Behavioral question
If the legal team reached to you with a difficult request, what is your method for tackling it?
- American Express
- Behavioral
- Easy
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What this question tests
Cross-functional handling of a legal or compliance constraint without derailing the roadmap or treating legal as an obstacle.
How to approach it
- Situation: describe a real instance where legal flagged a requirement that conflicted with a planned feature or timeline.
- Task: state the tension, for example legal's requirement threatened a launch date or added scope.
- Action: describe engaging legal early to understand the actual risk and the range of acceptable solutions, not just the strictest interpretation.
- Action: describe negotiating a scoped compromise, for example a phased rollout meeting minimum compliance now and a fuller solution later.
- Result: state the outcome, the launch proceeding on a modified timeline or scope with legal sign-off.
- Reflection: note how you now involve legal earlier in future projects to avoid late-stage surprises.
What a strong answer includes
- Shows proactive engagement with legal rather than treating them as a blocker to work around.
- Demonstrates a specific negotiated compromise, not just capitulating or ignoring the concern.
- Notes a process change, earlier legal involvement, showing genuine learning.
Common mistakes
- Framing legal as purely an obstacle rather than a partner with valid constraints.
- No concrete resolution described, the story ends without a clear outcome.
Likely follow-up questions
- How do you decide when to escalate a legal disagreement?
- How do you build legal into your process earlier now?
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- What do you do when you get a vague feature request?American Express · Behavioral · Easy
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More questions from American Express
Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 13: Lead the room: staff moves, forward-deployed PM, and the portfolio
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop