Need advice re: early offer deadline

[Anonymous User]

So I am a 2L that was fortunate enough to receive a 1L SA position at a relatively large boutique firm that starts pay at market (I believe the pay scale compresses after that). I was extended an offer to return that expires in early October. While I liked everyone at the firm that I interacted with, I have realized that I want to practice (or at least try out) an area of law that is not what the boutique specializes in. Also, I also would prefer to practice in a different market.

Under normal circumstances, I would hold on to that offer and go through OCI, but the problem is that my school has pushed OCI back to January this year. I am a fairly strong candidate (GPA>3.75 at a t14, though that could certainly drop this semester), so I think I should do fine in OCI (barring catastrophic grades this semester). However, given the current market uncertainty, I really do not want to turn down an offer without another in hand.

I have been sending out some pre-OCI apps but I don’t think there’s a great chance of getting an offer before my deadline. I feel like asking for a 4 month extension to the current offer is pretty unreasonable and would send a negative message to the firm that I’m obviously looking elsewhere. I also don’t really want to accept the offer and renege later, though that might be my only option.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[joeshmo39]

Accept the offer and withdraw if something you'd prefer comes along. It's not ideal, you'll burn your bridge with the firm forever, but I don't see another option. Agree that asking for a 4-month extension is unlikely to land well.

[trmckenz]

I agree with the poster above. Don't ask for a four-month extension. While it sucks to renege, trust that you will find something better at OCI. It sounds like you will have a lot of options. Good luck!

[biglaw_advice]

Biglaw midlevel on recruiting committee here. Agreed on the approach to accept and then back out later if you need to. It's happened to us before and the general reaction is "oh well" since there's not much we can do about it at that point. It's how the game is played. Congrats on killing it 1L year and having options!

[anon.2016]

Check with your law school offer guidelines. The law firm may be required to give you at least 2 weeks past the first day of Winter OCI. Deadlines are all over the place with delayed OCI.

[NoLongerALurker]

Check with your law school offer guidelines. The law firm may be required to give you at least 2 weeks past the first day of Winter OCI. Deadlines are all over the place with delayed OCI.

Even if the above is true, realistically I think it's better to just accept & back out than to have this conversation with the firm.