Summer Associate Class of 2016 Forum

[Toni V]

Is there a difference between a "cold-offer" and a "no-offer"?

yeah I mean a no offer means you are not welcome to return, publicly

a cold offer is an official offer, that you can in fact accept, though the firm is telling you that you should seek other employment because they do not like you, but do not want to publicly appear to be a firm that no-offers summers

Do people actually ever accept these offers? What happens to these people?

It seems that if you receive a cold offer it would be a huge challenge to lateral to a comparable firm inside a year. Granted you could cite “practice area” or “geographical preference” as a rational reason why you want to lateral. Anecdotal, from what I’ve seen, the odds are decisively less than 50:50 to accomplish a lateral inside of a year. I am not certain if a cold offer secures most people the necessary time to lateral.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

It can be hard to tell what the common outcome is with accepted cold offers because only a minority of people actually accept them.

As has been noted, there are several instances where a person has accepted a cold offer and wound up working somewhere for years. It does happen. But the key piece of a cold offer is that it has been officially noted that you are disliked/an irredeemable fuckup (rather than just informally, where you might have fucked up during an SA but gotten an offer and had everyone forget who you were by the time you got back). And because of that, you generally have a target on your back and firms are going to look to push you out quickly, probably within the first year, unless there's some sort of drastic improvement immediately.

That doesn't mean accepting is a bad idea. I certainly wouldn't have had anywhere else to go by that point if I had gotten one. And if you had say, nine months of a firm on your resume, that would be WAY better than none at all. It would definitely be a major red flag when you lateraled, but it wouldn't be a kiss of death like a no-offer is.

[RaceJudicata]

Offered.. just woke up from the celebration. Good luck to everyone else waiting.

[Anonymous User]

Firm doesn't do offers until after the summer, so I'm in limbo for a bit right now. Exit interview went well, didn't hear anything bad. My firm apparently communicates clearly if someone is likely getting no-offered and none of those warning signs popped up. Half-celebrating, but being on guard is exhausting though.

[Anonymous User]

Day 1. Still no word on offer.

[Yeezus Wept]

Day 1. Still no word on offer.

Try to control your neurotic tendencies.

[lavarman84]

Day 1. Still no word on offer.

Try to control your neurotic tendencies.

It's a board full of law students. It's not going to happen. Just look at this forum.

[tyrant_flycatcher]

Day 1. Still no word on offer.

Try to control your neurotic tendencies.

Just LOL at anyone staying cool while waiting on an offer. If the dude had written a wall of text overanalyzing every interaction he had with members of the hiring committee, that would be one thing. Posting what he posted? That's what this thread is for.

[RaceJudicata]

Day 1. Still no word on offer.

Try to control your neurotic tendencies.

Just LOL at anyone staying cool while waiting on an offer. If the dude had written a wall of text overanalyzing every interaction he had with members of the hiring committee, that would be one thing. Posting what he posted? That's what this thread is for.

Agreed. Regardless of the firm's offer rate, I think it is totally justified and normal to feel some anxiety, especially when the stakes are this high.

[JustHawkin]

Offered.. just woke up from the celebration. Good luck to everyone else waiting.

So much this. It's been lit fam.

[BizBro]

Finally got an official offer letter. It didn't say anything except "we're happy you've accepted our offer"

[El Pollito]

Finally got an official offer letter. It didn't say anything except "we're happy you've accepted our offer"

law firms don't want you to think you have a contract in case the economy tanks

[Anonymous User]

Received offer yesterday to come back next summer (I'm a rising 2L). I took the LSAT years ago, left a stable job that paid nicely (was there for over 6 years), read all the horror stories on this forum starting from 2009, and I still decided to take the risk. I hoped for median, somehow did better, and then was fortunate enough to be an SA this summer. Very glad everything has worked out for me so far, but there's still a lot of work to do.

[SplitMyPants]

With the exception of having to move soon, this August is waaaayyyy chiller than last. This is quite nice.

Why isn't there more conventional wisdom about doing everything you can to get set up with a two-year living situation and not move during your 2L August? I realize you can only control so much, and I did luck out with my roommate, but in retrospect not having to deal with moving was huge last year with OCI.

[Anonymous User]

Any reason not to except the offer immediately? Unless you are clerking?

[El Pollito]

Any reason not to except the offer immediately? Unless you are clerking?

yeah if you're trying to find a better job

sounds like you're not

[RaceJudicata]

ya if you are clerking, that would be the except-ion

[Anonymous User]

With the exception of having to move soon, this August is waaaayyyy chiller than last. This is quite nice.

Why isn't there more conventional wisdom about doing everything you can to get set up with a two-year living situation and not move during your 2L August? I realize you can only control so much, and I did luck out with my roommate, but in retrospect not having to deal with moving was huge last year with OCI.

I moved last year the week before OCI and I don't think it added any stress to OCI at all. But I hate moving and I'm really glad that I'm in the same spot for 3L as I was for 2L.

[cannibal ox]

Same apartment for all 3 years because laziness CREW.

[stannis]

Still have 3 more weeks and and then another week for an outcome at at firm with a 60-70% offer rate.

Mid-summer evaluation was good, been hearing a lot of good feedback and "when you come back" and got pulled in on an almost all-nighter for an attorney I've done a lot of work for.

Still have a bit of anxiety that won't go away until I get an offer, esp from a T2.

[Serett]

Same apartment for all 3 years because laziness CREW.

^5

(but also because my place is awesome)

[Anonymous User]

We got our offers last week. One person in our class received a cold offer. The summer was offered a position, but not at the location the person did their summer or the company HQ. Instead, the offer was for a small satellite office where the person has no ties.

The person is having to scramble and shop their offer now. I think they would take the offer as a fallback option, but they would be moving far away from friends and family.

[RaceJudicata]

We got our offers last week. One person in our class received a cold offer. The summer was offered a position, but not at the location the person did their summer or the company HQ. Instead, the offer was for a small satellite office where the person has no ties.

The person is having to scramble and shop their offer now. I think they would take the offer as a fallback option, but they would be moving far away from friends and family.

Jesus. Out the firm. I get the concept of a cold offer (protect offer rate), but christ...they basically sent the kid to a desert island cause they hated him so much? Also, makes you wonder what the firm's thoughts are on the poor satellite office.

[oshberg28]

We got our offers last week. One person in our class received a cold offer. The summer was offered a position, but not at the location the person did their summer or the company HQ. Instead, the offer was for a small satellite office where the person has no ties.

The person is having to scramble and shop their offer now. I think they would take the offer as a fallback option, but they would be moving far away from friends and family.

Jesus. Out the firm. I get the concept of a cold offer (protect offer rate), but christ...they basically sent the kid to a desert island cause they hated him so much? Also, makes you wonder what the firm's thoughts are on the poor satellite office.

Out the firm? For what, providing an offer when they didn't have to? They haven't sent the kid anywhere; they are making it clear that while this is a cold offer, they really don't want the student to come back, at least to that particular location - yet they are being nice enough to still provide the offer so the student can shop it around. Why the sense of entitlement?

[RaceJudicata]

We got our offers last week. One person in our class received a cold offer. The summer was offered a position, but not at the location the person did their summer or the company HQ. Instead, the offer was for a small satellite office where the person has no ties.

The person is having to scramble and shop their offer now. I think they would take the offer as a fallback option, but they would be moving far away from friends and family.

Jesus. Out the firm. I get the concept of a cold offer (protect offer rate), but christ...they basically sent the kid to a desert island cause they hated him so much? Also, makes you wonder what the firm's thoughts are on the poor satellite office.

Out the firm? For what, providing an offer when they didn't have to? They haven't sent the kid anywhere; they are making it clear that while this is a cold offer, they really don't want the student to come back, at least to that particular location - yet they are being nice enough to still provide the offer so the student can shop it around. Why the sense of entitlement?

No sense of entitlement. Offer rate is a serious consideration for people when choosing a firm. Advertising a 100% offer rate seems a bit disingenuous when some SA's are getting an 'offer' but are really being told to beat it or be banished to Tulsa (or wherever). I do understand that a 'no offer' is a black mark, but the "cold offer" is a pretty potent tool, especially if firms start using them more frequently.