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[Anonymous User]

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[wwwcol]

You'll probably burn a bridge with the judge (and his network) permanently.

[mjb447]

Yeah, I think you should assume that this will destroy your relationship with the judge. Of course, some judges might understand, particularly if you tell the judge early (although if you do that they might decide that two months is too short a term to bring you on for). Might be worth it, though, depending on your career goals.

[Barrred]

Sounds like a terrible idea. By leaving early and forcing him to hire your replacement with short notice and off-cycle, you are really putting the judge in a bad position. The severity of the reaction will probably depend on the judge, the specific circumstances, and how early you tell him.

Judges (esp. Art. III judges) have surprisingly long reaches in the legal community, and you shouldn't underestimate a judge's single-handed ability to ruin your reputation/career.

[clerk1251]

This just seems absurd to me. Moreover, 2 months and 8 months are vastly different. If you are considering leaving after 2 months you should just withdraw from the clerkship before it starts, and allow the judge to hire someone else. 8 months will likely still put the Judge in a bind, but at least then you will have a relationship so you'd have a better sense about it.

[anon sequitur]

Have you already started? If you just found out about this, that's one thing, but if you haven't even started and now know that you might be leaving the clerkship two months after you begin for a job you want more, I could imagine the judge being really pissed. That's basically starting out with the intention to screw him/her over.

[Npret]

Is it smart for people to post about getting top secret clearances on a forum? Won't the judge be contacted by investigators anyway?

OP: you should tell the judge. I get that if the clearance doesn't go through you want this job. But leaving in a few months is almost self sabatoge of your career.

What do you have to lose by being honest?

[Anonymous User]

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[grades??]

I mean to me its pretty clear you want the clerkship but really only want it for the resume line. If you are going to potentially leave early, your ONLY option is to tell the judge and ask what he/she wants. Likely he/she will just hire someone else because it is ridiculous to have a clerk just learning how to work and then leave and have to train another anyway.

OP if you are even considering leaving, best tell the judge and have him/her decide your faith. Doing anything else might destroy your reputation before it even gets off the ground

[lolwat]

Yes, I want this job if I don't get through my clearance for whatever reason. I received the offer from the judge but haven't started yet. If I tell him that I accepted another offer and I am just undergoing a lengthy background check, he may pull the offer.

Also, the reason it may be 2 to 8 months is because the process for clearances is unpredictable. It can take up to two years, or as little as 3 months.

Is the consensus that I should just tell the judge that I am undergoing background checks and may have to leave the clerkship early, leaving the decision to keep the offer on the table up to him?

Yes.

[Anonymous User]

Yes, I want this job if I don't get through my clearance for whatever reason. I received the offer from the judge but haven't started yet. If I tell him that I accepted another offer and I am just undergoing a lengthy background check, he may pull the offer.

Also, the reason it may be 2 to 8 months is because the process for clearances is unpredictable. It can take up to two years, or as little as 3 months.

Is the consensus that I should just tell the judge that I am undergoing background checks and may have to leave the clerkship early, leaving the decision to keep the offer on the table up to him?

The prudent thing would have been for you to have withdrawn from consideration of the government job once you accepted the clerkship. It sounds like you didn't do that and don't want to do that, so yeah. You should tell your judge that you're in the process of being hired for your dream job, but that you'd like to stay on in case it falls through. She'll take it however she takes it.

[cheaptilts]

The above anon was me.

[Desert Fox]

You shouldn't have taken the clerkship in the first place if you were waiting on a fulltime job that won't let you finish the clerkship.

Since TS is more or less a 50/50 shot, I think the only thing to do now is sit tight and don't say anything. If you get clearance, see if you can punt the start date back as far as possible. Clearance costs like 75k, so you have leverage after you pass. Hopefully there is no overlap.

From what I'm hearing TS clearance is running about 9-12 months these days. So 2 months on the job seems unlikely. Plus you usually get a start date option 1-3 months after you get word. I think there is a good chance of not having to leave early (especially considering you might fail it). So I wouldn't tell teh judge when it's hypothetical.

If you'd be forced into leaving early, then you make your choice about whether it is worth burning a bridge with the judge and his network to take the job.

[Lahtso Nuggin]

a. clearance process can take a very long time and it is unusual for you to have any clue when it will be over but I would be shocked for it to take only 2 months as I know people whose routine re-investigations took a year plus (maybe new clearances are prioritized? IDK) b. is there no advantage to whatever agency you're going to work for you to have a completed clerkship under your belt? If a fed-gov job is there not a way to contact the folks you're going to work for and find out?

[Anonymous User]

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[Npret]

Where did the 2-8 months figure come from? If it's actually much longer for a decision then maybe wait and see.
Won't investigators contact your judge at some point so the judge will find out from them instead of you?

[Barrred]

6. You accept both offers, get both jobs, but leave the Clerkship early, pissing off your judge, who then calls his friend from law school/prior practice, who is now an Assistant AG at Main Justice, and complains about your lack of trustworthiness and "judgment issues," causing any number of bad things (your security clearance gets reviewed/your offer is revoked/you are terminated/you are transferred somewhere undesirable/your Gov boss wont give you any good work because he has been told not to trust you/etc.)

I'm not saying this is the most likely outcome, but it is definitely a real possibility you need to consider before premeditatedly screwing over an Article III judge.

[Anonymous User]

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[A. Nony Mouse]

Just talk to the dream job people about what a realistic start date is, and whether they have flexibility to work around your clerkship end date. Then talk to the judge about the possible scenarios. If either party won't/can't budge/work with you, it's better to know that ahead of time, when you can figure out an option that doesn't burn bridges. Hoping you won't have to burn bridges and then springing it on them is going to end badly.

(Admittedly you'll have to figure out how to explain how you accepted two jobs for in theory the same time, but it's still better to bring it up to everyone as soon as you know it's an issue.)