The COO contacted me. We spoke briefly and and interview was set up Interview was done by the COO, not HR. It was a basic interview, not that exciting. After she was finished, she took me to meet the attorney I would be working directly for and she sat in on that meeting/interview as well and sort of 'directed' it. Nothing too difficult or unusual.
What was poor is that a couple of days later I received a written offer contingent on a background check. They were vague about the background check and I was told it generally took 24 hours. Two weeks later, after I sent an email first to ask if they received my sensitive material and second to get an update after 8 days, I receive a call from the COO (HR person was like the 'good cop' and COO was almost like the 'bad cop") indicating they were looking forward to having me start. When I told her I had not given notice, she became very upset and said they had to wait two weeks for me to start and they didn't want to wait any longer. She didn't understand that one really should NOT give notice if there are contingencies. Then we decide on an additional week. After all of this, she tells me that they have HIRED SOMEONE ELSE FOR THE POSITION that was given to me in a written offer and that I accepted and went through a DEEP background check for!!! Wow! After she told me that she said they had another position, working for multiple attorneys as a paralegal, but I'd still have to give her a decision immediately and start.
Talk about unethical and doing what in business is called 'bate and switch'! I ultimately wrote an email and bcc'd the partners and sent it to her declining and stating why..