How to coast for a few months Forum

[Anonymous User]

Do most firms pay out vacation?

I think if you're in offices in either Boston, Chicago or any CA office they have to pay out vacation by state law, even the unlimited firms. When I lateralled from one of these offices, I was paid out my entire vacation that I had earned during my tenure. We accrued at a rate of 4 weeks per year, and everyone took significantly less than that (for me it was usually less than 2 weeks total per year including long weekends). And then even while on vacation I would often end up working/billing for a few hours in the morning so those days don't end up counting toward vacation either.

If you've been somewhere for a few years, this becomes a major windfall. I think it's not uncommon for midlevels that have been at a firm for 3-4 years to walk with $35-50k in vacation payout. I left as a junior and it was still north of $25k from what I recall.

[Elston Gunn]

If you have a set number of vacation days per year, you should get vacation paid out. If you have a bullshit “unlimited” set up, you obviously don’t have any accrued days to be paid for.

[glitched]

I gave notice by phone the day the bonus hit. No one gave a shit and we're really happy for me. I went back in a couple weeks later to pick up my stuff and say my farewells / get meals in person. People 100% understand.

yeah haven't done it myself yet but have seen plenty of others leave on/shortly after bonus day. everybody gets it and would do the same if they were leaving

Were you going in-house or to another firm? Wondering how much that changes the calculus of people being happy for you (not that that ultimately matters).

I went to another firm in a different market where my previous firm didn't have an office. That probably played into all of it. But the people at my old firm were generally all around awesome people.

[lolwutpar]

If you have a set number of vacation days per year, you should get vacation paid out. If you have a bullshit “unlimited” set up, you obviously don’t have any accrued days to be paid for.

My previous firm cashed us out with no warning (meaning people who had recently taken vacation were PISSED) and switched us to the bullshit unlimited system specifically so they would stop needing to pay out vacation time.

[jotarokujo]

the one good thing about having the unlimited system is that since you don't get vacation paid out, it's more of an asshole move for the firm to prevent you from taking the industry standard of 15-20 per year.

[Anonymous User]

Bumping this thread since I'm in a very similar boat as OP. Less concerned about bonus timing and more would just like tips on how to coast/turn down work/work far less than I am. I guess it's just a matter of stockholm syndrome at this point since I've been in this job and mindset for many years, but how much coasting can I realistically get away with from now until I put in my notice?

[lolwutpar]

Bumping this thread since I'm in a very similar boat as OP. Less concerned about bonus timing and more would just like tips on how to coast/turn down work/work far less than I am. I guess it's just a matter of stockholm syndrome at this point since I've been in this job and mindset for many years, but how much coasting can I realistically get away with from now until I put in my notice?

I think the first step is to turn down work from people you don't want to work with. That goes a long way.

Second on the list is turn down work you don't want to do. If you do mostly, say '34 Act work and cap markets but tend to pick up a couple of M&A deals a year, say no to the M&A.

As long as you don't give a shit, those two go a long way. You can actually bill a fairly low amount (YMMV - most partners I've worked with are oblivious to workload) for a long time, but a lot easier to coast if you're *just* busy enough.

[Anonymous User]

Bumping this thread since I'm in a very similar boat as OP. Less concerned about bonus timing and more would just like tips on how to coast/turn down work/work far less than I am. I guess it's just a matter of stockholm syndrome at this point since I've been in this job and mindset for many years, but how much coasting can I realistically get away with from now until I put in my notice?

I think the first step is to turn down work from people you don't want to work with. That goes a long way.

Second on the list is turn down work you don't want to do. If you do mostly, say '34 Act work and cap markets but tend to pick up a couple of M&A deals a year, say no to the M&A.

As long as you don't give a shit, those two go a long way. You can actually bill a fairly low amount (YMMV - most partners I've worked with are oblivious to workload) for a long time, but a lot easier to coast if you're *just* busy enough.

Thanks. That's very useful and makes sense, too, as I am just trying to find that sweet spot where I can fly under the radar for as long as I need to/not work nights and weekends.

[lolwutpar]

Bumping this thread since I'm in a very similar boat as OP. Less concerned about bonus timing and more would just like tips on how to coast/turn down work/work far less than I am. I guess it's just a matter of stockholm syndrome at this point since I've been in this job and mindset for many years, but how much coasting can I realistically get away with from now until I put in my notice?

I think the first step is to turn down work from people you don't want to work with. That goes a long way.

Second on the list is turn down work you don't want to do. If you do mostly, say '34 Act work and cap markets but tend to pick up a couple of M&A deals a year, say no to the M&A.

As long as you don't give a shit, those two go a long way. You can actually bill a fairly low amount (YMMV - most partners I've worked with are oblivious to workload) for a long time, but a lot easier to coast if you're *just* busy enough.

Thanks. That's very useful and makes sense, too, as I am just trying to find that sweet spot where I can fly under the radar for as long as I need to/not work nights and weekends.

It all depends how proactive partners are about looking at hours. A lot aren't, some are. If you're billing 6-8 hours a weekday, it's not egregiously low, but if you get a partner who actually looks at your hours then calls you up to staff you and you say no, they may just ignore your no because they know you're not too busy for a new deal or case.