How do I Handle This Transition? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a 3L who's been been working as a law clerk of sorts at Firm 1 for a few years now. At the outset they said that if I did well during my time there, they'd consider extending me an offer to stay on as an associate after my 3L year. I haven't heard a peep about when I'll hear back about that yet.

Sometime last year I realized that Firm 1 is a really poor fit for me, and I was getting anxious about the fact that no one wanted to talk to me about post-grad during OCI back in the summer, so I started looking around so that I'd have options in case Firm 1 doesn't give me an offer to stay as an associate. I got an offer at Firm 2, which I think is a much better fit for me. I accepted there; they want me to start Aug/Sept.

So here's my dilemma: I don't want to quit Firm 1 yet because I can't start at Firm 2 until after the bar and I have bills to pay (as far as I know they're not going to pay for my bar prep/give me paid leave, so no benefits to staying during the bar). But I'm worried that if Firm 1 gets its act together and extends me an offer soon, forcing me to decline so far away from the bar, they may let me go sooner rather than later. I can afford to get let go right before the bar (i.e., the 3 months or so of expenses between bar prep and Firm 2's start date), but not so much getting let go any earlier than late May/June.

Is there any way to increase my chances of being able to skate by at Firm 1 at least until the bar (and would it be shady for me to try and do this)? Or is this just the price I'm going to have to pay for handling my move from Firm 1 to Firm 2 in this manner?