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I accepted a law firm position way back in january for an unpaid full time position. just this week i was lucky enough to receive another offer as a paid summer law clerk at a different firm.

i really, really could benefit from a paid position as things are tough right now...but is it too unprofessional to back out now on the other firm?

Which gives you a better chance for a post-graduation offer?

both are firms that have attorneys who began as summer law clerks, so they are equal in that sense.

Are both these firms in the same market? How small is the legal market where they are? If they are in different places, which place do you want to work in?

What type(s) of law do they practice? What type of law do you want to practice?

They have hired clerks as incoming associates, but is it common for both? Which is it more common for?

Is the unpaid one private practice? How are they evading the government requirement that they pay their interns?

How is the first firm getting away with not paying you as a "law clerk"? Sounds like an FLSA violation.

Edit: Scooped

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Tell them you got a new offer and that since it is private practice work you have to support yourself during the summer. Then ask if they would be willing to match the other firms salary and if not tell them you're really sorry because you were looking forward to working there but for financial reasons just can't.

Puts the onus on them to match if they really want you and is a fair question to ask. And if not then you have a legitimate reason to back out which would hopefully cause less negative feelings from the firm.

muskies970 wrote:Tell them you got a new offer and that since it is private practice work you have to support yourself during the summer. Then ask if they would be willing to match the other firms salary and if not tell them you're really sorry because you were looking forward to working there but for financial reasons just can't.

Puts the onus on them to match if they really want you and is a fair question to ask. And if not then you have a legitimate reason to back out which would hopefully cause less negative feelings from the firm.

There really is no issue here. You must renege. Take the money and run. Do not work for free. 37% of people who do unpaid internships get offers. This is in comparion to 35% of the people who do NO INTERNSHIPS. Over 60% of paid interns get jobs and these are at a higher salary. Thus, everything says that you must renege.

While I agree that generally paid > unpaid, citing statistical averages isn't all that meaningful if OP has inside knowledge about these two specific firms. Just because paid internships generally are more likely to lead to full time employment, that doesn't mean that in this case the paid internship is more likely to lead to full time employment (this also ignores the fact that there are a lot of confounding variables when you look at the kinds of people who get paid vs unpaid internships and the problem it presents for those statistics). I also sympathize with the thought that what the first employer is doing is likely illegal, but the fact that you avoided an employer who does something that plenty of other employers have done isn't much solace if OP ends up without a job when the unpaid internship may have.

I'm not saying that the unpaid internship is more likely to turn into a postgrad job, but that, if it is, OP should seriously take that into consideration.