Limit to # of offers one can carry? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does the NALP rule limiting 1Ls to carrying 5 offers apply to pre-OCI offers as well as post? What is the penalty for violating.

I'm not at 5 and plan to drop multiple offers promptly but want to know if I have to worry about sequencing. Thanks!

[crumb cake]

http://www.nalp.org/interpretations#limit

It's not an OCI-only rule.

You can carry more than 5 offers if they're in different markets, though.

[cfcm]

"rule"

[runinthefront]

These rules are non-binding on students. No real penalty for going over the limit to my knowledge. How would anyone at your school even know unless you told them?

However, when holding multiple offers (and by "multiple," I mean 5+, not 2-3), if you care about your classmates, you should be cognizant of the fact that holding on to offers you realistically won't accept may hurt your peers' chances at the firms.

I think the same thing applies if you come into OCI with multiple offers already. If you come in with several offers in hand, you may want to think about simply declining callback offers with any firms you screen with but realistically won't accept an offer at over an offer you already have.

[BlueParrot]

Maybe they are in different markets, but if they are all in the same market you might as well start making some decisions now. Hopefully you can start by weeding out a few based on your experience interviewing with them, practice area focus or compensation. If you can't decide, flip a coin. It's impossible to know ahead of time which firm is perfect for you.

[TLSModBot]

It's impossible to know ahead of time which firm is perfect for you.

Mehhh yes and no. Yes in that the wrong practice group/office in the right firm can make a world of difference, and yes in that you probably don't know where you want to specialize anyway at this point, but there are a lot of resources out there to help you maximize your chances of landing somewhere great.

I had 3 firms narrowed down to my absolute top choice. I spoke to current and former attorneys there, looked up everything NALP, Vault, and Chambers had to offer, and felt pretty good about them. Ended up in one of those 3 and fucking love my team and job (thus far). A good part of that is luck but a total crapshoot approach wouldn't have gotten me there. There are some very distinctive personality styles at certain firms/offices/practice groups and if you do the legwork you can narrow down the uncertainty a ton.