Reneging on an offer after acceptance Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a midlevel associate in a major market and I accepted an offer to lateral to another firm in my market (a V30) a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I have been talking since then and have been thinking that it makes sense for us at this point in our lives to move to a smaller market, near my wife's family. Her grandmother's had some health issues that prompted this, but there are various reasons. I know some people in the smaller market and am confident I can get offers there. How bad is it to back out of an offer a couple of weeks after acceptance? Has anyone done it and had bad things happen - besides burning your bridges at the firm you renege on? I'd feel awful about doing it, but on the other hand, I don't want to start at a firm if I wouldn't be happy there and would be looking to leave soon.

[misterjames]

perfectly fine, it happens. just tell them it's due to family reasons and your plans have changed. they'll understand.

[Anonymous User]

I literally did this today. Took the same approach as you (looked around on the internet a bit to get an idea of the general consensus), and, from what I understand, yes, it sucks, but it happens. Like you said, besides burning bridges and the fact that you reneged possibly spreading throughout the relevant market, I wouldn't expect "bad things" to happen to you.

I reneged on an offer this morning and explained that it was for personal reasons and that my wife and I decided the best decision for our family was to go another route. The firm responded a few hours later to let me know they were disappointed, but they understood my decision and to contact them if I'm ever looking for another job.

[Anonymous User]

Concur with the views above. Reneging on a lateral acceptance is not the same as reneging on an OCI acceptance. In many cases, you have to accept the offer before you can begin the conflict check process, so you don’t even get the chance to talk to your current firm before accepting. Not saying you should go around accepting offers you don’t intend to follow through with, but as long as you handle it professionally it is not that big a deal.

A word to the wise, if you were referred by a contact you may want to give them a heads up before you tell HR you are changing your mind. The only time I’ve heard of a reaction worse than mild disappointment was when someone got this backwards and their contact who went to bat for them got pretty ticked. Still nothing they can do about it, but always good to avoid burning bridges.