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How do you tell a firm, post cb, that you have another offer that you have to respond to approaching? Email? Phone? How far in advance of the offer deadline?

People know that the market is bad for new attorneys right now. Presumably you want the job you're waiting on more than the one you have an offer for (otherwise...why wait?).

Put these two facts together in an email: Write that you would rather work for the firm you haven't heard back from, but you cannot take a risk in today's economy, so is there any way you could hear back by date X?

Write to the firm recruiter, since that person will know who actually makes hiring decisions. Also, let the firm know ASAP, the more time they have the better. One caveat: give them at least a few days after the CB before writing to them. Writing them the very next day to basically ask "Can you make a quick decision?" is probably pretty tacky.

Just tell them in the CB interview if you have a deadline already (they usually ask anyway, but I tell them even if they don't). If you got the offer from firm A after you interviewed at firm B, you have time anyway, so tell firm B a week before the deadline from firm A if you haven't heard back.