A Fall Recruiting Debacle: One Firm Decides To Go Explode Some Offers
Yikes! What would you do if put in such a situation?
MESSAGE FROM A LAW STUDENT WHOSE KASOWITZ BENSON OFFER GOT EFFECTIVELY RESCINDED
I’m writing to update you all on Kasowitz’s recent ridiculously awful treatment of the people who were holding on to their summer associate offers. No doubt you’ve already been informed of this, but I wanted to write to you because I was one of the people they called Tuesday morning, and I’m really angry about it.
I got a callback offer from Kasowitz the day after my screener interview at NYU’s EIW (Early Interview Week). I scheduled the callback interview for the following week, got an offer the next day, and had until early next week to make my decision. As an aside, I should mention that the associate who called me to give me my offer asked me to accept on the spot — which I’m pretty sure is also unethical according to NALP. I was really excited about the firm, and the people I met seemed excited about me, and my only hesitation in accepting more quickly was deciding whether I wanted to be able to try tax law. I was emailed asking if I wanted to take a second look, and I responded, but I didn’t end up scheduling one because I thought that my callback interview was thorough and I was busy with classes and my journal and other callbacks. I had a meal with a 3L who summered there last year a week before the call came.
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On Tuesday morning, [the firm’s Director of Legal Recruiting] called me and told me that Kasowitz has reached its capacity for summer associates and is asking people with outstanding offers to accept elsewhere. She told me that Kasowitz had been excited about me, and were hoping I would accept, but I didn’t, even though I still had a week left to decide. She also made it clear to emphasize the past tense of “we were” excited about you. I said, oh, well, are you telling me that I have to accept elsewhere? I have no other choice? And she said just said yes, and then said if I came, there would be a huge possibility that I wouldn’t get a permanent offer.
At that point, I agreed with her, I hung up the phone feeling a little disappointed and confused, but no real harm yet. However, three hours later, a girl in one of my classes who also had an offer called [the recruiting director] back during our 10-minute break and told me that recruiting gave her the opportunity to accept on the spot. Apparently they told her, we really want you to come here, so if you can accept now, or by the end of the day, that would be great. I was really upset at that point because I wasn’t given that opportunity — so clearly Kasowitz had some offers whose acceptances they would still push for, and mine wasn’t one of them. I saw on a Top Law Schools forum soon after that another offeree had also received a call and was told only to accept if Kasowitz was their absolute first choice. I wasn’t even given that option!
I told the NYU OCS (office of career services), and our director of career services called for me. The firm told her that I hadn’t expressed enough interest in Kasowitz — that I hadn’t scheduled a second look, and so they figured I didn’t want to go. She also said that I gave Kasowitz permission to release my offer, which isn’t exactly true. I was told in the affirmative that I had no choice.
I ended up writing a pretty passive-aggressive email out of anger to [the recruiting director], and she called me back. She told me that recruiting is “a numbers game” and that it just works out this way sometimes. It’s in my best interest not to go there because, she said, accepting would mean competing with my fellow summer associates. She told me I wasn’t treated any differently from other candidates (yeah, right) — and that if I had told her on the phone that I still wanted to accept, she would “put my file in a pile for the hiring partner.” This signaled to me that even if I had said, I accept anyway, my acceptance wouldn’t be guaranteed because the hiring partner would still have to review my file. The icing on the cake was her telling me that most people who go to Kasowitz either accept on the spot or the morning after they have dinner with a 3L. The fact that I didn’t indicated to her that Kasowitz wasn’t the place for me.
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I think this whole situation was demoralizing. Calling without any warning was unprofessional — and it was rude to give other students the offer to still accept on the spot or by the end of the day, and not do that for others. I know at least 3 other people at NYU who got calls, and at least 4 people at Cardozo, which makes me wonder how many offers they gave out! If this really is a numbers game, she could have warned us in advance that we needed to accept early before the class filled up.
I think future applicants should be warned about this. Thank you for any attention you can bring to this.
Kasowitz is calling people with offers right now and… [Top Law Schools]
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