What is the Simpson Thacher first interview like?

A short conversation about your resume, every line of it, and your past work: projects from last summer, or a legal question you analyzed in school or a clerkship. Interviewers also ask about teamwork and activities.1,6,7

What happens at a Simpson Thacher callback?

A full round of four interviews of about 20 minutes each, with two partners and two associates. It can be in person or virtual on the Flo Recruit platform.1

Do I take the Suited assessment before the interviews?

It is part of the application: every 2028 applicant must complete Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment. Law school guidance says firms may weigh assessment results alongside resume, grades and interviewer feedback, and advises setting aside focused time for it.2,9

What does Simpson Thacher look for in interviews?

How you might approach the job, whether you communicate well, whether you are enthusiastic and whether you would fit its collegial environment. Showing you understand the client's business is an advantage.1

What should I ask my Simpson Thacher interviewers?

What each group does and what a day looks like in it, and about specific deals or cases the interviewer worked on. Partners are impressed by that kind of research.1

Do I need to know my practice area?

No. Be honest about what and where you want to practice, including if you are not sure yet. Summer associates can work in one department or take work from many.1,3

When will I hear back from Simpson Thacher?

Offers are made on a rolling basis after the firm has your first-semester transcript. For summer 2028 it expects to interview from November through February.2

Interview at other firms

Sources

Firm pages first, then dated candidate reports. Last checked Nov 4, 2026.

  1. 1Chambers Associate: Simpson Thacher firm profile: Get Hired · prep site
  2. 2Simpson Thacher: How to Apply
  3. 3Simpson Thacher: Summer Program
  4. 4Vault: Simpson Thacher: Summer Law Program · prep site
  5. 5NALP: Law Student Recruiting Moves Earlier as Employer-Sponsored Hiring Expands (Jan 2026) · press
  6. 6University of Michigan Law School Office of Career Planning: Guide to Firm Callback Interviews · prep site
  7. 77Sage: What I Wish I Knew before BigLaw Recruiting 101 (Aug 2022) · prep site
  8. 8Yale Law School Career Development Office: Writing Samples, References & Transcripts · prep site
  9. 9Berkeley Law Career Development Office: CDO: EIW Law Firm Assessments (2021) · prep site
  10. 10Simpson Thacher: How to Apply (Nov 1, 2025, summer 2027; archived)
  11. 11Harvard Law School Office of Career Services: Recruiting Programs for Employers · prep site

Intervyo isn't affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Simpson Thacher. Formats change between cycles and divisions, so always follow the instructions in your own invite.