Top Law Schools

Hey people,

I'm new to this TLS game so please bear with me. I go to a tier 2 school in the tri-state area. Did well my first year: top 5%, LR. A top regional firm, that has been performing and growing excellently throughout the whole downturn, aggressively recruits students from our school very early, and handed down offers after callbacks in mid-August. I was fortunate enough to get one and I'm very grateful for that. It's been a real blessing during OCI, as its reduced the tension involved with the whole process. I'm learning, however, it can also be problematic. I've got a few more call backs in the next couple of weeks; 1 is at at midsized firm with a good reputation in NY, the other at a satellite office of a V50 firm, and the last at a V100 firm in New York. The former two are before the decision is due on the offer I already have, but the last one is scheduled for 6 days after the decision on my first offer is due. No doubt they are interviewing other candidates in the mean time, probably from higher ranked schools.

I feel like I'm in a Catch 22. The offer I have is from a firm that I could very well see myself being happy at for a long time, but I don't want to foreclose other possibilities because of a due date. Should I call the firm and ask for an extension? Do I inform the firms I'm interviewing at that I'll need an answer sooner rather than later/for the V100 firm ask them to reschedule before my decision is due? I can't see a way to finesse this without someone getting pissed off at me.

Any advice would be really helpful. I don't want to out myself or the firms, but if you need any more clarifying info before you can weigh in, let me know.

Thanks!

Are they a NALP firm?

They all are. The first one has given me the required 28 days, I believe. I just checked the date on the offer letter and it was early August, not mid.

Something that worked for me: call the recruiting office of the V100 firm, tell them you're really excited about interviewing with them, express disappointment that you couldn't schedule an earlier CB with them, and ask them to contact you ASAP if they get any cancellations. Most firms are happy to be able to fit you in earlier if someone else cancels, and a firm in the V50/V100 range in New York will definitely get a fair number of cancellations in early/mid-September interviews as HYSCCN folks get/accept offers at more prestigious firms and cancel their CBs.

Of course, you aren't guaranteed to get an earlier interview this way, and even if you do you'll only know at the last-minute and the logistics may be difficult (although being from the tri-state area, you should be able to make a last-minute NY interview with few problems). Moreover, doing it this way emphasizes your interest in the firm rather than the fact that you have an offer elsewhere and need them to speed up their decision-making, although I imagine you can subtly imply that you have an expiring offer elsewhere without negative repercussions. I used this strategy with two firms that I had originally scheduled mid-September interviews with, and one firm has already moved their CB up to later this week.

Alternatively-- ask the firm you have an offer with for an extension. What's the worst thing that could happen? They say "no" and you're in the same position you're in now. Doubt they'll really be that upset with you.

Just be sure to track your due date very carefully. There was a thread by a person who missed his date. We never found out what happened but it seems unlikely the firm hired him.
(if they had he probably would have posted about it.)
Also, if anyone calls you to see of you have any questions about the firm, call them back and make sure they know you are interested. The person I referred to had no questions about his firm and never called back.

Thanks for all the advice--it's instructive. Any additional thoughts are welcome as well.

Should I definitely call the recruiting office or is an email appropriate? The recruiting director called me, but sounded insanely busy and a bit frazzled. She sent me an email after so I have her direct address.

I emailed both firms-- one followed up via email and the other called me to tell me they'd look into it.