Lateral offer stolen Forum

[rpupkin]

OP, I'm really sorry. This situation sucks. I don't have any great advice to offer, but I'll share a couple observations.

First, the partner may have been truthful when she told you that she was shocked that your offer was rescinded. Bringing on a partner with a book of business increases the need for additional associates. For that reason, I'm a little skeptical of the notion that the partner "stole" the job from you. She can't really steal a job from you anymore than you can steal a job from a paralegal. I don't know what the deal is with this particular firm--maybe there's something odd about its structure that would explain how the hiring of the partner came at your expense--but it doesn't make a lot of sense in the abstract. If anything, the partner's hire should have made your offer more secure.

Second, think carefully before pursuing legal action against any of the parties here. If you just want to leave the profession altogether, then I can understand the logic behind suing or threatening to sue in order to get a settlement before moving on to your next career. But if you'd like to continue to work as a lawyer at a firm somewhere, it's probably not in your interest to sue law firms and/or individual lawyers in these circumstances.

Good luck. I hope things work out for you.

[Anonymous User]

I'd speak with an employment lawyer.

[tyroneslothrop1]

Very unfortunate situation. Ironic that suing a group of people who make their living filing lawsuits is basically the end of one's legal career, at least in most cases and especially for associates. Law firms do bad things to associates, similar to any business, but there simply isn't much to do but move on. Firms just view any associate who sues their firm, basically whatever the reason, as a potential troublemaker.

[HillandHollow]

To be clear, your existing partner made this spontaneous recommendation call to the new firm AFTER hearing that you had received AND accepted an offer??