In BigLaw with clerkship lined up Forum

[Anonymous User]

Currently in my second year in big law. Have a clerkship lined up starting next June and I’m wondering how I should approach the next 6 months.

Basically I really don’t like my job. The work is boring. The hours are long. And I’m really looking forward to the clerkship. Since I got it lined up a couple weeks ago, I have been dragging at work. No motivation to bill or do much.

I will not be coming back to the firm but also don’t want to completely burn bridges. How would you all approach the next few months? Coast? Keep working hard? Check out completely?

[Anonymous User]

Have you told the firm about your clerkship? Seems like you could compromise by being diligent on your current matters but basically refusing to take on new stuff because you'll just have to transition off of it. Similarly, could start trying to offboard things that will clearly last longer than your tenure now (or at least onboard someone else so you can split the work).

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Yeah should have added that I have not told firm yet.

[Anonymous User]

Definitely tell your firm. They'll start taking you off of stuff over the next few months.

[Anonymous User]

It seems like the downside >> upside of telling your firm early. Can't they just sack you? (assuming you don't want to go back to the firm.) I am an incoming biglaw associate with a '21 clerkship that I haven't told my firm about yet because I got it well after I accepted my return offer from them. They also delayed our start dates with minimal financial assistance... not a lot of faith in them having my interests in mind, so why should I care about letting them know any longer than two weeks before leaving to clerk?

Also I don't think I buy the often claimed "firms love for people to clerk, they'll be happy for you" because (i) litigation isn't the main money driver at most biglaw firms and they don't need that many clerks, (ii) they basically wasted several months/a year training and paying you before you left. If they knew they would waste that ahead of time they could just let you go and worry separately about the PR hit.

People on here say all the time to wait until the bonus check hits your account before saying anything. Why doesn't something similar apply here?

[Anonymous User]

It seems like the downside >> upside of telling your firm early. Can't they just sack you? (assuming you don't want to go back to the firm.) I am an incoming biglaw associate with a '21 clerkship that I haven't told my firm about yet because I got it well after I accepted my return offer from them. They also delayed our start dates with minimal financial assistance... not a lot of faith in them having my interests in mind, so why should I care about letting them know any longer than two weeks before leaving to clerk?

Also I don't think I buy the often claimed "firms love for people to clerk, they'll be happy for you" because (i) litigation isn't the main money driver at most biglaw firms and they don't need that many clerks, (ii) they basically wasted several months/a year training and paying you before you left. If they knew they would waste that ahead of time they could just let you go and worry separately about the PR hit.

People on here say all the time to wait until the bonus check hits your account before saying anything. Why doesn't something similar apply here?

What rational firm would want to plant a big red flag telling folks with one of the best junior-level credentials in the legal profession that they do not value their experience? From a talent-retention and acquisition perspective, this seems like an incredibly self-destructive thing to do.

And besides, the firm may not know that OP is set on not coming back. From their perspective, it is entirely in their interest to maintain good relationships with outgoing clerks. They may come back, with training that the firm doesn't pay for. But they certainly won't come back if the firm acts as you think they might, and they'll make sure all the clerks they work with know to avoid the firm too.

[Anonymous User]

I get that, but we’ve also seen firms be more reluctant to take clerks back, reluctant to pay clerkship bonuses, so I’m wondering whether the assumption that you’ll be treated well has deteriorated.

OP’s situation is different than mine since they’re already working, which seems safer than an incoming associate set to already leave within months. OP, congrats on the clerkship!

[Elston Gunn]

If you’re going to leave within months of starting, not letting the firm know seems to be a lot riskier than telling them. Giving them two weeks notice for a clerkship you’ve had lined up for a year+ is a good way to burn a bridge you should really want to keep open.

[Anonymous User]

If you’re going to leave within months of starting, not letting the firm know seems to be a lot riskier than telling them. Giving them two weeks notice for a clerkship you’ve had lined up for a year+ is a good way to burn a bridge you should really want to keep open.

OK, I see this point and will likely let them know soon (but maybe not until I actually start there). I don't want to side-track anymore from OP's situation. Thanks for the replies

[polareagle]

Currently in my second year in big law. Have a clerkship lined up starting next June and I’m wondering how I should approach the next 6 months.

Basically I really don’t like my job. The work is boring. The hours are long. And I’m really looking forward to the clerkship. Since I got it lined up a couple weeks ago, I have been dragging at work. No motivation to bill or do much.

I will not be coming back to the firm but also don’t want to completely burn bridges. How would you all approach the next few months? Coast? Keep working hard? Check out completely?

I think coast is the correct answer here--or rather, as others have said, keep doing decent work on existing clients but shrug off new long-term work (framing it as, oh that sounds so cool and I wish I could work on it but I don't think it makes sense given my clerkship timing). (I was able to do some cool pro bono work shortly before leaving for a clerkship because it was short-term and I had time.)

You say you don't plan on coming back, and that's totally fair, but you're right not to want to burn the bridge or the credibility you've built up. Many people clerking during the pandemic went back to the firms they left from and were grateful to be able to do so (even though they intended to go elsewhere). There are also clerks from prestigious courts (DDC/SDNY) who struggled mightily to land a firm job this past cycle after not playing things right.

All of this is to say, put in the work you need not to burn bridges and think of it as an insurance policy. Insurance costs money and can be annoying but when you need you're awful glad to have it.