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I will keep this short.

I applied to a variety of places for my 1L summer in December in Jan and landed a ton of interviews. During my first interview with a state Supreme Court Justice we talked about the offer/what I would be doing etc. The interview went great and he kept saying "if you decide to take the job..." and "if you choose to work etc." We left on good terms and I presumed a follow up offer or denial would come shortly thereafter. Well 2 week later after a few firm interviews I was offered a 12 week SA position with weekly market pay. Clearly, I accepted the offer and the search was over. Well a week ago the judge leave me a VM asking for my start dates. This is the first time I have heard from him since the interview and I immediately call back and leave a VM with his assistant stating that I accepted a firm offer and will not be interning over at the Supreme Court. Today, the judge calls me DIRECTLY and leaves me another VM and he seems very annoyed and a bit upset. I am going to call him back asap but I am clueless as to what to say.

I obviously did not mean for this to happen and was never really sure that the job was mine to begin with. Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do? I am braced for the yelling and anger that will ensue and common sense tells me to take my beating like a man but if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

1- You're right. Just grit your teeth and don't argue.
2- Maybe talk to someone- a professor or administrator you're close with, career services.

Be strong. Be nice. There was a miscommunication or an error. They'll get over it.

edit: grammar

Talk to your OCS/Dean of Students. Call the judge back. Don't argue, apologize for your misunderstanding of his offer. Fall on your sword and hope your groveling prevents him being pissed enough to do something like call your school or figure out what firm you're at.

Sounds like it's his fault, not yours. People often say things in job interviews in the future tense ("you will be working on xyz...") but it doesn't mean you have the job. He needed to be much clearer. Obviously don't act like it's his fault when you talk to him, but know that objectively you seem to have acted just fine, unless you're leaving something out here, so be polite but don't get walked all over either.

I agree that you should 1) talk to your careers office ASAP and 2) call the judge back, apologize for the misunderstanding, and tell, don't ask, him that you will be working at the firm.

Yep, you did it - you pissed off one of the highest judges in your state, and you don't even have a licence yet! Sorry, that sucks.

Call back (if judge isn't there, explain he called you personally and you would like to respond personally, when will he be available, you'll call back). Grovel profusely, explain you left the interview expecting a follow up rejection or acceptance, and (although likely futile) say you would be happy to intern during the school year if the judge would have you, as the opportunity to intern and learn at that level would be invaluable and that you would have taken the internship had you known you were accepted prior to accepting another offer.

Damn man, weird that he wasn't more clear about actually offering.

But congrats on a 12 week SA at market rate, thats badass for 1L and will definitely help with loans!

VM left as he was out of the office. I feel sick about this and I am sure somehow this is my fault. Idiot move.

This should be a lesson to everyone here. When you accept an offer, it is probably better to call and withdrawal considerations from elsewhere to avoid these confusions and possible problems.

tell him you already accepted SCOTUS for the summer.

Don't feel bad, you did what anyone would under the circumstances. This is obviously the judge's fault for not clearly conveying an offer or ever getting an acceptance. In fact it's kind of shocking that he doesn't realize that to the point that he left you an angry voicemail.

I don't think you need to grovel to the extent others apparently do; a simple explanation and apology for the miscommunication should suffice. If this judge wants to stay mad at you even after you apologize for his mistake then there's not much you can do. Sounds like he isn't very organized so he'll probably lose track of who you are before you ever appear before him anyway.

You'll have about 3,000 reasons every week this summer to comfort you after pissing off the judge. Don't worry too much about it.

Sirius wrote:VM left as he was out of the office. I feel sick about this and I am sure somehow this is my fault. Idiot move.

This should be a lesson to everyone here. When you accept an offer, it is probably better to call and withdrawal considerations from elsewhere to avoid these confusions and possible problems.

Even if it is not, you should just act like it's your fault. I hope you didn't actually explain anything on the VM. Just approach like it was your misunderstanding, and you forgot to follow up. It's much easier to get out of a jam if you start by blaming yourself - there is less necessity for them to blame you that way.

seatown12 wrote:Sounds like he isn't very organized so he'll probably lose track of who you are before you ever appear before him anyway.

Yeah, this. It would be a phenomenally petty judge indeed who keeps a picture on his dartboard of the 1L who spurned him for an unpaid internship. I think this will be completely fine in the long-run (or he's a psychopath bent on revenge, in which case you're probably just one of many people on his shit list).

Ugh. Interviewers do this all the time. Inevitably during a callback you'll have one interviewer who will try to sell you on the firm and tell you about all the resources you can take advantage of and what types of issues you could be working on. A few weeks later- Ding!

lol

1L summer is such a complete train wreck for reasons like these. There just has to be a better way to do this.

Anyway, take the money, don't feel bad about it, and move forward. Worry about exams, not this.

If the judge keeps stalking you, have OCS or the dean step in.

Does the law firm practice in the State Supreme Court Justice's jurisdiction ? If so, you may have a bigger problem than you realize.

P.S. Contrary to advice offered above, you need to be careful about involving others in this "misunderstanding" (translation: The Judge is always right).

P.P.S. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" author obviously never pissed-off a powerful politician or a judge. I've done all three.

CanadianWolf wrote:Does the law firm practice in the State Supreme Court Justice's jurisdiction ? If so, you may have a bigger problem than you realize.

P.S. Contrary to advice offered above, you need to be careful about involving others in this "misunderstanding" (translation: The Judge is always right).

I'm normally one of the most "defer to judges" people on this website. Taking the story as true, there was no offer made. If the judge thinks otherwise, he might want to brush up on 1L contracts.

OP's story may be both true and incomplete. nevertheless, the judge is always right. The most important course not taught in law school is how to kiss-up to a judge. The key: Often & always.

CanadianWolf wrote:OP's story may be both true and incomplete. Nevertheless, the judge is always right. The most important course not taught in law school is how to kiss-up to a judge. The key: Often & always.

I quoted myself because that is how important this is, in my experience.

CanadianWolf wrote:OP's story may be both true and incomplete. nevertheless, the judge is always right. The most important course not taught in law school is how to kiss-up to a judge. The key: Often & always.

Nope. The key is to be respectful, not mindlessly defer. If OP is willing to bend over for this judge when it's his own career on the line, how can clients trust him to protect their interests? OP has done nothing wrong and should simply apologize and move on.

Besides what else would he even do, back out on the firm at this point? The people advising him to do anything to placate the judge are probably the same ones who think it's an ethical violation to renege a job acceptance. Ultimate law school mindfuck!

The only part of your post with which I agree is "...when it's his own career on the line." The rest shows inexperience & youthful idealism.

P.S. If you really believe that offending a State Supreme Court Justice in one's state will in some manner help an attorney's clients, then we need to talk about a bridge for sale in NYC.

OP: The only person from whom you seek advice on this matter is the State Supreme Court Justice. Apologize, praise, apologize, praise & ask for his or her advice as to how to handle this matter. Both you & the law firm in question will appreciate your maturity & wisdom beyond your years. You'll make friends for life. And that will benefit you, your future clients & your future employer.

P.S. Do not involve anyone else.

CanadianWolf wrote:OP: The only person from whom you seek advice on this matter is the State Supreme Court Justice. Apologize, praise, apologize, praise & ask for his or her advice as to how to handle this matter. Both you & the law firm in question will appreciate your maturity & wisdom beyond your years. You'll make friends for life. And that will benefit you, your future clients & your future employer.

P.S. Do not involve anyone else.

Are you a bot? You've said the same thing 7 times in the last 15 posts.

Good. It's that important. Are you as much of a jackass as your posts suggest ?