Top Law Schools

what is standard practice? to email or not to email?

Anonymous User wrote:what is standard practice? to email or not to email?

email.

and don't make any errors like you did in the title to this post.

Judge Philip Banks wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:what is standard practice? to email or not to email?

email.

and don't make any errors like you did in the title to this post.

Don't send them at all unless you are in a small market. In big markets, they don't care, and it's only a chance to fuck up.

Judge Philip Banks wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:what is standard practice? to email or not to email?

email.

and don't make any errors like you did in the title to this post.

ah touche

Desert Fox wrote:

Judge Philip Banks wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:what is standard practice? to email or not to email?

email.

and don't make any errors like you did in the title to this post.

Don't send them at all unless you are in a small market. In big markets, they don't care, and it's only a chance to fuck up.

TITCR. As a 1L, I sent a mix of thank-you emails/letters to around 4 of the 10 firms I got callbacks with in my secondary market. The offers I got came from the firms I did not send thank-you's to. Take that for what it is worth, but also expect to receive zero replies to even your sincerest thank-you emails if you do decide to send them

are they supposed to be short and sweet? mention 1 thing from the interview? 2 things?

Send thank you e-mails to be safe. The above is incorrect - I've spoken with recruiters and interviewers on the issue, in addition to my OCS.

It's okay to forgo the thank you e-mails for screeners, but not for callbacks. Best practice is to do handwritten thank you notes (primarily for the older generation). But thank you e-mails are usually the way to go (for timeliness sake).

So much conflicting advice. Some people say only for non major markets, none at all, all the time, only if they are short etc...?

As in most areas of life, there are only more or less rules, not hard and fast ones. Different advice probably reflects that?

Anonymous User wrote:So much conflicting advice. Some people say only for non major markets, none at all, all the time, only if they are short etc...?

My markets are NY and CA.

igo2northwestern wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:So much conflicting advice. Some people say only for non major markets, none at all, all the time, only if they are short etc...?

My markets are NY and CA.

And you're wrong. There's nothing wrong with not sending thank you notes for a callback. There's also nothing wrong with sending them. I usually send them to show that I can remember the conversation we had a day later, but the "don't fuck it up" crowd has a point, too.

For what it's worth, I've asked at about a dozen biglaw attorneys about this or heard them speak about it on panels and such, and all but one said thank you notes/emails were unnecessary, and the one who liked them didn't say she had to have them. If you want to write them, fine, but you risk messing something up (like in the title of this thread, as a previous poster pointed out), and you should be writing something different for every interviewer because they do circulate them among the attorneys, which seems like a waste of time if you ask me. Anyway, just passing along what I've heard.

Went on 10 callbacks and got 8 offers. I sent thank you emails only to attorneys I really felt I connected with on a personal level at firms that I really wanted. Every time I did (and I'd put it around 10 times out of 40), I received a nice response.

Don't think it had any bearing, as I expected those attorneys to give me the go-ahead, but I did this with a partner and two associates at the firm I ended up at, and we kept in touch during the year, and got even closer this summer. Definitely helped open the door to keeping in touch.

Also -- not what is at issue, but I never once sent a thank you email for a screener and ended up with 20/29 callbacks. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!

gyarados wrote:

igo2northwestern wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:So much conflicting advice. Some people say only for non major markets, none at all, all the time, only if they are short etc...?

My markets are NY and CA.

And you're wrong. There's nothing wrong with not sending thank you notes for a callback. There's also nothing wrong with sending them. I usually send them to show that I can remember the conversation we had a day later, but the "don't fuck it up" crowd has a point, too.

"And you're wrong" is a bit strong, no? 24 callbacks from 27 screeners, 100% offer from the callbacks I took.

Many of the associates I spoke with strongly advised sending thank you notes even during screening interviews. If you have something substantive to say, especially for interviews where you would like to make an impression, I can't see why you wouldn't send a thank you e-mail.

In terms of screwing up a thank you e-mail, I can't imagine it being that tough to put together a polite note... And if you have trouble, career services is likely very willing to lend a hand.

--
An above comment mentions that thank you notes post screening interview might not be that important, and I agree to an extent. Here, the small vs. large market might play a role, and that difference really speaks to whether an interviewer is likely to be evaluating many candidates.

Thus, if it's early in the recruiting season (e.g. diversity fairs/informal recruiting/mass mail), it might be more beneficial to send a thank you note after a screener.

Desert Fox wrote:

Judge Philip Banks wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:what is standard practice? to email or not to email?

email.

and don't make any errors like you did in the title to this post.

Don't send them at all unless you are in a small market. In big markets, they don't care, and it's only a chance to fuck up.

This

igo2northwestern: Your post boils down to: "I sent thank you notes to my interviewers and got callbacks, thus it was not wrong"

Seriously?

Was the LSAT that long ago?

Here's the tl;dr: In nearly all major firms in nearly all major markets, you do not need to send thank you notes for callbacks because they will not improve your odds of getting a job.

Having said that, you may send them if you feel personally very strongly about it - but they had better be (1) unique (no copy and pasting form thank yous, it'll look tacky if they compare notes or forward it to your file) and (2) flawless.

thesealocust wrote:igo2northwestern: Your post boils down to: "I sent thank you notes to my interviewers and got callbacks, thus it was not wrong"

Seriously?

Was the LSAT that long ago?

Read again, that's not what I said.

igo2northwestern wrote:

thesealocust wrote:igo2northwestern: Your post boils down to: "I sent thank you notes to my interviewers and got callbacks, thus it was not wrong"

Seriously?

Was the LSAT that long ago?

Read again, that's not what I said.

igo2northwestern wrote:

gyarados wrote:

igo2northwestern wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:So much conflicting advice. Some people say only for non major markets, none at all, all the time, only if they are short etc...?

My markets are NY and CA.

And you're wrong. There's nothing wrong with not sending thank you notes for a callback. There's also nothing wrong with sending them. I usually send them to show that I can remember the conversation we had a day later, but the "don't fuck it up" crowd has a point, too.

"And you're wrong" is a bit strong, no? 24 callbacks from 27 screeners, 100% offer from the callbacks I took.

Your number of callbacks would be irrelevant to this thread if you were not attempting to use it as evidence to bolster your argument.

thesealocust wrote:Your number of callbacks would be irrelevant to this thread if you were not attempting to use it as evidence to bolster your argument.

Wow you really caught me there. reading comp win?

If that were the only thing I was relying on, your (pretty rude) comment might hold true. But that wasn't the case. I did cite my OCS and firsthand advice from interviewers.

Also, I gave my record on offers. That was relevant to discussion because we focused on the difference between callback e-mails and screener e-mails.

My career services office and contacts at law firms say thank you notes are pointless and not required (at least for major firms in major markets). Yours say otherwise. Conundrum!

You remain free to disagree, but it's illogical to assert that your personal record of getting callbacks/offers had anything to do with your sending thank yous.

The evidence suggests people get callbacks/offers (or fail to) regardless of whether they send them (at least for major firms in major markets, as I always caveat).

Thank you letters are a dated, irrelevant practice. The firm isn't doing you a personally favor, it's conducting business. Being polite and courteous is something to strive for, but modern ettiquete no longer require thank you notes for (major) law firm interviews (in major markets).

Curious to know if it is a good/bad thing if one of you interviewers actually replied to that thank you email?
I did not expect that especially after 4 days. lol
Thoughts?

thesealocust wrote:My career services office and contacts at law firms say thank you notes are pointless and not required (at least for major firms in major markets). Yours say otherwise. Conundrum!

You remain free to disagree, but it's illogical to assert that your personal record of getting callbacks/offers had anything to do with your sending thank yous.

The evidence suggests people get callbacks/offers (or fail to) regardless of whether they send them (at least for major firms in major markets, as I always caveat).

Thank you letters are a dated, irrelevant practice. The firm isn't doing you a personally favor, it's conducting business. Being polite and courteous is something to strive for, but modern ettiquete no longer require thank you notes for (major) law firm interviews (in major markets).

See my post. While it won't matter at all as to whether you get an offer (and frankly, it never should have), it is a good way to open a continuing dialogue with people at the firm you end up. One partner and two associates at the firm I ended up at wrote me back nice personalized messages, called me after I received an offer, took me out to a dinner along with several other associates and partners, and kept in touch during the year. When I got to the firm they took me out to dinner the first week and while I got to know some other attorneys even better, I have developed a very strong relationship with them.

If it's not going to impact your offer chances (so long as you don't make a huge gaffe), why not do something that can help make in roads at the firm you may end up?

thesealocust wrote:My career services office and contacts at law firms say thank you notes are pointless and not required (at least for major firms in major markets). Yours say otherwise. Conundrum!

You remain free to disagree, but it's illogical to assert that your personal record of getting callbacks/offers had anything to do with your sending thank yous.

The evidence suggests people get callbacks/offers (or fail to) regardless of whether they send them (at least for major firms in major markets, as I always caveat).

Thank you letters are a dated, irrelevant practice. The firm isn't doing you a personally favor, it's conducting business. Being polite and courteous is something to strive for, but modern ettiquete no longer require thank you notes for (major) law firm interviews (in major markets).

I feel like this is a good explanation for why they aren't necessary except for (maybe) small markets or personal connections. It feels contrived to thank someone for interviewing you.

New twist to this--I get that in major markets, even after CBs, sending thank you emails is more of a way to screw up than anything that can actually help and therefore, it won't hurt not to send. However, if one gets taken out to lunch at the end of a CB, does that extra activity require a thank you?

Every single fucking year I swear! Geez it does not matter, your situation is not unique; send error free thank you cards or emails if you want to, or don't send them if you don't feel like it. This is TCR. Can we just sticky one of these damn topics?