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So im a PI guy. What happens if I accept a PI position early in hte job process, but then closer to my work availability date, an awesome private sector opportunity comes up? How bad is it for your legal career to reneg on a job offer because something better came up? Serious question, its almost never addressed. Lets not get into the judge thing we all know thats a separate ballgame.

Is this for 1L summer (since you mentioned judges)? If it's 1L summer and you want to stay in this market there is always the risk of burning bridges and word getting around. On the other hand if you have a summer offer that won't turn into an eventual job (like a judicial internship) and you get a 1L SA or something you would want to go with that.

If you're talking about an actual permanent job offer, you have to decide what's best for you and what you really want to do. If the second opportunity is awesome, renege. However, if you've actually accepted a real job offer and renege some months later, you're probably burning bridges with whatever office gave you the first offer.

I'm thinking about actual jobs, or possibly last semester of 3L internships. I wouldn't reneg on a judge because of the potentially serious ramifications. Does reneging on firms, or PI agencies, really hurt your "reputation" long run?

I honestly think the burning bridges thing is way overplayed. Like others have said, if it's an actual job opportunity, go for it.

I don't think it hurts your reputation in that people in your broader legal community are going to shun you as a renege-er. I think you are likely to burn your bridges with the specific organization you originally accepted the job with - if it's PI, and you renege for a firm, they're likely to write you off as doing PI only as a backup/you really just wanted the money of a firm, and not be interested in hiring you in future. Whether that matters to you probably depends on how big the organization is and whether you'd want to work for them in future.