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Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:44 pm
by jasonredranger
I just received a congratulatory email from an attorney at a firm I interviewed with - he was not explicitly involved in the recruiting process, but nevertheless thanked me after "hearing that received an offer from the firm." I'm just confused because as of right now, I haven't heard anything from recruiting; in fact, I haven't heard anything since my callback 2 weeks ago. Am I wrong in assuming there's a chance he made a mistake? I'm just trying to figure out how to respond.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:54 pm
by iamgeorgebush
Ask OCS?

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:57 pm
by dixiecupdrinking
Accept the offer. Didn't you take contracts last year? This is classic mailbox rule.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:57 pm
by runinthefront
why don't you just call the firm and ask if your application is still being considered.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:00 pm
by pancakes3
dixiecupdrinking wrote:Accept the offer. Didn't you take contracts last year? This is classic mailbox rule.
And if you start spending the money you don't have, you get to claim reliance.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:13 pm
by Ohiobumpkin
pancakes3 wrote:
dixiecupdrinking wrote:Accept the offer. Didn't you take contracts last year? This is classic mailbox rule.
And if you start spending the money you don't have, you get to claim reliance.
Have a duty to mitigate.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:25 pm
by justkeepswimming794
Ohiobumpkin wrote:
pancakes3 wrote:
dixiecupdrinking wrote:Accept the offer. Didn't you take contracts last year? This is classic mailbox rule.
And if you start spending the money you don't have, you get to claim reliance.
Have a duty to mitigate.
There's no duty to mitigate. Just responsible for avoidable consequences. There's a difference.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:32 pm
by jbagelboy
If it's a firm you'd prefer over your other options, accept.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:34 pm
by smaug
jbagelboy wrote:If it's a firm you'd prefer over your other options, accept.
I'd wager most places will leave it open to save face. I only can think of one person who had an offer yanked because it was sent by mistake.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:35 pm
by instride91
Or you could just be a normal person and say, "Thank you, but I have not heard back on whether or not I will be receiving an offer."

Or email their recruiter.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:40 pm
by wwwcol
instride91 wrote:Or you could just be a normal person and say, "Thank you, but I have not heard back on whether or not I will be receiving an offer."

Or email their recruiter.
Lol the first is horrible advice. Makes the atty look bad unnecessarily, even if he is wrong.

Just email recruiting to check your status

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:42 pm
by Anonymous User
Was it someone you had lunch with?

also, recruiting may have sent around the email to everyone you met and asked someone to contact you. I literally just sent out one of these congrats emails to a candidate. how awesome would it be if it were you.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:55 pm
by thesealocust
What probably happened:

* Recruiting decided to give you an offer

* Recruiting told lawyer X to give you the offer

* (some time passed)

* Recruiting told lawyers A, B and C to congratulate you, possibly not until time Z

* Lawyer X got busy

* Lawyer A congratulated you, before Lawyer X gave you the offer, and possibly after time Z

I'd give it a day or two, then call recruiting and very carefully explain the situation and your confusion. It's far too soon to be lol'ing about "accepting" the offer you haven't received (yet).

less likely but possible: recruiting got emails screwed up, or some other logistical hitch that could get awkward for you and them.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:02 pm
by handsonthewheel
Give it some time before responding. When it's appropriate to contact their recruiting people for a time frame for hearing back, do so.

The person may be mistaken, or they may have heard "unofficial" word and said something before they should have. Either way, I doubt if they'd be butthurt if you didn't respond for a week or two (they will likely forget they ever sent it within a few hours). And, if you do get an offer, you can always tell them a funny story about why you didn't email back right away.

In the end, if this is a big firm, the attorney will likely not remember you or even be there by the time you are an SA.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:03 pm
by zworykin
After one of my callbacks, I received an invitation to a dinner event for offerees, then a few days later a voicemail from someone on the recruiting committee (whom I had never met) congratulating me on my offer (but not actually extending one) and inviting me to contact her with any questions etc., and then several days after that I finally got an actual offer letter in the mail. I don't think this is anything to be concerned about, or for that matter anything particularly unusual--as TSL said, it's probably just a matter of people having more or fewer things on their plate that rate a higher priority than "contact that law student."

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:39 pm
by Anonymous User
zworykin wrote:After one of my callbacks, I received an invitation to a dinner event for offerees, then a few days later a voicemail from someone on the recruiting committee (whom I had never met) congratulating me on my offer (but not actually extending one) and inviting me to contact her with any questions etc., and then several days after that I finally got an actual offer letter in the mail. I don't think this is anything to be concerned about, or for that matter anything particularly unusual--as TSL said, it's probably just a matter of people having more or fewer things on their plate that rate a higher priority than "contact that law student."
If a firm's recruiting department invites you to a "recruiting dinner" a few days after your callback, to take place a week later, is that just another opportunity to see how you handle yourself socially before giving out offers, or something more akin to what you're describing above ?

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 4:36 pm
by CanadianWolf
Congratulations !

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 7:03 pm
by Anonymous User
CanadianWolf wrote:Congratulations !
Anon from above. Not sure if you're replying to the OP or to me. Would love to be able to celebrate though, since I'm sitting on nothing atm.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:23 pm
by CanadianWolf
To both posts.

Re: Mistaken Offer?

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:31 pm
by seashell.economy
pancakes3 wrote:
dixiecupdrinking wrote:Accept the offer. Didn't you take contracts last year? This is classic mailbox rule.
And if you start spending the money you don't have, you get to claim reliance.
180 move.