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If someone has two permanent offers after the 2L summer (e.g. split with 1L SA firm), is it smart, fair, or kosher to leverage one against each other?

I know of one example: Firm A has January start date but Firm B has a September start date. Firm B pays more, but you want Firm A more ... if ONLY it had a September start. Firm A agrees to make an exception and have that person start in September.

Has anyone heard of people leveraging offers so that they get more money, or a higher stipend before job, etc? Or is it mostly non-negotiable and make you look like a douche before you start? What if you are genuinely torn between two firms, and you tell them that, and they start giving you incentives? WILL they start giving you incentives?

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It's possible to try and leverage them against each other but it's unlikely to pay off (I've heard of people doing it for start dates and mba bonuses). Large law firms don't tend to budge on comp/benefits.

Anonymous User wrote:It's possible to try and leverage them against each other but it's unlikely to pay off (I've heard of people doing it for start dates and mba bonuses). Large law firms don't tend to budge on comp/benefits.

+1. There are some things on the fringes you could use it for - practice group assignment, choosing one start date from amongst several offered, etc. but outright exceptions or comp/benefits are very unlikely.