Interviewing with the Ontario
Ministry of Attorney General
Introduction
Ministry of the Attorney General interviews are more substantive than firm
interviews, but what does that really mean?
The information below has been gathered from students participating in these
interviews and should help give you a sense of what the interviews are like and
how to prepare for them.
If you are interviewing at multiple offices, you may notice that some questions
keep coming up. Interviews will vary and can range from a couple of broad
questions to multiple specific questions.
The key to success in a MAG interview is to prepare as much as possible. A
good place to start is to review the branch website. Become familiar with the
legislation that the branch is responsible for, as well as the mandate and
structure of the branch. The interviews will most likely be standardized and may
seem like an oral exam. Your interviewers will be marking your interview or at the
very least noting your answers. They may give you a hard copy of the interview
questions so you can follow along. Some branches may give you time before the
interview to prepare a draft of your answers – generally, you will be told in
advance if this will be the case.
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During the interview
During the interview, make sure to think your answers through and take your
time. If you recall something that you would like to add to a previous answer, ask
your interviewers if you can do so; however, make sure that you are giving
thoughtful, logical answers. Jumping around from question to question will make
you appear disorganized. Remember that even though these are fairly
standardized interviews, your interviewers are still looking for “fit.” Not only do
you need to have the knowledge and skills the interviewers are looking for, but
interviewers are also assessing whether you will fit well into the culture of their
particular branch.
The questions you can anticipate can be broken down in to three main
categories:
(1) Questions that focus on the specific branch/office (particularly important)
(2) Experience questions
(3) Hypothetical questions
Some of the questions you may be asked are below:
Specific Branch Questions
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Why do you want to work for the government (or specifically the provincial
government)?
What does this this branch/office (specific branch of MAG) do and why
do you want to work here?
What pieces of legislation does our office deal with (some have more than
15 pieces of legislation to name, and the more you know the better)?
What impact/importance does the ______ Act have on our office (e.g.,
Coroner’s Act)? (Need to know major pieces of legislation branch deals
with and hopefully the basics of the legislation)
What recent developments (cases/legislation/news) have a significant
impact on what we do?
What are the major roles/functions of this office (office/branch in general or
specific part of branch, e.g., property division of the Office of the Children’s
Lawyer?)
What do you think is the role of Crown counsel? In answering the
question, you may wish to consider issues such as: who is the client, the
relationship between the Crown lawyer and the public interest, and the
role of the Attorney General.
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What traits/skills/experience are necessary for a lawyer in our office?
Who are the clients of this office?
What are some recent initiatives our office has been involved with?
What sort of experiences are you expecting during your articling year
here?
What part of the work we do is most interesting to you?
What skills/personal qualities/experience is necessary for an advocate in
our office?
The government has certain responsibilities when dealing with children.
What are they? (Office of the Children’s Lawyer)
What are the duties, responsibilities and procedures of a litigation
guardian? Are there any differences between a litigation guardian and
when OCL acts as litigation guardian?
What is the difference between acting on behalf of children and action for
adults (child protection and custody and access)?
The Family Responsibility Office has numerous options when it comes to
enforcing a court support order – what are some of them?
Experience Questions
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What is one quality people say you have? Why do they say it and/or why
is it wrong?
What were your favourite first-year courses and what are courses you
enjoyed least? What classes do you plan to take in third year?
Describe any legal writing you have done.
Describe any barrister work you have done.
The office can be very busy with competing assignments – describe a
situation where you have had to deal with competing priorities.
What is a work crisis you have had to deal with, and how did you handle
it?
How have you worked well in a team?
“Research process” questions: how to note-up a case, research an issue,
etc.
What experience do you have that has prepared you to work here?
What is the most challenging assignment you have worked on?
Describe how you would go about doing a research project.
Hypothetical Questions
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Two lawyers have you working two urgent research assignments – what
do you do?
You have a youth client who appears more and more unhappy every time
you see him. One day, he admits to you that a few months ago he was
cutting himself and a few weeks later he took pills that made him vomit. He
says he hasn't told anyone else – what should you do?
Counsel gives you a factum to write. A few days before it’s due, you
realize the instructions are wrong. What do you do?
“You are out having coffee with friends and someone from work who
brings up a case/client in the conversation and discusses specific details .
. . what would you do?”
“You feel one of the articling students is not pulling their weight and you
are overworked . . . what would you do?”
“You are at court and the defaulting parent (payor) is upset and wants to
talk to you before the hearing, and the receiving parent (payee) also wants
to talk to you . . . what would you do?” (Family Responsibility Office)
Prioritizing questions:
o “You have 5 voicemail messages . . . Which order would you
answer them in?”
o “You have 5 things that need to get done in the next 2 days . . .
How would you prioritize?”
o “You have X due this afternoon, Y tomorrow, a lawyer asks you to
do A and you find a memo on your desk asking you to do B . . .
What do you do?”
“You overhear a senior lawyer talking to another student. The lawyer asks
the student to give her a summary of all relevant Ontario case law
pertaining to a particular issue, and the student tells the lawyer that he’s
already looked into it and there are no relevant Ontario cases. You happen
to know that there is a relevant Ontario case because of a project you did
while in law school. You tell the student about the case in private, but the
student tells you that he doesn’t think it’s relevant and that he’s not going
to bring it to the attention of the senior lawyer. What do you do?”
“A child has been removed from her parents’ home after her father was
charged with sexually abusing her. The father has been removed from the
home and now the child has been returned so she can live with her
mother. The child tells you in confidence that her mother lets her father
visit on weekends, and also tells you that she really wants to live at home.
What do you do? What factors do you have to consider?” (Office of the
Children’s Lawyer)
Scenario: A man with Alzheimer’s has a net worth of $600,000. Six
months ago, he bought a yacht, but told the person if he didn’t pick it up
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that was all right. He still has not picked up the yacht. How would the
Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee be involved?
Good luck with your interview!
The CLCDN would like to thank students and staff in the Career and Professional
Development Office at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (Common Law)
for the information contained in this guide.
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