Switching firms after accepting offer? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I accepted my summer 2L firm's offer shortly after receiving it, and as a result received a bar stipend etc. I have since clerked for more than two years and have had some major life changes (read: had a child). As a result, I am reconsidering my original firm's offer, and am thinking about trying for firms in a different part of the country. If I did get a second offer, what would be the repercussions for accepting it? Would the second firm buy me out? What is the best way of doing this, if I wanted to switch firms? How bad of an idea is this?

[Cogburn87]

Buy out? You're a fungible, at-will employee.
You almost certainly signed a contract requiring you to repay the bar stipend if you don't work at the firm for a certain period of time (probably 12 months). Other than paying that back, there would be no repercussions.

[Anonymous User]

Buy out? You're a fungible, at-will employee.
You almost certainly signed a contract requiring you to repay the bar stipend if you don't work at the firm for a certain period of time (probably 12 months). Other than paying that back, there would be no repercussions.

Sorry, what I meant was whether there was any possibility of firm 2 paying back the bar stipend (or give me a bigger starting bonus) rather than me having to pay it back myself out of the clerkship bonus.

[fats provolone]

doubt it but can't hurt to ask.

[Anonymous User]

you should probably just pay back the firm you're screwing over

[Cogburn87]

you should probably just pay back the firm you're screwing over

lol. yeah. how will they ever find a replacement attorney in this market?!

[fats provolone]

you should probably just pay back the firm you're screwing over

LOL

[runinthefront]

you should probably just pay back the firm you're screwing over

why was this anonymous? but I agree

[Actus Reus]

you should probably just pay back the firm you're screwing over

why was this anonymous? but I agree

you're in for a wake-up call if this is the mentality you have towards the legal profession and big law in particular.

[Anonymous User]

I've never heard of a second firm "buying out" the first firm's bar stipend/salary advance/whatever. What I (and others I know in this situation) have done is just use part of the clerkship bonus from the new firm to pay back the first firm's advances. To be clear, though, I then had my new firm cut me a check for my bar expenses, etc., so ultimately I ended up even financially.

As others said, there are no other repercussions. Firms know that a certain number of summer associates that clerk will not be coming back, even if they accepted offers at the end of their summer.

[Anonymous User]

different, financially-strapped anon jumping aboard to ask if anyone has had the experience of a firm not seeking the bar stipend repayment from a clerk? i would like to take a fedgov position but no way am i just chucking back $15k to the firm on the paltry first-year bigfed salary. does anyone have experience with how aggressively and over what timeframe firm's pursue that money?

[Anonymous User]

I was in a somewhat different situation in that I did not clerk, but I accepted an offer at Firm A, and they paid my bar expenses. After the bar exam, I accepted an offer at Firm B with a sign-on bonus intended to cover bar expenses. I wrote Firm A a check and took the money from Firm B when I started. I don't see any other way to do it, really.

[Anonymous User]

I did this and firm 2 paid off firm 1's bar stipend. Not sure if that is typical or not. I went from NYC V10 to regional office of biglaw firm, fwiw

[Anonymous User]

I was in a somewhat different situation in that I did not clerk, but I accepted an offer at Firm A, and they paid my bar expenses. After the bar exam, I accepted an offer at Firm B with a sign-on bonus intended to cover bar expenses. I wrote Firm A a check and took the money from Firm B when I started. I don't see any other way to do it, really.

Can you provide any details as to how you pulled this off, specifically applying to Firm B?

[Anonymous User]

I held my summer firm's offer open when clerking, and I actually fronted the costs rather than take their bar stipend since I was planning to look elsewhere. (This of course placed them on notice that I was going to look elsewhere.) Then, when I got the offer from new firm, they just gave me a lump sum payment intended to cover previously incurred bar costs. Had I actually taken money from summer firm, I'd have used these funds to write them a reimbursement check.