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What the tcr when it comes to reneging on an offer received during 3L OCI? If I participate in 3L OCI and get an offer, but then decide I want to back out for something else (won't go into details because I don't want to out myself) in winter (I won't know if I got the job in question until then) is this considered improper?

You can't renege on an offer, only the acceptance of an offer. So if you accept and then back out, yeah that reflects poorly. But otherwise, you're fine.

Danger Zone wrote:You can't renege on an offer, only the acceptance of an offer. So if you accept and then back out, yeah that reflects poorly. But otherwise, you're fine.

This is OP. Sorry, wasn't clear. I'm talking about accepting because I won't find out about other thing until January.

Depending on the firm and circumstances, you may piss people off and burn bridges. But sometimes that's unavoidable.

See this thread for differing points of view -- http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=233658.

My personal answer is that, as long as you are open and honest with everyone about what you are doing, you should be absolutely fine. This means making sure that the new employer is aware you've accepted an offer elsewhere. It certainly will not bother the new employer to know they're stealing you away from a biglaw firm, but you should be honest about it upfront. A handful of recruiting personnel, and maybe the hiring partner, could be slightly upset about you reneging. They will immediately forget your name and find another 3L or hit the lateral market. No harm done. Just remember that the firm would drop you like a bad habit the second it benefits them to do so. Don't feel bad about dropping them first.