Leaving first job I just started Forum

[Anonymous User]

So I went to a school in secondary market. Local firm hired me for first job despite no ties, and 2-3 months into it, I got a better offer from my home area (I didn't seek it, but just happened through family connections) that I'm leaning to taking.

Is there are way to gracefully go about quitting? I know this is why small firms stress local ties but figure this will be a little awkward/tension-filled if I do end up leaving.

[rpupkin]

So I went to a school in secondary market. Local firm hired me for first job despite no ties, and 2-3 months into it, I got a better offer from my home area (I didn't seek it, but just happened through family connections) that I'm leaning to taking.

Is there are way to gracefully go about quitting?

Not really. The firm will be quite annoyed that they just invested three months of time/money into you. But, hey, this kind of thing happens. And if this is your chance to work in your home market (which I assume is what you want), then you shouldn't let some brief ill will stop you.

Just be as polite and professional as possible. Tell people in person. Visit the offices of the partner or partners you work with. Those conversations won't be easy, but it's classier to tell folks face to face. You should explain that this is a rare opportunity for you that you didn't think would materialize. Understand that some of the firm's lawyers might get cold or pissy toward you. You'll likely find that some others will be cool and understanding. Just roll with the various reactions, always remaining gracious.

The firm might want you to leave as soon as possible. Or, if you're in the middle of helping with something, they might ask if you could stay for a few weeks. (The former is more likely than the latter.) To the extent it doesn't conflict with your new job, be flexible and cooperative about departure date and logistics.

Congrats on your offer. Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

So I went to a school in secondary market. Local firm hired me for first job despite no ties, and 2-3 months into it, I got a better offer from my home area (I didn't seek it, but just happened through family connections) that I'm leaning to taking.

Is there are way to gracefully go about quitting?

Not really. The firm will be quite annoyed that they just invested three months of time/money into you. But, hey, this kind of thing happens. And if this is your chance to work in your home market (which I assume is what you want), then you shouldn't let some brief ill will stop you.

Just be as polite and professional as possible. Tell people in person. Visit the offices of the partner or partners you work with. Those conversations won't be easy, but it's classier to tell folks face to face. You should explain that this is a rare opportunity for you that you didn't think would materialize. Understand that some of the firm's lawyers might get cold or pissy toward you. You'll likely find that some others will be cool and understanding. Just roll with the various reactions, always remaining gracious.

The firm might want you to leave as soon as possible. Or, if you're in the middle of helping with something, they might ask if you could stay for a few weeks. (The former is more likely than the latter.) To the extent it doesn't conflict with your new job, be flexible and cooperative about departure date and logistics.

Congrats on your offer. Good luck!

OP: Thanks for reply. Ya I figure some may not like it and/or say 'I knew this would happen' kind of reaction. I do like most of the lawyers here so don't want to feel like I pulled one over on them but this other offer will make me much happier.

[Raiden]

Agree with the above. At the end of the day, you need to think about what is best for yourself and your long term goals. Of course leaving a firm so soon isn't ideal, but you are getting this opportunity and it's better to take advantage of it then to forgo it for business ill will. Just be amicable and professional about it, and that's the best you can do. You want to avoid burning as many bridges as possible because you never know how these connections will turn out. Good Luck!

[Anonymous User]

I've been in a very similar situation. My firm had an office in my hometown so I just offered to have them match the local firm and transfer me and they did. If your firm has an office in your hometown, ask for a transfer at least. If not, resign.

My advice is to go into the office on the weekend and pack up all your stuff. Resign on a Friday and offer your firm to leave immediately if you would like. It's quite embarassing for the firm to see a new hire leave that quick, so they may want you to go immediately and quietly. Let them handle it however they want to do it. Acknowledge that what you did is messed up, because it is.

[rpupkin]

My advice is to go into the office on the weekend and pack up all your stuff. Resign on a Friday and offer your firm to leave immediately if you would like. It's quite embarassing for the firm to see a new hire leave that quick, so they may want you to go immediately and quietly. Let them handle it however they want to do it. Acknowledge that what you did is messed up, because it is.

I can't agree with this. First, I wouldn't assume that the firm will ask you to leave immediately. If it happens, it happens, but I don't think there's a need to resign on a Friday or anything like that. It's not like you're taking clients or staff with you.

Second, what you did is not "messed up." You got an offer for a better job—an offer you weren't expecting to get. People leave jobs all the time for this reason. It's okay to be mildly apologetic and regretful, but don't pretend like you did something wrong. You are the firm's at-will employee, not their indentured servant. You owe them politeness and gratitude, but I honestly don't think you owe them any kind of serious apology.

[Civilservant]

I felt bad when I got an offer a few months after starting a job, and then my wife gave me similar advice to what is being said here, in that you have to look out for yourself, and they didn't extend an offer out of the goodness of their heart, they needed a warm body. You just started, you have little value to them, on the bright side, you leaving probably creates an opportunity for another new lawyer to get a decent job.

[elendinel]

My advice is to go into the office on the weekend and pack up all your stuff. Resign on a Friday and offer your firm to leave immediately if you would like. It's quite embarassing for the firm to see a new hire leave that quick, so they may want you to go immediately and quietly.

The only thing potentially worse than having to hire again 3 months out would be to have to think about it all weekend after your employee spent the weekend before more or less vacating the premises behind your back and waited until Friday to let you know the deal. 10-1 this pisses someone off more than quitting a few months in.

I'd echo the sentiments of being professional and accommodating. I'd play up the fact that the offer came through family connections; it won't completely alleviate the annoyed feelings but it will at least make it look less like you played them, and more like it was just bad timing.

[acr]

I've been in a very similar situation. My firm had an office in my hometown so I just offered to have them match the local firm and transfer me and they did. If your firm has an office in your hometown, ask for a transfer at least. If not, resign.

My advice is to go into the office on the weekend and pack up all your stuff. Resign on a Friday and offer your firm to leave immediately if you would like. It's quite embarassing for the firm to see a new hire leave that quick, so they may want you to go immediately and quietly. Let them handle it however they want to do it. Acknowledge that what you did is messed up, because it is.

This is some of the worst fucking advice I've ever seen on this forum. It's just laughable to suggest that what OP did is "messed up." Do you think this firm would hesitate for one second to lay off OP during hard times? OP was hired, an unexpected (and better) offer materialized, and OP's gonna take it. That's how the real world works. It would actually be more "messed up" for OP not to take a better opportunity personally and professionally because some random law firm might be mildly annoyed for a day. Oh no, god forbid the firm has to spend a week considering new applicants to fill OP's position from mountain of unemployed lawyers desperate for a job at a firm.

What's also "messed up" is your suggestion to hastily pack things up in order to "resign on a Friday" and quickly leave the firm. It's not like OP lost the firm its biggest client or slept with the managing partner's wife, he's taking a different fucking offer. There's no reason to make such a big deal out of this. All OP owes his current firm is a heads up and politeness. That's it.

[Anonymous User]

I've been in a very similar situation. My firm had an office in my hometown so I just offered to have them match the local firm and transfer me and they did. If your firm has an office in your hometown, ask for a transfer at least. If not, resign.

My advice is to go into the office on the weekend and pack up all your stuff. Resign on a Friday and offer your firm to leave immediately if you would like. It's quite embarassing for the firm to see a new hire leave that quick, so they may want you to go immediately and quietly. Let them handle it however they want to do it. Acknowledge that what you did is messed up, because it is.

This is some of the worst fucking advice I've ever seen on this forum. It's just laughable to suggest that what OP did is "messed up." Do you think this firm would hesitate for one second to lay off OP during hard times? OP was hired, an unexpected (and better) offer materialized, and OP's gonna take it. That's how the real world works. It would actually be more "messed up" for OP not to take a better opportunity personally and professionally because some random law firm might be mildly annoyed for a day. Oh no, god forbid the firm has to spend a week considering new applicants to fill OP's position from mountain of unemployed lawyers desperate for a job at a firm.

What's also "messed up" is your suggestion to hastily pack things up in order to "resign on a Friday" and quickly leave the firm. It's not like OP lost the firm its biggest client or slept with the managing partner's wife, he's taking a different fucking offer. There's no reason to make such a big deal out of this. All OP owes his current firm is a heads up and politeness. That's it.

I am just talking from many years of experience. There are always "better offers" out there if you are talented, but it has to be weighed against establishing a record of coming across as a loyal employee. It is a balancing act. I see a lot of people now who turned down the "better offers" at new places who were rewarded with partnership at their current shop. I have also seen a lot of people do what you suggest and continually take the better offer and are on their 5th job in 7 years and now are out on partnership prospects and have a tough time interviewing given their jumpiness.

The OPs resume is always going to show he's willing to leave the next firm in less than 6 months, and that is not going to serve him well down the line. I'd do one year minimum for myself, not the firm.

[Lettow]

This circumstance is so unlike, I guess as one example, cutting and running after six months for a $5-10k salary hike at a competitor law firm. The OP here works in one market and wants to relocate to another market. That is so within the spectrum of acceptable reasons to quit that the thread really took a strange turn.

The anon poster isn't doing anyone any help by weirdly attempting to turn this into a moral dilemma.

[cavalier1138]

I am just talking from many years of experience. There are always "better offers" out there if you are talented, but it has to be weighed against establishing a record of coming across as a loyal employee. It is a balancing act. I see a lot of people now who turned down the "better offers" at new places who were rewarded with partnership at their current shop. I have also seen a lot of people do what you suggest and continually take the better offer and are on their 5th job in 7 years and now are out on partnership prospects and have a tough time interviewing given their jumpiness.

The OPs resume is always going to show he's willing to leave the next firm in less than 6 months, and that is not going to serve him well down the line. I'd do one year minimum for myself, not the firm.

You're right. The OP's resume will always show that, even if he stays at the new firm for decades. This one incident will haunt him for the rest of his life. It will clearly be much worse than the current firm telling other people that he acted like a sociopath and disappeared overnight.

Stop giving advice.

[elendinel]

I see a lot of people now who turned down the "better offers" at new places who were rewarded with partnership at their current shop. I have also seen a lot of people do what you suggest and continually take the better offer and are on their 5th job in 7 years and now are out on partnership prospects and have a tough time interviewing given their jumpiness.

And there are a lot of people who eschew the better offer out of some misguided sense of loyalty for where they are and end up pushed out in their 6th year, while their colleagues who took the better offers made partner at their new jobs. Let's not pretend one early jump is indicative of what one's career will look like in the future, or that loyalty actually guarantees anything in this market.

The OPs resume is always going to show he's willing to leave the next firm in less than 6 months, and that is not going to serve him well down the line. I'd do one year minimum for myself, not the firm.

OP got an offer, so presumably his new firm isn't all that concerned about it, which is frankly all that matters right now. As for post firm #2 (if there is a post firm#2), if OP leaves firm #2 in 3 months again that's one thing, but if OP stays at the new firm for 3-4 years and gets a lot of good experience there, no one's going to give a s**t that (s)he left firm #1 before a year passed. Employers look for patterns, not aberrations.

[Anonymous User]

OP here: Thanks for additional feedback everyone. Likely going to give my two weeks notice soon once I formally take care of things with the other firm.

As an aside my current firm took me out to lunch today to welcome me (albeit 3 months late) to the firm, so all the feels right now.

[clshopeful]

I've been in a very similar situation. My firm had an office in my hometown so I just offered to have them match the local firm and transfer me and they did. If your firm has an office in your hometown, ask for a transfer at least. If not, resign.

My advice is to go into the office on the weekend and pack up all your stuff. Resign on a Friday and offer your firm to leave immediately if you would like. It's quite embarassing for the firm to see a new hire leave that quick, so they may want you to go immediately and quietly. Let them handle it however they want to do it. Acknowledge that what you did is messed up, because it is.

This is some of the worst fucking advice I've ever seen on this forum. It's just laughable to suggest that what OP did is "messed up." Do you think this firm would hesitate for one second to lay off OP during hard times? OP was hired, an unexpected (and better) offer materialized, and OP's gonna take it. That's how the real world works. It would actually be more "messed up" for OP not to take a better opportunity personally and professionally because some random law firm might be mildly annoyed for a day. Oh no, god forbid the firm has to spend a week considering new applicants to fill OP's position from mountain of unemployed lawyers desperate for a job at a firm.

What's also "messed up" is your suggestion to hastily pack things up in order to "resign on a Friday" and quickly leave the firm. It's not like OP lost the firm its biggest client or slept with the managing partner's wife, he's taking a different fucking offer. There's no reason to make such a big deal out of this. All OP owes his current firm is a heads up and politeness. That's it.

+1

[Anonymous User]

How much notice is reasonable, 2 weeks? I was thinking about a month, as that would give me 2 weeks to give the firm notice, and the. 2 weeks to transition and move to the new job.

[elendinel]

How much notice is reasonable, 2 weeks? I was thinking about a month, as that would give me 2 weeks to give the firm notice, and the. 2 weeks to transition and move to the new job.

I'm not sure what you mean here. When you give notice, it starts the clock of whatever procedure the firm has for terminating your employment there. You don't get several weeks to give notice and include that in the calculation; you give notice at the point in which the firm formally knows you're giving notice. If you tell everyone but your supervisor/HR that you're leaving, you haven't given notice yet. Once you give notice, what you do in those weeks will depend on the firm; the firm may want you out within 24 hours, or they may have you still finishing up projects until your last day because they don't have a replacement. You have control over the notice you give, but not over what the firm will have you doing once you give notice.

In your situation a month may be nice, since you're leaving a few months in and they may want some time to find a replacement and transition your stuff onto the replacement. But only two weeks would be required from an etiquette perspective, and it's possible they just ask you to leave the day you give notice. It's up to you and what would be convenient for you/what you think will burn the least number of bridges.

[Anonymous User]

So OP, how'd they take it?