Public Interest Articling or Wait for Recruit

[icecreamluver]

I recently had an interview for a public interest articling position and was offered a position. I do have a couple interviews for the articling recruit but realize it is competitive and I’m not guaranteed an offer.

The org I interviewed with said they don’t do hirebacks as the articling position is funded by Law Society. They also do policy work which I would enjoy but I’m a little scared of having to job hunt after completing articles. Not sure if accepting then reneging would be good practice as CSO recommends against it.

any advice? 

[chaboywb]

I was in a similar position in 2L. I had an offer in hand with in-firms coming. I rejected the offer in hand to take my chance on the recruit. It worked out but I had to make a calculated choice after a ton of consideration. I had a full slate of in-firm offers so I felt reasonably confident, but it can also be a complete roll of the dice. The most you can do is weigh the pros and cons, such as:

• How many interviews did you get?
• How much less does this public interest job pay compared to what you could get in the recruit?
• What are the hireback rates at the places you will be interviewing at (many smaller firms don't have great hireback rate, you could check how many junior associates they have to get a sense)?

"Not sure if accepting then reneging would be good practice as CSO recommends against it."

It's been discussed a lot on this forum but it may be against Law Society rules to do this.

[JohnnyCochrane68]

Absolutely do not accept and renege, it is grossly unethical

[icecreamluver]

I declined the offer. Totally get that the potential reputation harm from reneging wouldn’t be worth it + it would be a shitty thing to do

[chaboywb]

For future readers, I just want to reiterate that this is not just a potential reputation harm and shitty thing to do (there are a lot of things that can harm your reputation and be shitty but still ultimately be worth doing). My understanding is that reneging is prohibited by the LSO and could affect your getting called to the bar.