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Hi,

I am a biglaw associate who started in fall 2016. Friday at a conference I re-connected with a partner at a firm that is a competitor to the firm where I work. I had interviewed with this partner (and subsequently turned down his firm's offer) and he judged me in a moot court competition a couple of years ago. I would like this partner to have a record of who I am in case I want to lateral to his firm in a few years. I will send him a brief email saying it was good to see him again.

Should I send it from my firm address? If I do, it may be awkward if anybody at my firm sees it. But if I send it from a personal address, it will be obvious it is a networking email, and the partner-recipient might think it is inappropriate for me to already have begun networking like this only a few months after starting work.

From which email should I send it?

Thanks.

Anonymous User wrote:Hi,

I am a biglaw associate who started in fall 2016. Friday at a conference I re-connected with a partner at a firm that is a competitor to the firm where I work. I had interviewed with this partner (and subsequently turned down his firm's offer) and he judged me in a moot court competition a couple of years ago. I would like this partner to have a record of who I am in case I want to lateral to his firm in a few years. I will send him a brief email saying it was good to see him again.

Should I send it from my firm address? If I do, it may be awkward if anybody at my firm sees it. But if I send it from a personal address, it will be obvious it is a networking email, and the partner-recipient might think it is inappropriate for me to already have begun networking like this only a few months after starting work.

From which email should I send it?

Thanks.

You're over-thinking it. You want to connect professionally, so be professional and send it from your firm address. Why would it be awkward if anyone at your firm sees an email to a professional colleague saying it was good to see them?

Your personal email comes into play when you literally start looking for other jobs. Otherwise, there's a reason your firm gives you business cards -- you should be using them to build this kind of professional network.