Searching for a Better Legal Job After Accepting a Less Than Perfect Offer

Dear Lawcrossing,

I have a question involving ethics. I have in my mind that I would like to practice law in another part of the country. However, anxiety over getting a job led me to accept an offer in the city where I go to law school. I have a year before I am to begin work. Would it be totally unacceptable to continue looking for a job in the interim, and, if something else comes up, tell the firm that I've changed my mind?


HB, Maryland

DEAR HB,

LawCrossing suspects that you already know the answer to your "is-it-unacceptable" question. She will briefly discuss it with you nonetheless. But then she will address what's really sticking in your emotional craw, HB, which is this-How do I
weasel out of a job that I don't really want, and find one that I do want?

Before we get to that much thornier question, LawCrossing will dispense with the answer you already know. Yes, it would be unacceptable to slink around behind your future employer's back, even as they shine up your office nameplate and prepare your professional layette, seeking out the career equivalent of Bo Derek in the movie "10." The moral reason is best illustrated by putting the shoe on the other foot, as explained by the Directorof the University of Florida School of Law. "Think about how you'd feel if a firm that made you an offer subsequently called you back and said, 'We've found somebody we like better than you. We want to revoke your offer and hire them.'" You'd be horrified, and rightly so. The same goes for your employer.

If that ethical consideration isn't enough to convince you, HB, a practical one might. As soon as you renege on your offer, your reputation is shot. The legal community you thought was so huge will shrink to nothing, and the employer you left at the altar will know somebody who knows somebody in the city where you want to go. On top of that, your classmates will certainly know what you did, and as the Director points out, "Your professional reputation starts at school. You never know whether that guy you had a beer with will turn out to be a judge. You can't afford a bad reputation!"

Now that LawCrossing has lifted that ethical burden from her heavenly chest, she will give you the advice she knows you secretly want. You have two options, HB, and you will have to judge the circumstances yourself to determine which is more appropriate.

The first is to sit down with your intended employer, now, and come clean. While you will have to come up with the precise wording yourself, tracking the truth as you explained it to LawCrossing wouldn't hurt. Tell them face-to-face that in your heart of hearts you really want to live in Laredo (or wherever), and that your conscience stops you from working for them with less than complete enthusiasm. Tell them that you accepted the offer in good faith, but now you have doubts you can't resolve. This is no time to be defensive, HB. 'Prostrate with regret' is closer to the posture you want to assume. Thank them for their confidence in you and tell them that under any other circumstances you'd love to work for them, but you can't.

Their reaction may take several forms. They may be really angry. Let them vent. Tell them in their shoes you'd be angry, too, but you wanted them to know the truth as soon as you yourself realized it, with as much time as possible to find a replacement for you. They may act hurt-they will be hurt. Again, leave them to it. Acknowledge that you aren't proud of yourself, but you want to be as up front with them as they are with you. And tell them that maybe you're making a huge mistake, maybe working in Seattle (or wherever) won't be what you expect, but you wouldn't want to start your career with less than full enthusiasm.

What does this do for you, HB? No matter how upset or angry they may be in the moment, they'll respect you for your honesty, and the courage it took to say what you said, and in person, no less. They may question your judgment but they won't question your integrity. After all, law students rarely come clean in situations like yours, HB-You'll be a breath of fresh air.

Of course, the downside to this approach is that you're giving up a sure thing in favor of a dream, HB. But if your misgivings are strong enough-and you read and follow the advice in LawCrossing's wonderful bestseller, a well-know legal job search book-you may find that it is a risk worth taking.

Option B would be to bite the bullet, stay put for a year or two, and then lateral into your dream job in the Emerald City (or wherever). While that's not totally being honest with your currently intended employer, there are three things to be said for it. One is that you may find that you really love the job after all, which LawCrossing supposes would be the best, if not the most likely, of all possible worlds. You can always vacation in San Antonio (or wherever), and that may sate your travelin'jones.

Even if you do have it in mind that you'll be leaving in a year or two, you wouldn't be the first law student to view their first job as an apprenticeship. k,. And finally, you could use that year or two to gain valu-able experience and expertise for your next job. You told LawCrossing about your anxiety over being able to find a job in Phoenix (or wherever). As you may already know, the lateral market for lawyers is booming, and a job that seems unattainable now will be far easier to get with a bit of experience under your professional belt.

So there you have it, HB. Come clean and roll the dice now, or hunker down for a couple of years that will be over before you know it. But whatever you do, don't sneak around behind your betrothed employer's back. Whatever damage it would do to your professional reputation (and it would) concerns LawCrossing less than how it would impact your opinion of yourself, HB, and that's something you can't afford to sacrifice.