Senior Counsel, Transactions,
Posted Sep 8, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
You'd interpret complex existing agreements and advise on situations they didn't anticipate. Tell me about a contract question with no clean answer.
What they are checking: Whether they can reason through an ambiguous contract and give a practical recommendation instead of hiding behind the uncertainty.
How do you negotiate independently with a counterparty who has more leverage?
What they are checking: Whether they negotiate on their own with confidence and creativity, finding trades that protect the company even when the other side holds more power.
Compared with the Associate General Counsel transactions role posted alongside this one, where do you place yourself?
What they are checking: Whether they can honestly place their experience against two levels, which shows self-awareness and helps match them to the right seat.
What would you do
How do you select and direct outside counsel, and how do you keep the cost defensible?
What they are checking: Whether they pick firms for fit, set clear scopes and watch bills closely, keeping outside legal spend controlled and easy to explain.
A business team wants to move faster than the legal work can safely allow. How do you handle that?
What they are checking: Whether they can keep deals moving without dropping protections that matter, and explain the risk plainly when they cannot.
This is based at North Chicago. What would you want to know about the deal flow before you took it?
What they are checking: Whether they ask about deal volume and pace before accepting, which shows they think about workload as carefully as a deal.
About the work
This role handles mergers and acquisitions plus pharmaceutical licensing and collaboration transactions. Walk me through a deal you papered end to end.
What they are checking: Whether they have led a deal from term sheet to signing themselves, rather than drafting pieces while someone else made the calls.
What terms do you fight hardest for in a pharmaceutical licensing agreement, and why?
What they are checking: Whether they know which licensing terms, like milestones, royalties and diligence obligations, carry the real value and risk in pharmaceutical deals.
How do you run legal due diligence on a target, and what do you look for that others miss?
What they are checking: Whether they have a structured diligence method and look past the checklist for problems that change the deal's value or terms.
The posting names keeping abreast of antitrust and competition law as it affects licensing and acquisitions. What's changed recently that matters?
What they are checking: Whether they actually follow antitrust developments, because regulators' views on pharmaceutical deals can change what gets approved and how.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by AbbVie.