1L need offer advice Forum

[Anonymous User]

1L here. I got offered a summer job with a highly selective govt agency (unpaid). They've also given me a VERY tight deadline for a response (less than week). It's great experience honestly. However, I am very interested in biglaw and have had callbacks at a few firms, one who has continuously asked me if I have any offers as they complete their decision process. But now I do, and I'm not sure if I should accept the offer from the agency since nothing concrete has come my way and it's basically March now, or should I wait out for firms to give me hard answers (which is the job I really want). I just had an interview for an in-house (nicely paid) legal internship too that I'd prefer over the agency yet they won't have an answer anytime soon, and I have another biglaw interview tomorrow. Idk what to do! any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[acr]

I think that you should accept the offer at the "highly selective" government agency, then if a better (read: paid) offer comes along from a firm or the in-house position, then renege on the government (unless it's a judge). Your CSO will probably be up in arms about reneging but you should look out for yourself.

[Anonymous User]

I think that you should accept the offer at the "highly selective" government agency, then if a better (read: paid) offer comes along from a firm or the in-house position, then renege on the government (unless it's a judge). Your CSO will probably be up in arms about reneging but you should look out for yourself.

Sigh. This is so stressful. It is not a judge, they're just attorneys. I am scared of reneging, our career services has made it sound like it's something law students should never do. But working without pay is just not appealing to me (the job itself is fine and would be nice on my resume) but if a firm were to give me a job it'd be hard to turn it down. That's a big IF though. I know the 1L summer doesn't affect one's chances at OCI but a girl needs to have some income! My mentor told me to shoot off emails to everywhere I'm waiting to hear back and say I have a tight deadline and hope they can provide a response. Should I mention it at my interview tomorrow as well?

[acr]

I think that you should accept the offer at the "highly selective" government agency, then if a better (read: paid) offer comes along from a firm or the in-house position, then renege on the government (unless it's a judge). Your CSO will probably be up in arms about reneging but you should look out for yourself.

Sigh. This is so stressful. It is not a judge, they're just attorneys. I am scared of reneging, our career services has made it sound like it's something law students should never do. But working without pay is just not appealing to me (the job itself is fine and would be nice on my resume) but if a firm were to give me a job it'd be hard to turn it down. That's a big IF though. I know the 1L summer doesn't affect one's chances at OCI but a girl needs to have some income! My mentor told me to shoot off emails to everywhere I'm waiting to hear back and say I have a tight deadline and hope they can provide a response. Should I mention it at my interview tomorrow as well?

Well, first of all, career services is looking out for their best interests, not yours. They don't want you to renege because it looks bad for them, and they don't want to risk the agency "blackballing" future applicants from your school. Just bear in mind that the government agency wouldn't hesitate for a second to pull your offer, and that you would be providing them free work for the summer. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't feel guilty or scared about reneging for one second.

[tflan19]

I think that you should accept the offer at the "highly selective" government agency, then if a better (read: paid) offer comes along from a firm or the in-house position, then renege on the government (unless it's a judge). Your CSO will probably be up in arms about reneging but you should look out for yourself.

Sigh. This is so stressful. It is not a judge, they're just attorneys. I am scared of reneging, our career services has made it sound like it's something law students should never do. But working without pay is just not appealing to me (the job itself is fine and would be nice on my resume) but if a firm were to give me a job it'd be hard to turn it down. That's a big IF though. I know the 1L summer doesn't affect one's chances at OCI but a girl needs to have some income! My mentor told me to shoot off emails to everywhere I'm waiting to hear back and say I have a tight deadline and hope they can provide a response. Should I mention it at my interview tomorrow as well?

Definitely follow up with the firms you haven't heard from and ask when hiring decisions might be made and provide your deadline. I did this with a couple of firms and had a positive response at several. I wouldn't mention it at your interview tomorrow, but I would follow up with their recruiting staff the day after the interview. If you know that you would prefer big law to the government position, there is no harm in doing this politely.

Also consider asking if there is any way you can get an extension on your exploding offer. The worst they can say is no.

[Anonymous User]

I think that you should accept the offer at the "highly selective" government agency, then if a better (read: paid) offer comes along from a firm or the in-house position, then renege on the government (unless it's a judge). Your CSO will probably be up in arms about reneging but you should look out for yourself.

Sigh. This is so stressful. It is not a judge, they're just attorneys. I am scared of reneging, our career services has made it sound like it's something law students should never do. But working without pay is just not appealing to me (the job itself is fine and would be nice on my resume) but if a firm were to give me a job it'd be hard to turn it down. That's a big IF though. I know the 1L summer doesn't affect one's chances at OCI but a girl needs to have some income! My mentor told me to shoot off emails to everywhere I'm waiting to hear back and say I have a tight deadline and hope they can provide a response. Should I mention it at my interview tomorrow as well?

Definitely follow up with the firms you haven't heard from and ask when hiring decisions might be made and provide your deadline. I did this with a couple of firms and had a positive response at several. I wouldn't mention it at your interview tomorrow, but I would follow up with their recruiting staff the day after the interview. If you know that you would prefer big law to the government position, there is no harm in doing this politely.

Also consider asking if there is any way you can get an extension on your exploding offer. The worst they can say is no.

Thank you, I will send the emails off now and follow up after tomorrow's interview. I tried getting an extension on the offer and they were clear that they needed to make decisions quickly and would move on if I did not respond on the deadline. I want to be positive and believe other offers will come along if I do turn it down but this 1L job search isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

[foregetaboutdre]

1L here. I got offered a summer job with a highly selective govt agency (unpaid). They've also given me a VERY tight deadline for a response (less than week). It's great experience honestly. However, I am very interested in biglaw and have had callbacks at a few firms, one who has continuously asked me if I have any offers as they complete their decision process. But now I do, and I'm not sure if I should accept the offer from the agency since nothing concrete has come my way and it's basically March now, or should I wait out for firms to give me hard answers (which is the job I really want). I just had an interview for an in-house (nicely paid) legal internship too that I'd prefer over the agency yet they won't have an answer anytime soon, and I have another biglaw interview tomorrow. Idk what to do! any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I'd typically give some renege advice, but I think the fed gov does a pretty extensive background check when you accept - so I wouldn't personally consider that.

In the short term, tell everyone you are pending with that you have an offer and try to get a decision from then. They speed up trust me. Also in those letter try to indicate their your top choice.

[HonestAdvice]

You should tell the firms about your predicament. This only makes you more attractive. If they reject you because of it, then your odds were weak anyway.

[webcammie]

agreed to immediately let the firms know that you have an offer with a hard deadline and ask if there's any way they can let you know before the deadline.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I will be turning the agency down as I got a summer associate offer today. So much for that tight deadline:)

[RaceJudicata]

OP here. I will be turning the agency down as I got a summer associate offer today. So much for that tight deadline:)

Congrats!

[foregetaboutdre]

OP here. I will be turning the agency down as I got a summer associate offer today. So much for that tight deadline:)

Congrats!

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I will be turning the agency down as I got a summer associate offer today. So much for that tight deadline:)

firm/office/school?

[DCESQ]

Congrats!

IME if a firm emails you and asks you about your deadlines, it's a good sign (especially if they reach out multiple times) but YMMV.

[Anonymous User]

I am going to hijack this thread with a similar question.

1L weighing an offer from a large government agency in D.C. where I would be doing exactly the legal work that I (think) am interested in. Also considering a large firm job in a smaller market. Gov't is ofcourse unpaid and firm is ~1,500/ week.

My issue is that I would love to make a little bit of money and like the firm, but have no real desire to go back to the market/ city full time. If I want to land a firm gig in D.C. for next summer, would the gov't internship be beneficial in any way over the firm job? I know I am a 1L overthinking the situation, but appreciate any input.

[Anonymous User]

I am going to hijack this thread with a similar question.

1L weighing an offer from a large government agency in D.C. where I would be doing exactly the legal work that I (think) am interested in. Also considering a large firm job in a smaller market. Gov't is ofcourse unpaid and firm is ~1,500/ week.

My issue is that I would love to make a little bit of money and like the firm, but have no real desire to go back to the market/ city full time. If I want to land a firm gig in D.C. for next summer, would the gov't internship be beneficial in any way over the firm job? I know I am a 1L overthinking the situation, but appreciate any input.

Fellow 1L here, but if you're looking to do firm work, the firm wins out pretty easily IMO. If you can get good experience as an SA in a field remotely related to the work you want to do in the DC firms come next summer, it'll be really helpful in legal experience to talk about with the firm. Plus you're getting paid.

I don't think the gov't agency would be a bad move either, but I don't think simply being in DC will look better than getting experience in things that are more related to what the firm will do. DC isn't going to care about ties and won't worry about you being a flight risk for the secondary market because you worked there for 1L summer. If the gov't agency is directly related to what you want to do (SEC and want to do corporate M&A or something), then it's definitely a closer call, but I typically believe taking the money and substantive experience wins out over unpaid work.

[acr]

I am going to hijack this thread with a similar question.

1L weighing an offer from a large government agency in D.C. where I would be doing exactly the legal work that I (think) am interested in. Also considering a large firm job in a smaller market. Gov't is ofcourse unpaid and firm is ~1,500/ week.

My issue is that I would love to make a little bit of money and like the firm, but have no real desire to go back to the market/ city full time. If I want to land a firm gig in D.C. for next summer, would the gov't internship be beneficial in any way over the firm job? I know I am a 1L overthinking the situation, but appreciate any input.

Fellow 1L here, but if you're looking to do firm work, the firm wins out pretty easily IMO. If you can get good experience as an SA in a field remotely related to the work you want to do in the DC firms come next summer, it'll be really helpful in legal experience to talk about with the firm. Plus you're getting paid.

I don't think the gov't agency would be a bad move either, but I don't think simply being in DC will look better than getting experience in things that are more related to what the firm will do. DC isn't going to care about ties and won't worry about you being a flight risk for the secondary market because you worked there for 1L summer. If the gov't agency is directly related to what you want to do (SEC and want to do corporate M&A or something), then it's definitely a closer call, but I typically believe taking the money and substantive experience wins out over unpaid work.

I agree with this. It also hedges your risk. I understand that you have "no real desire to go back to the market / city full time," but sometimes you don't have a choice. Having an offer from your 1L firm in your back pocket to return for 2L summer will pay dividends come OCI. OCI is far easier if you have something to fall back on. Or if you have a poor(er) semester grade wise, you'll be happy you took the firm. Don't work for free, take the money and experience, and go to the firm.