SA Program date conflict Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am a 1L who is fortunate to have accepted an SA offer. However, I just realized the last two days of my SA program overlap with Loyola's Patent Law Interview Program (PLIP) in Chicago. Obviously I want to attend PLIP. What is the best way to approach this without coming off as wanting to jump ship from my 1L SA firm? Is it okay to be completely transparent about my intentions of interviewing with other firms for 2L SAs?

[Mullens]

I am a 1L who is fortunate to have accepted an SA offer. However, I just realized the last two days of my SA program overlap with Loyola's Patent Law Interview Program (PLIP) in Chicago. Obviously I want to attend PLIP. What is the best way to approach this without coming off as wanting to jump ship from my 1L SA firm? Is it okay to be completely transparent about my intentions of interviewing with other firms for 2L SAs?

Yeah this is tough because it’s effectively telling your firm in advance you want to work elsewhere. I would decide based on if you want to work there post-law school or not. If it’s a small firm that doesn’t have 2L SA classes through OCI then they should be understanding.

[Anonymous User]

OP here - it's a big firm that interviews at PLIP. I have a positive prior work history with them... I could see myself with the firm long term, but at the same time I should explore other firms too.

I guess I am looking for advice as to #1 when and #2 how to request the last two days of the summer program off. Email early vs. bring it up during the summer? Maybe I could wait until my school's career services office reaches out about student registration?

[PorscheFanatic]

OP here - it's a big firm that interviews at PLIP. I have a positive prior work history with them... I could see myself with the firm long term, but at the same time I should explore other firms too.

I guess I am looking for advice as to #1 when and #2 how to request the last two days of the summer program off. Email early vs. bring it up during the summer? Maybe I could wait until my school's career services office reaches out about student registration?

I think the situation is certainly delicate, so I'd also probably be looking for advice if I were in your shoes. But at the same time, presumably the firm won't tell you mid-summer if they plan to give you an offer or not, so you're in the right to constantly interview until something sticks, and then until you find something you like best. So when your CS reaches out about registration, you could politely and delicately ask someone in recruiting about attending at that time.

If the firm plans to give you an offer, maybe they'd tell you at that time, but regardless, most firms, IME, are very aware that "fit" is a big part of choosing a firm. Firms and candidates have aligned interests in that sense because both want a good fit so that the person will stay for at least a few years, so I would imagine the firm would understand that you at least want to interview with a few other places.

[Mullens]

OP here - it's a big firm that interviews at PLIP. I have a positive prior work history with them... I could see myself with the firm long term, but at the same time I should explore other firms too.

I guess I am looking for advice as to #1 when and #2 how to request the last two days of the summer program off. Email early vs. bring it up during the summer? Maybe I could wait until my school's career services office reaches out about student registration?

In this case you should skip PLIP. Just do your school’s OCI and to the extent you go to a lower-tier school, mass mail and I bet you’ll get just as many hits as pre-selects given your 1L SA and credentials to get a 1L SA.

[Anonymous User]

OP here - thank you all for the thoughts. Interesting to hear the opinion that I should avoid PLIP. I feel that's definitely the safest choice, but from the threads on here about PLIP it seems like it's foolish not to attend. My non-T-14 school's OCI is decent but doesn't provide access to as many elite options as PLIP.

I like best the idea of waiting until PLIP registration is made available through my school. At that point I can test the waters with HR, leveraging the fact that I don't have a full-time offer from them. Thanks again!