Mistaken Offer Forum

[Anonymous User]

so..... any stories on firms mistakenly giving someone an offer when they didnt mean to?

[ex_nunc]

Not I. But, if you have one, do tell.

[Anonymous User]

I have stories of this from my firm's recruiting department, but each time it happened (apparently happens about once every few years that a partner calls the wrong person with an offer) we honored the offer, so no one external knows the offer was an error. I think this is basic practice when the summer class size is large.

[Anonymous User]

I have stories of this from my firm's recruiting department, but each time it happened (apparently happens about once every few years that a partner calls the wrong person with an offer) we honored the offer, so no one external knows the offer was an error. I think this is basic practice when the summer class size is large.

do these people start out at a disadvantage since they're considered "mistakes"? i.e. are these people more likely to get no/cold offer at the end of the summer program, get pushed out earlier, etc?

[Anonymous User]

That is ascribing way too much organization and planning to law firm hiring. There is no vast conspiracy.

[charlesxavier]

Not an offer but: I had a big law firm call and ask me to come in for a interview but they mistakenly thought I was a 2L when I was actually a 3L. They had held onto my resume for over a year. It hurt.

[kaiser]

so..... any stories on firms mistakenly giving someone an offer when they didnt mean to?

I remember an OCI story that wasn't too far off. A firm was making calls right after OCI inviting people in for callbacks. However, the firm had been calling certain people that weren't supposed to be on the callback list. So certain people at my school were getting follow-up calls from the firm, saying "yeah, we didn't mean to offer you a CB". And the recruiting person actually had the gall to say "would you still like us to send you a letter reflecting our decision?" My friend pretty much just hung up at that point.

[Anonymous User]

Not an offer but: I had a big law firm call and ask me to come in for a interview but they mistakenly thought I was a 2L when I was actually a 3L. They had held onto my resume for over a year. It hurt.

did they renege on the callback?

I remember an OCI story that wasn't too far off. A firm was making calls right after OCI inviting people in for callbacks. However, the firm had been calling certain people that weren't supposed to be on the callback list. So certain people at my school were getting follow-up calls from the firm, saying "yeah, we didn't mean to offer you a CB". And the recruiting person actually had the gall to say "would you still like us to send you a letter reflecting our decision?" My friend pretty much just hung up at that point.

and i thought hr ppl were supposed to be people persons

[kalvano]

I received a rejection letter for a job I had already been offered.

[kaiser]

Not an offer but: I had a big law firm call and ask me to come in for a interview but they mistakenly thought I was a 2L when I was actually a 3L. They had held onto my resume for over a year. It hurt.

did they renege on the callback?

I remember an OCI story that wasn't too far off. A firm was making calls right after OCI inviting people in for callbacks. However, the firm had been calling certain people that weren't supposed to be on the callback list. So certain people at my school were getting follow-up calls from the firm, saying "yeah, we didn't mean to offer you a CB". And the recruiting person actually had the gall to say "would you still like us to send you a letter reflecting our decision?" My friend pretty much just hung up at that point.

and i thought hr ppl were supposed to be people persons

If I were the firm, I would have just bitten the bullet and humored the mistaken-CB kids, had them in for a visit, and then just not make offers to them. Sure, its stringing them along a bit, and wastes some of the lawyers' time, but things like the above story can make a firm look pretty awful and give them a negative rep quickly. Though this was an uber elite firm, so they likely didn't care about reputational harm, since they will get more than enough of the best year after year.

[DELG]

Not an offer but: I had a big law firm call and ask me to come in for a interview but they mistakenly thought I was a 2L when I was actually a 3L. They had held onto my resume for over a year. It hurt.

did they renege on the callback?

I remember an OCI story that wasn't too far off. A firm was making calls right after OCI inviting people in for callbacks. However, the firm had been calling certain people that weren't supposed to be on the callback list. So certain people at my school were getting follow-up calls from the firm, saying "yeah, we didn't mean to offer you a CB". And the recruiting person actually had the gall to say "would you still like us to send you a letter reflecting our decision?" My friend pretty much just hung up at that point.

and i thought hr ppl were supposed to be people persons

If I were the firm, I would have just bitten the bullet and humored the mistaken-CB kids, had them in for a visit, and then just not make offers to them. Sure, its stringing them along a bit, and wastes some of the lawyers' time, but things like the above story can make a firm look pretty awful and give them a negative rep quickly. Though this was an uber elite firm, so they likely didn't care about reputational harm, since they will get more than enough of the best year after year.

Yeah I definitely don't follow the logic of spending $$$ in billable time and travel costs for face-saving fake interviews.

[kaiser]

Not an offer but: I had a big law firm call and ask me to come in for a interview but they mistakenly thought I was a 2L when I was actually a 3L. They had held onto my resume for over a year. It hurt.

did they renege on the callback?

I remember an OCI story that wasn't too far off. A firm was making calls right after OCI inviting people in for callbacks. However, the firm had been calling certain people that weren't supposed to be on the callback list. So certain people at my school were getting follow-up calls from the firm, saying "yeah, we didn't mean to offer you a CB". And the recruiting person actually had the gall to say "would you still like us to send you a letter reflecting our decision?" My friend pretty much just hung up at that point.

and i thought hr ppl were supposed to be people persons

If I were the firm, I would have just bitten the bullet and humored the mistaken-CB kids, had them in for a visit, and then just not make offers to them. Sure, its stringing them along a bit, and wastes some of the lawyers' time, but things like the above story can make a firm look pretty awful and give them a negative rep quickly. Though this was an uber elite firm, so they likely didn't care about reputational harm, since they will get more than enough of the best year after year.

Yeah I definitely don't follow the logic of spending $$$ in billable time and travel costs for face-saving fake interviews.

Ultimately, you are right. But some firms may be so afraid of bad press, I'd imagine they would do some crazy things to avoid it. But yeah, ultimately would be a waste of time to have them in. Better to just admit their mistake. I just got a kick out of the tacky way in which they did it. Fav part is when they offered my friend the "courtesy" of still sending him a stock rejection letter.

[Anonymous User]

A friend of mine received an offer dinner invitation from a small class size firm, without receiving a phone call from the firm. He assumed this is an offer, and canceled subsequent callbacks. He was now informed that the invitation was sent in mistake and he had not been extended an offer. He currently has no offers and no more callbacks. Thoughts?

[DELG]

A friend of mine received an offer dinner invitation from a small class size firm, without receiving a phone call from the firm. He assumed this is an offer, and canceled subsequent callbacks. He was now informed that the invitation was sent in mistake and he had not been extended an offer. He currently has no offers and no more callbacks. Thoughts?

that he should call and get his interviews back obviously?

[Anonymous User]

A friend of mine received an offer dinner invitation from a small class size firm, without receiving a phone call from the firm. He assumed this is an offer, and canceled subsequent callbacks. He was now informed that the invitation was sent in mistake and he had not been extended an offer. He currently has no offers and no more callbacks. Thoughts?

that reaaaaaaally sucks i hope he gets an offer from a better firm

[Anonymous User]

A friend of mine received an offer dinner invitation from a small class size firm, without receiving a phone call from the firm. He assumed this is an offer, and canceled subsequent callbacks. He was now informed that the invitation was sent in mistake and he had not been extended an offer. He currently has no offers and no more callbacks. Thoughts?

Call the recruiting people at the firms that you canceled your CB's with, honestly explain what happened, and get the CB's back. In fact there is a good chance the hiring committee won't know you canceled your CB before when they make the decision on you.