Juggling Post-Clerkship Offers Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi folks:

My #1 choice after clerking is a small firm that starts hiring no earlier than Spring 2023 for a Fall 2023 start date. However, it seems scary to entirely bypass the traditional BigLaw process (with no assurance that my dream job will hire me), so I was planning to apply broadly starting in Nov 2022-Jan 2023 and see what shakes out.

So the question is this: is there any elegant way to juggle a BigLaw offer you might get in March (for instance) when you know you need several more weeks before your first choice wants to talk?

Do you accept the first offer with the intention of reneging if you get your dream job? Do you try to request a super-long time to accept your first offer?

If it helps, I'm a SSC/DC/COA triple clerk going into lit in a major market.

I realize this is an extremely optimistic future-me problem but I was hoping for advice. Thanks for humoring me.

[Anonymous User]

Wild guess, if it’s Bartlit, the website says they have that timeline, but they hire clerks earlier than that.

[Anonymous User]

Wild guess, if it’s Bartlit, the website says they have that timeline, but they hire clerks earlier than that.

OP here. Good guess, but it's not. I have fairly good personal intel that my dream firm simply doesn't consider incoming associates until springtime.

[Anonymous User]

Hi folks:

My #1 choice after clerking is a small firm that starts hiring no earlier than Spring 2023 for a Fall 2023 start date. However, it seems scary to entirely bypass the traditional BigLaw process (with no assurance that my dream job will hire me), so I was planning to apply broadly starting in Nov 2022-Jan 2023 and see what shakes out.

So the question is this: is there any elegant way to juggle a BigLaw offer you might get in March (for instance) when you know you need several more weeks before your first choice wants to talk?

Do you accept the first offer with the intention of reneging if you get your dream job? Do you try to request a super-long time to accept your first offer?

If it helps, I'm a SSC/DC/COA triple clerk going into lit in a major market.

I realize this is an extremely optimistic future-me problem but I was hoping for advice. Thanks for humoring me.

Apply to other firms. Ask for two weeks to decide after you get an offer. (Two weeks is the usually longest you can request to consider an offer without seeming rude.) Then if you still haven't heard back from your first choice, just accept the offer. Then if you get the first choice, renege on the second choice firm. It's sort of unprofessional but people leave BigLaw firms for all sorts of reasons, better that you never even started than left after a few months.

[Anonymous User]

How long each firm keeps its offer open will depend a lot on the firm and a lot on when you interview with them. If you interview in November, I would think that few firms would let you keep the offer open until April, but some might. If you get an offer in March, I don't think that many firms would have a problem with you waiting a few weeks to accept. But by the time March comes around, there are fewer BigLaw spots (but there aren't no BigLaw spots).

One thing that could maybe help is talking to your judge--I know of some judges that discourage or do not allow their clerks to accept firm offers for post-clerkship employment until close to the end of the clerkship. If you get an offer from a firm and can truthfully tell them that your judge has recommended that you not accept the offer until later, they'll leave the offer open.

Accepting an offer and then reneging is also an option. Be careful about it--you may burn some bridges. But it's not uncommon.

[Anonymous User]

I could just be out of date, but applying for jobs in Nov-Jan of your clerkship seems really early to me . I’ve always understood applying around Feb-March to be more common.

I agree that reneging is fair in this position, but I feel like you’re making it a little more difficult than it needs to be.