Originally Posted by Unregistered

Means they want to con you into doing the work but not paying you associate salary lah. Don't forget, apart from a lower base salary right now , you're also probably not going to get an annual increment on the same salary scale as a real legal associate, and most likely a crap bonus too

There's no such thing as renege. You don't owe them anything to stay. Leave the moment you find a real LA offer elsewhere