Accepted BigLaw offer -- but clerkship? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi everyone,

Thank you in advance for reading and offering advice.

I recently accepted a biglaw offer to work in litigation following my 2L summer associate job. However, I'm interested in clerking in 2018-2019 or 2019-2020. (I know, slim pickin's for 2018-2019).

I want to work at my firm, but I also want to clerk for at a least a year before I do so. Unfortunately, I never articulated my interest in clerking during the summer for whatever reason (likely due to my discomfort with talking about career interests unrelated to my future with the firm).

I'm unsure how to articulate my confusion here, but I'll try and hopefully you all can offer guidance. Is it standard practice to accept a job offer, and subsequently seek out clerkships? In other words, is it clerkship or big law job -- once you accept a big law offer, you cannot clerk until at least a year after you've worked? These questions are probably only relevant for my interest in a 2018-2019 clerkship. And, I admit that I know much less than I should about this process. So, I'd be grateful if you all could explain to me how seeking out clerkships once an offer has been accepted works. Or, if you could point me in the right direction, that would be great. I really appreciate any advice. You all have helped tremendously over the past 4+ years. Wouldn't be able to ask this question without the guidance of TLS.

[jd20132013]

You owe them nothing regarding your clerkship plans. Search exactly as you would absent the position.

[clerk1251]

I think it is pretty common for summers to accept offers from their firm and then try and get a clerkship if that's what they are interested in. Your firm might not be thirlled that you're going to be renegging or deferring for a year, but ultimately they will get a better attorney out of it in a years time, so don't worry.

That being said, you will likely have an easier time securing a clerkship for 2019, as you will be able to show that by that time you would have spent a year at a firm already (which more and more judges look for these days).

I wouldn't bother mentioning anything to your firm until you've accepted a clerkship.

[OutCold]

You have absolutely nothing to worry about. If you land something, the firm will almost certainly keep your offer open or, to the extent either firm policy or your judge's policy dictates, tell you to reapply during your clerkship with a wink and nod understanding that you'll be invited back. I don't know of any biglaw firm that would have any problem with someone clerking unexpectedly--perhaps in a small office or market that is more sensitive to precise numbers.

[rpupkin]

Is it standard practice to accept a job offer, and subsequently seek out clerkships?

Yes.