Thank you emails for interviews involving multiple attorneys

[nickb285]

Just got done with my first firm interviews. One was a lunch with two associates and a partner, the other was a series of 20-minute meetings with 10+ associates and partners. This might be a dumb question, but when I'm sending "Thanks for your time" type emails, should I email a) every single attorney with whom I met, despite the fact that the body of the email will probably be a bit repetitive; b) send one email to all the attorneys thanking them collectively; or c) send an email to the recruiting attorney only? Does it change for the lunch with three attorneys versus the meetings with 10-12?

[gdane]

Send it to everyone. Be genuine though. A simple "it was great meeting with you today. Thank you for the opportunity. I hope we can meet again some time in the future." Something to that extent.

[nickb285]

Everyone collectively or individually?

[ph14]

Everyone collectively or individually?

Individually.

[SemperLegal]

There are many right answers to this, but my thought is that if you want to have one email for all the attorney's that went to the lunch, you can do that. It prevents you from having to be totally repetitive.

However, for any one-on-one interviews, it is best to send out a personal email.

[nickb285]

Okay, cool. Thanks guys.

[Old Gregg]

I know I'm going to get flack for this, but you could also just not send thank you emails. I don't know if different markets are more sensitive to this than others, but for the major markets I interviewed in (and secondary markets), I never sent thank you emails and still got offers from all those callbacks.

[ph14]

I know I'm going to get flack for this, but you could also just not send thank you emails. I don't know if different markets are more sensitive to this than others, but for the major markets I interviewed in (and secondary markets), I never sent thank you emails and still got offers from all those callbacks.

Not sure why you would get flak. I didn't send thank you emails either and still was fine. But sounds like OP wants to send them.

[SemperLegal]

I know I'm going to get flack for this, but you could also just not send thank you emails. I don't know if different markets are more sensitive to this than others, but for the major markets I interviewed in (and secondary markets), I never sent thank you emails and still got offers from all those callbacks.

I'll provide the flack. I think its always a mistake not to send a thank you for two reasons:

1. Some people get pissy if they don't get one, no one gets pissy for getting one. Its best to do no harm.

2. Very infrequently, but occasionally, a thank you letter will be returned by an actual substantive response that can help keep the lines of communication open. Two of my interviewers replied back with a pretty lengthy response about the firm, market, and practice area. Even if that didn't help with hiring (since they probally were sold on me already, or have too much time on their hands), they ended up being a helpful resource for the X months between hiring and starting work. They helped me pick classes, gave some background on where in the city I should live, and set me up with people from my planned practice areas to give me a pretty good idea of the workflow there.

[ph14]

I know I'm going to get flack for this, but you could also just not send thank you emails. I don't know if different markets are more sensitive to this than others, but for the major markets I interviewed in (and secondary markets), I never sent thank you emails and still got offers from all those callbacks.

I'll provide the flack. I think its always a mistake not to send a thank you for two reasons:

1. Some people get pissy if they don't get one, no one gets pissy for getting one. Its best to do no harm.

2. Very infrequently, but occasionally, a thank you letter will be returned by an actual substantive response that can help keep the lines of communication open. Two of my interviewers replied back with a pretty lengthy response about the firm, market, and practice area. Even if that didn't help with hiring (since they probally were sold on me already, or have too much time on their hands), they ended up being a helpful resource for the X months between hiring and starting work. They helped me pick classes, gave some background on where in the city I should live, and set me up with people from my planned practice areas to give me a pretty good idea of the workflow there.

I'll respond to point 1: Most people don't get if they don't get one, but a typo or other sort of mistake could hurt you. Doing no harm could also be not sending a thank you note.

[BostonLove]

Send it to everyone. Be genuine though. A simple "it was great meeting with you today. Thank you for the opportunity. I hope we can meet again some time in the future." Something to that extent.

Agreed. I send to everyone at the firm (individually) that I met with that day. I just send a short, simple email along the lines of above, though I do typically include something specific that we discussed. I worry about them being too similar sometimes, so I just rearrange/change words to make them a little bit different/not look like a form. But in reality, you are thanking them for their time and not writing a book to them, so there are only so many ways of putting it.

2. Very infrequently, but occasionally, a thank you letter will be returned by an actual substantive response that can help keep the lines of communication open. Two of my interviewers replied back with a pretty lengthy response about the firm, market, and practice area. Even if that didn't help with hiring (since they probally were sold on me already, or have too much time on their hands), they ended up being a helpful resource for the X months between hiring and starting work. They helped me pick classes, gave some background on where in the city I should live, and set me up with people from my planned practice areas to give me a pretty good idea of the workflow there.

This happened to me as well. I like emailing thank yous for this reason - it opens a line of communication. There have been numerous who have replied including something about contacting them in the future, giving advice, keep them updated on x that we discussed, etc.

[Anonymous User]

Had an interviewer that was friends with the chief cso email her mentioning that only one student had sent a thank you email. V100 firm, third year associate.

[jbagelboy]

That's a lot of CB motion as a 1L. You must have had a successful semester: Congrats!

[OutCold]

I know I'm going to get flack for this, but you could also just not send thank you emails. I don't know if different markets are more sensitive to this than others, but for the major markets I interviewed in (and secondary markets), I never sent thank you emails and still got offers from all those callbacks.

I'll provide the flack. I think its always a mistake not to send a thank you for two reasons:

1. Some people get pissy if they don't get one, no one gets pissy for getting one. Its best to do no harm.

2. Very infrequently, but occasionally, a thank you letter will be returned by an actual substantive response that can help keep the lines of communication open. Two of my interviewers replied back with a pretty lengthy response about the firm, market, and practice area. Even if that didn't help with hiring (since they probally were sold on me already, or have too much time on their hands), they ended up being a helpful resource for the X months between hiring and starting work. They helped me pick classes, gave some background on where in the city I should live, and set me up with people from my planned practice areas to give me a pretty good idea of the workflow there.

I'll respond to point 1: Most people don't get if they don't get one, but a typo or other sort of mistake could hurt you. Doing no harm could also be not sending a thank you note.

Every (biglaw) interviewer I've talked to has told me that they do not expect thank you emails, and most even advised against it. I agree with PH that you won't harm yourself by not sending one, but you run the risk of typos or just flat out sounding awkward or insincere in your email. Just about every interviewer has a story about the time they received a terrible thank you email that torpedoed the applicant's chances.

[nickb285]

Wound up sending one email per meeting (i.e. one for each attorney I met individually, one for each pair of attorneys I met together, one to the attorneys I had lunch with). Figured I'd err on the side of keeping in touch and being polite since these are regional firms and not V100 types.

That's a lot of CB motion as a 1L. You must have had a successful semester: Congrats!

Thanks man. Part of it was doing better than I expected, part of it was mass mailing every employer in my target secondary/tertiary market that hires 1Ls. I feel like they went pretty well though, so hopefully I can get something good for this summer.