Lateral Callback to Offer Timing Forum

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

I received an offer after two weeks. Usually, they need discuss it at whatever committee the firm has before extending an offer. Mine also was sent the same day a colleague of mine who used to work at the firm sent a nice email to the hiring partner about me. So I suspect they had forgotten and were prompted by that email. It could have taken much longer I’m sure. I don’t think that several weeks of waiting is atypical.

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

You have no idea what's going on behind the scenes. I once received an offer 4+ months after interviewing. They had sat on my application because they were unsure of whether they really wanted to bring in a lateral or not.

Obviously, the longer it takes, the lower the odds. But the timing of lateral offers really can be all over the place.

[Anonymous User]

To echo others here, in my experience timing is variable (likely especially so in this uncertain environment). I had a friend who did three rounds of interviews, had a partner tell him in the third round that they are going to give him an offer, and then have radio silence for 2 months after which he got the offer.

I got a lateral offer a month after interviewing.

Honestly, one week seems pretty fast to me. If you haven't heard back it could be for any number of reasons (running an offer up the chain, continuing to interview candidates to find the perfect person, waiting for someone else to reply back to an offer, etc), but as long as you haven't been rejected, there is a good chance you are still in the running.

[justanotherlurker]

Echoing what everyone else has said - lateral offers may take time.

First, unlike summer associate hiring where many firms are looking to hire dozens of (mostly fungible) 2Ls on a set schedule, lateral hiring is more precise - do we have a business need for a person in this practice area, at this seniority, at this time. That may require thinking about next year's business, the current state of end-of-year collections, etc.

Second, both in general and especially during COVID, there may just be internal logistics. Maybe there is a hiring committee that need to sign off, and someone is on vacation, or at trial, or just bad at checking their email and they aren't meeting in person right now.

My best advice would just be to stay in touch with whoever your contact is, once every week or two. If it's been over a week since they asked for the writing sample, a polite check in to see if they need anything else, and to ask if they have a decision timeline in mind, is totally acceptable.

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

Received offer after 3 days (phone interviews). V5 and known for moving fast.

[Anonymous User]

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[Whatislaw]

When I emailed a few days back, the recruiting manager said that the decision will be made “by Friday.” If I don’t hear back in the next few hours, this probably means I didn’t get the job, right?

This has been a very stressful week for many reasons, and I was hoping for some good news to end the week. Unfortunately, it does not appear that will be the case

Not necessarily. At most, you know they intended to make a decision by Friday. There are so many reasons for why they may have not made a decision yet.

[Anonymous User]

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