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I'm currently a 3L graduating in May 2023 and I accepted an offer from a firm early fall semester. I've been applying to clerkships over the last few months and finally landed an interview with a federal judge.

If all goes well with the interview and I receive an offer for the clerkship, how do I go about letting the firm know about the clerkship and that I will not be working at the firm upon graduation, as promised? I understand firms are usually OK with clerkships, but I want to make sure I maintain the relationship with the partners. This is a boutique firm, so messaging will be important. Any thoughts are appreciated!

This is fairly common. You just email them and say I have received an offer for a clerkship and would like to postpone my start date until next year. Then they'll respond with how this works. No reason really to be worried about this.