Reneg an Acceptance? Forum
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Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
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Anonymous User
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Reneg an Acceptance?
Hi yall, I have an offer at a firm that I like well enough but it expires in a few weeks and doesn't come with a scholarship. I am applying now to other firms, some of which offer significant scholarships ($25-50k) and I was wondering how bad it would look/any ramifications of accepting the first firms offer and then reneging on that if I were to get one of these offers with a scholarship? Obviously my career office says not to do it but if the only negative is a bad rep at one firm thats fine by me. I'm doing a 1L SA at a totally unrelated firm so I'm not particularly worried about ending up with no offer at all.
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Anonymous User
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- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Reneg an Acceptance?
First off, its renege, I think?
Second, try searching renege in the search function. Tons of info here.
Its a personal choice:
1. Evaluate your schools academic honor code (especially since you just told them you may).
2. Be comfortable with getting blacklisted by your schools OCI/OCR/Career Services and the prior firm.
3. Don't tell anyone your new firm until MONTHS have gone by. Even if they ask. Even if they make you feel awkward. Just say, "a peer firm". Don't say market. Just say "a peer firm". Literally, don't say anything. Because the worst thing that can happen after you take the new job is your new job finding out.
4. Come up with a compelling reason for the switch: "my boyfriend is applying to jobs there, going to school there, etc".
5. Definitely have the job offer in hand and don't tell people you're interviewing with about your job offer.
I reneged on four separate jobs. I went from public interest-small law - biglaw (V50) - biglaw (V10).
I was comfortable getting blacklisted. There were academic sanctions possible, but I just didn't tell the school and I basically found the grey area where it probably didn't apply. I mean, the school can't sue me if I was going to go to New York but then found a job in Boston at a much better firm, AND my boyfriend wanted to live there, right?
Lastly #6: Be professional. Minimize the damage as soon as possible. Be brief, polite, and reach out with a phone call before you send the "Thanks, but my circumstances have changed" email. Maybe you tell the firm its a practice group thing..
Ok, heres the real last bit of info: if law firms cared, they would extend guaranteed job offers.
The knife cuts both ways. Right now, there are tons of "renege" posts, but in a few months or years there will be tons of "X Firm Latham-ed", etc. It's all at-will, baby. Look out for numero uno.
Second, try searching renege in the search function. Tons of info here.
Its a personal choice:
1. Evaluate your schools academic honor code (especially since you just told them you may).
2. Be comfortable with getting blacklisted by your schools OCI/OCR/Career Services and the prior firm.
3. Don't tell anyone your new firm until MONTHS have gone by. Even if they ask. Even if they make you feel awkward. Just say, "a peer firm". Don't say market. Just say "a peer firm". Literally, don't say anything. Because the worst thing that can happen after you take the new job is your new job finding out.
4. Come up with a compelling reason for the switch: "my boyfriend is applying to jobs there, going to school there, etc".
5. Definitely have the job offer in hand and don't tell people you're interviewing with about your job offer.
I reneged on four separate jobs. I went from public interest-small law - biglaw (V50) - biglaw (V10).
I was comfortable getting blacklisted. There were academic sanctions possible, but I just didn't tell the school and I basically found the grey area where it probably didn't apply. I mean, the school can't sue me if I was going to go to New York but then found a job in Boston at a much better firm, AND my boyfriend wanted to live there, right?
Lastly #6: Be professional. Minimize the damage as soon as possible. Be brief, polite, and reach out with a phone call before you send the "Thanks, but my circumstances have changed" email. Maybe you tell the firm its a practice group thing..
Ok, heres the real last bit of info: if law firms cared, they would extend guaranteed job offers.
The knife cuts both ways. Right now, there are tons of "renege" posts, but in a few months or years there will be tons of "X Firm Latham-ed", etc. It's all at-will, baby. Look out for numero uno.
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Anonymous User
- Posts: 432540
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Reneg an Acceptance?
I declined to return to my 1L and 2L summer firms and reneged on the first 3L firm I accepted. It's not a big deal. Just be professional when you do it.
You are a replaceable commodity in the market for legal talent, just as firms are interchangeable for lawyers.
You are a replaceable commodity in the market for legal talent, just as firms are interchangeable for lawyers.
