Top Law Schools

A few days ago I was given an offer to join a big firm's satellite office as a lateral. The group is very busy and they seem eager to have me start soon. I'll be moving across the country from a major market, however, and I had not planned on transitioning so quickly.

I just accepted the offer and will be turning in my conflicts form soon. I was hoping to start in about 2 months (when my lease runs out). I figure 1-2 weeks for conflicts to clear, 2-3 weeks notice at current firm (they will not see it coming, don't want to burn bridges), 2 weeks to move to satellite office city and find an apartment/car, and an extra week or so in case things go haywire somewhere along the way.

Is it abnormal to ask for this much time? How long does it normally take to clear conflicts? Any tips or tricks for pushing back my start date?

Thanks!

Anonymous User wrote:A few days ago I was given an offer to join a big firm's satellite office as a lateral. The group is very busy and they seem eager to have me start soon. I'll be moving across the country from a major market, however, and I had not planned on transitioning so quickly.

I just accepted the offer and will be turning in my conflicts form soon. I was hoping to start in about 2 months (when my lease runs out). I figure 1-2 weeks for conflicts to clear, 2-3 weeks notice at current firm (they will not see it coming, don't want to burn bridges), 2 weeks to move to satellite office city and find an apartment/car, and an extra week or so in case things go haywire somewhere along the way.

Is it abnormal to ask for this much time? How long does it normally take to clear conflicts? Any tips or tricks for pushing back my start date?

Thanks!

I am also curious how this would work.

My firms has been hiring a lot of laterals recently. One asked for close to two months, when others have been asking for 2 to 3 weeks, and this was looked down upon. They accepted it, but the partners have already made derogatory comments about it, claiming that she was abusing her leverage (she did it after receiving an offer and holding out for a long time).

In the end, as long as she does good work, it probably won't matter. But if you're concerned about starting off on the wrong foot . . .

2 months seem like a long time and I would be surprised if the firm would be cool with that. Firms generally hire laterals because they have an immediate need. Long delay in starting might piss people off at the new firm

fwiw, when I lateraled, they wanted me to start within 2 weeks of accepting the offer. I talked to them and got the start date pushed back an additional 2 weeks and felt like that was pushing it