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I know there are a few threads out there on this, but I have a little bit of a different situation. I’m a corporate junior associate and really dislike biglaw/transactional work. I accepted a clerkship offer last year (in March 2020, little bit of a busy time) to begin a term in Fall 2021, but I’m not sure when the ideal time to tell my firm is.

I’m hoping to pivot into government work after this clerkship, so while I don’t want to burn bridges (and really like and respect the people I work with), I have no intention of returning to my firm or practice group. I feel weird waiting until 2 weeks out to give notice because it’s clear with a clerkship that I’ve known for a while, but I also don’t want to give notice 6 months in advance and risk being let go or iced out. I did clerk prior to joining the firm, so hopefully this isn’t a total surprise to them, but I haven’t expressed to anyone in my practice group that I don’t want to do transactional work.

Does anyone have advice for how to go about this process smoothly?

Frankly, I don't know enough about this stuff, but I think letting them know 2 weeks ahead of time isn't unfair play. I'd probs do it a month or so, just to give them a bit more prep time. But I think 2 weeks notice isn't the end of the world. Hope somebody more knowledgeable chimes in, just my 2 cents.

If I was in your shoes, I'd give notice 2 weeks before the clerkship's start date, with the caveat that I should not take on any new long-term work in the 2 months before the clerkship's start date. That's to be fair to the firm, without jeopardizing my own interest.

The duty to disclose earlier comes up if you were in litigation and the firm might be conflicted out because of a matter you might work on that could appear in front of the judge you'd be clerking for. This would never come up in your situation doing corporate work.