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Hi all,

There's a big weekend trip I'd like to go on during the middle of my summer associate gig. It's something I'd need to commit to relatively soon. I'm just curious as to the likelihood that I would need to cancel last minute due to work or a firm sponsored event over the weekend, or if the firm would be cool with it if I told them in advance. Obviously this will vary from firm to firm, but I'm just trying to get an idea of, generally, how free people's weekends were during their SAs.

On the weekend I'm sure its fine.

I don't think weekend things are very common, nor are things on friday nights. You should be fine.

i emailed in advance just to give a heads up before i got there with something similar, but that might depend on how you feel about your hiring person. you don't want to signal that you're already looking to half-ass it.

This was fine at my firm. Sometimes we had weekend events, but it was relatively uncommon. We had people miss events for weddings and shit and they were fine.

seizmaar wrote:i emailed in advance just to give a heads up before i got there with something similar, but that might depend on how you feel about your hiring person. you don't want to signal that you're already looking to half-ass it.

This is really my only concern. It seems petty, but I don't want to send any signals that I'm not 100% committed.

Anonymous User wrote:

seizmaar wrote:i emailed in advance just to give a heads up before i got there with something similar, but that might depend on how you feel about your hiring person. you don't want to signal that you're already looking to half-ass it.

This is really my only concern. It seems petty, but I don't want to send any signals that I'm not 100% committed.

Don't fall into this trap of a mindset. You have to keep true to yourself to a certain extent, show some spine, and maintain your resolve in biglaw. Don't be the person whose life starts when he walks into his firm each morning, for whom work is an end in itself, rather than a means to an end.

In no world is going on a weekend trip, especially as a summer, a sign that you aren't 100% committed.

My experience is that taking a SA weekend off is no big deal. However, in some cases, if you take a weekday off, you’ll lose a day’s pay. For some that means +$600 is subtracted from your paycheck.

twenty 8 wrote:My experience is that taking a SA weekend off is no big deal. However, in some cases, if you take a weekday off, you’ll lose a day’s pay. For some that means +$600 is subtracted from your paycheck.

Right, I wouldn't take a weekday off during summer SA since you are there for such a short period of time. Also take into account that you get to leave around 5-6 at night without issue, have lots of fun events to attend, and don't have to answer emails at night or on weekends. Makes it so you don't need a mental break to avoid burnout. Only miss an actual weekday during SA if extenuating circumstances.

Just tell people ahead of time you're out of pocket that weekend. No way you're necessary for the weekend work. When I used to staff SAs on deals I'd just make up easy stuff for them to do since they mostly sat around looking bored. No way I'd ever ask them to work on a weekend unless they adamantly volunteered and there was something easy for them to help on.

But maybe it's firm to firm dependent (and maybe tied to size of SA class).