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Have an offer from one firm. Want an offer from another where I'm in the hold pile. The firms are within 10 spots of each other on Vault, but I'm not sure whether this is sufficient to gauge whether the hold firm considers the offer firm a peer. They are roughly the same size, but hold firm has better Chambers rankings in many areas, and significantly higher revenues. Would it be beneficial to mention I have an offer from a firm that may or may not be a competitor, or should I just be vague and tell them when the offer expires?

Don't. I did this to try and get an offer at a firm, and I got dinged. It turned out fine because I really like the firm I'm with now, but I think you risk coming across as cocky.

I was advised by OCS that this was a good idea. In the context that I was going for callbacks with all their peer firms, and was asking for a callback.

I would recommend being vague; I did it for my 2L summer and it worked out.

Didn't mean to sound cocky. Was just thinking that a lot of uncertainty in this process comes from recruiters/firms wanting to make sure you fit their profile (this is why TLSers always complain about "What other firms are you interviewing with?"). So I thought this would be a way to signal that I do. I am also not speaking about V10 firms where the mere mention of the offer firm's name might come off as arrogant. I thought it might even be an expression of humility, since you are essentially saying that if you wanted to accept that other offer already, you could have, but you would really like to work for this other firm. But it seems like it might be better to play it safe.

-op

I think you could do this if you hide it. I did something similar when writing to inform firms of my offer deadline: "I just wanted to let you know that my offer from [Firm] expires on [date], but I am extremely interested in your firm and would be grateful for an opportunity to spend the summer with you." Puts it in the context of informing them of your deadline, but sneakily slips in the competitor firm.

I cannot imagine how it would ever be beneficial. Ever... Just say you have an expiring offer from a firm, but they are your first choice. That way, you are not desperate cause you have offer, and you signal to them that you will accept. Mentioning other firms in speech after being asked one thing, sending it in a LOCI, you run the risk of not knowing how they will interpret it. That the other firm is a peer firm, I do not think it will make a difference for them... they assume that most students have other offers, often from peer firms. Even if they do not assume that, it is not like they are going to say, "we are iffy about this guy, but now that he has an offer from competitor, we must have him."

How would mentioning a firm by name help? You gotta be living a dream to think firms care who else you have offers from in this market. They have plenty of kids to choose from.

The only thing you should do is mention you have an offer(s), and only if you are doing so to say it might expire before you know from this firm.

Whether your offer is from shit law or another peer big law firm is irrelevant because all that might matter is that you have somewhere else to go so their only concern is losing you if they want you.

A related but different question. Can I tell firms who I only did screeners about an offer, or is it limited only to firms I already had call-backs?