Reply #74: Yes, it would be nice to have heard those

[WolverineDG]

early conversations. Having gone through my share of job interviews though, I left the interview knowing I had the job or didn't. An offer was either made, or it wasn't. Pleasantries exchanges, no hard feelings. No one goes around ordering cards & letterhead (if he can prove that he did that) unless an offer has been made & accepted (and you don't need to have it in writing, as anyone who has taken & passed Contracts can tell you).

What she did do though was blow a perfect opportunity. So what if she thought her salary sucked. A good baby lawyer would know that he or she would have to work for peanuts for the first few months, if not year or two. It's not like they don't warn you of this in law school. Salary can always be re-negotiated, and once the lawyer has established his/her reputation in the firm & legal community, he or she can go back & re-negotiate. I've had several friends who are now very successful solos do this very thing. First they start off with a low base salary. Then they can negotiate "salary + 20% of the cases I bring in" & work up from there. Once they have their own little network of clients, they can branch out on their own.

Her comments about the low salary were stupid. However, if she was really as good on paper as she is in her own mind, another firm would have snapped her up. No one did.

dg