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Curious if you prefer giving a gift or a gift card to your secretary, paralegal. IT person. Am I forgetting anyone (i.e., front desk, etc.). Note whatever you’d like about your gift giving.

Cash

cfcm wrote:Cash

Yep. Visa gift card is not liquid enough and would be frowned upon.

Cash all the way. Not sure why some weirdos think it's tacky. Cash is king.

Is there a general consensus on how much cash to give?

If you are giving cash as a gift in a situation such as this, you should shoot for an amount that actually makes the receiver feel uncomfortable accepting. This amount will obviously vary from person to person.

Anonymous User wrote:Is there a general consensus on how much cash to give?

Good question. I’ll likely opt for $150 Visa to secretary (2). $75.00 Honey Baked Ham card to a few others. Good, meh or….?

Does anyone give to anyone else besides a secretary?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Is there a general consensus on how much cash to give?

Good question. I’ll likely opt for $150 Visa to secretary (2). $75.00 Honey Baked Ham card to a few others. Good, meh or….?

Very meh on the honey baked ham card

jchiles wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Is there a general consensus on how much cash to give?

Good question. I’ll likely opt for $150 Visa to secretary (2). $75.00 Honey Baked Ham card to a few others. Good, meh or….?

Very meh on the honey baked ham card

I've always heard $100 per class year to secretaries as the standard in NY, although it strikes me as too steep for mid-levels and above (are people really giving secretaries close to a grand each?). Cold hard cash only. Go to the bank and get a few hundreds. Skip the ham.

Think of it as a bonus you're paying to staff, out of the bonus you're receiving. It's not really a gift. It's a token of appreciation and it should be something that helps with the expense of the holidays.

Was the ham thing serious? And are 6th years really giving $600 to their secretary?

In my group at my firm we start at $150 and work up in $25 or $50 increments from there per class year.

What about stub year... $100? Or less?

I'm a 4th year on the west coast. I plan to tip my secretary $400 (I give her $100 on administrative professionals' day too) and to give a couple of other assistants (i.e., those assigned to the partners I work with most) $100 each. Maybe too generous but whatever, I appreciate their hard work and it's a bad look to be cheap about this sort of thing.

not trying to get off topic from OP's question but does anyone know how the answer changes for judicial assistants?

When I think of packaged gifts what comes to mind is Wine, Scoth, Godiva. All seem appropriate.

RaceJudicata wrote:What about stub year... $100? Or less?

Not sure if serious, but come on, just tough it out and pay the first year rate.

cfcm wrote:

RaceJudicata wrote:What about stub year... $100? Or less?

Not sure if serious, but come on, just tough it out and pay the first year rate.

But pleeeeeeasee don't pro-rate the first year rate and give your secretary $24.

PorscheFanatic wrote:

cfcm wrote:

RaceJudicata wrote:What about stub year... $100? Or less?

Not sure if serious, but come on, just tough it out and pay the first year rate.

But pleeeeeeasee don't pro-rate the first year rate and give your secretary $24.

My bigger question is how to go about this? I’ve been here just over a month and have barely used my secretary, so it seems odd to me to walk up to her all “Hey! Merry Christmas! I don’t really know you but here’s a card with a hundo in it!” Maybe I’m overthinking it, but just seems very awkward.

Anonymous User wrote:
My bigger question is how to go about this? I’ve been here just over a month and have barely used my secretary, so it seems odd to me to walk up to her all “Hey! Merry Christmas! I don’t really know you but here’s a card with a hundo in it!” Maybe I’m overthinking it, but just seems very awkward.

Consider it as a very good investment.

Anonymous User wrote:

PorscheFanatic wrote:

cfcm wrote:

RaceJudicata wrote:What about stub year... $100? Or less?

Not sure if serious, but come on, just tough it out and pay the first year rate.

But pleeeeeeasee don't pro-rate the first year rate and give your secretary $24.

My bigger question is how to go about this? I’ve been here just over a month and have barely used my secretary, so it seems odd to me to walk up to her all “Hey! Merry Christmas! I don’t really know you but here’s a card with a hundo in it!” Maybe I’m overthinking it, but just seems very awkward.

You are definitely overthinking this. A nice, simple card left on their desk or keyboard, especially since you haven't asked that much of them, will help in growing that relationship. It's arguably the third most important relationship you have in your office (I'm assuming primary partner you work with and primary senior associate here, but it could be off depending on each case), so why not grease that wheel? Point being, you want them to like you.

Do people do this shit at boutiques too? The lower level attorneys here often pool some money together for gifts and gift cards for support staff, but I've literally never heard of this $100 cash per class year business except here on TLS. But then again, I haven't been at biglaw, and I don't have any staff (secretary or paralegal etc.) assigned to me. The support staff we have just work for the firm as a whole.

Not to be a dick, and I am all about gift giving - but it is hard to imagine giving my secretary $100 when I started ~one month ago and she hasn't even done a single thing for me yet. I doubt she ever will, I do everything myself?

Anonymous User wrote:
My bigger question is how to go about this? I’ve been here just over a month and have barely used my secretary, so it seems odd to me to walk up to her all “Hey! Merry Christmas! I don’t really know you but here’s a card with a hundo in it!” Maybe I’m overthinking it, but just seems very awkward.

Does she only work for you? I agree in that situation it might be a little awkward. So ask someone slightly more senior than you how to go about it.

But I'm guessing it's more likely that your secretary works for more than one attorney. In that case, I'd imagine you could just pool the money together and give it. That's what my office does anyways.

cfcm wrote:

RaceJudicata wrote:What about stub year... $100? Or less?

Not sure if serious, but come on, just tough it out and pay the first year rate.

Yes, serious. Have no problem giving $100, and its what I'll probably do. Didn't know if there was a different standard for stubs who have worked for a month or two.