I have great public interest experience (legal and nonlegal), and that is what I really want to do. It's why I came to law school, etc. I spent my 1L summer at an organization known to be at the top of its particular field doing very substantive environmental work, and I have also done internships during the semesters.
Here's the kicker: I did OCI and got a job out of it (SA). It's a firm that I like okay, but I very much doubt (though I cannot be positive) that I will want to be employed there—or any firm—after graduation. (Assume that I do get an offer; this firm generally 100% offers.)
More stuff: I plan to pursue a clerkship right after graduation. I don't want to be unemployed and in debt. I do want to pursue the reason I started on this path in the first place. With that, my questions:
Will I know about clerkships by the time I need to respond to the firm?
What happens if I take the clerkship and then legitimately have a change of plans? (For a number of reasons, I'm looking to clerk about 2500 miles away from where the firm is.)
What happens if I have a "change of plans" that is not so legitimate (e.g., a fellowship that I will be applying for in the fall but won't know the results of until spring)?
Do firms really respect the "April 1 if applying to public interest" NALP guideline, or will I look like a fool for asking?
Basically, I want to know what my options are before August rolls around. Who knows? I might really like the firm, but I don't think that I will and I don't want to wait until the last moment to think about what happens if I love it or hate it. Winter break seems like a good time to work through this stuff.
Thanks. Sorry so long. And if it matters, T14, LR, not much debt (but enough to think about), enjoy prestige.
