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Actually asking for a friend here.

Two callbacks with firms recently that he is waiting to hear from. He also has a PI offer that expires in two days. What would be the consequences of accepting the PI offer and then reneging if a firm offers him? Thanks.

Bad, bad, bad idea. A friend of mine recently did something similar to this (he accepted an in-house position and then reneged for a big firm offer). The company had ties to that firm he didn't know about, and word got around to the firm who then pulled his offer because they didn't want to risk their relationship with the company. I would not even think about doing this unless he qualifies his acceptance with the small firm that he will take something else if a bigger offer comes up. Even then, the odds of getting a bad reputation in a small legal community are really high, so honestly it's just not worth it.

DO NOT DO THIS. I had a friend do something somewhat similar, and it backfired in a big way when the firm found out and yanked his offer. The legal community is small, it's just not worth it to risk a bad reputation. Wherever he accepts he should be prepared to commit.

Anonymous User wrote: What would be the consequences of accepting the PI offer and then reneging if a firm offers him?

The correct way to approach this is to ask the PI offer to extend their deadline as much as possible, and send an email to the firms he interviewed with to inquire about the timeline for their offers going out. This is a normal question that is asked all the time. If there's no overlap, decline the PI offer.

Not OP - wasn't expecting it to be so one-sided here. I am finishing up a clerkship and probably going to accept a firm position that I will renege on 100% if I get one of the many AUSA positions I applied for. That has to be different, no?

Imagine reneging on Don Corleone ... law firm reneging is even worse.

I reneged on a small firm offer my 2L summer after getting a better offer later. Absolutely the best decision I ever made. The firms were in the same state, but were not the types where burning bridges at one would effect the other. I would suspect that here, there is similarly unlikely to be much overlap between the PI gig and the firms your friend is waiting to hear back from. That said, the safest route is probably to try and extend the deadline for the PI job and possibly reach out to the firms noting the deadline and seeing if an expedited response is possible.

or just don't say why your are reneging. they can't make you disclose your new job.. if they find out down the line, will be much harder to have you fired after you already started working there.

Anonymous User wrote:Not OP - wasn't expecting it to be so one-sided here. I am finishing up a clerkship and probably going to accept a firm position that I will renege on 100% if I get one of the many AUSA positions I applied for. That has to be different, no?

Agreed. Most legal employment is at-will. They can drop you at any time, and they do so if business looks bad. Remember 2009? Not saying there aren't realities to deal with; no question this can bite you. But the moral outrage is a bit rich. If a firm wants a strong commitment, they could offer a contract that THEY would have to honor, or they could offer a recoupable signing bonus....

If you get an offer from a USAO, the USAO will not think badly of you for leaving biglaw. It's a different world. And once you've done two years at the USAO (one if you're a veteran) you're good as long as you choose to stay.