Notice for taking Vacation Forum

[Anonymous User]

What is a reasonable timeline to give notice of taking a 1.5-2 week vacation? I haven't taken a vacation since I started 2 years ago and am dying to get a break. Is three weeks sufficient? I don't foresee any upcoming major projects but of course in biglaw I never know.

[Anonymous User]

Worked all the time with no vacation for two years in biglaw?
Serious?

[Elston Gunn]

What is a reasonable timeline to give notice of taking a 1.5-2 week vacation? I haven't taken a vacation since I started 2 years ago and am dying to get a break. Is three weeks sufficient? I don't foresee any upcoming major projects but of course in biglaw I never know.

Three weeks is pushing it, but could be fine if there isn’t anything specific happening then. If there are a couple of partners you are working with the most, I would try to reach out to them and let them know you’re thinking about it and gauge their reaction before sending an email blast. Normally I would try to give 2 months+ for a two week vacation (though in practice my experience is no one really even registers your out of office notices until about 1-2 weeks before anyway).

That’s just my two cents, and I work in a relatively slower paced niche-y practice, so may be bad advice.

[Anonymous User]

I gave 3 months notice when I took 2 weeks off. They stopped staffing me on deals a month out so I could enjoy my trip.

[Anonymous User]

Worked all the time with no vacation for two years in biglaw?
Serious?

Yes, I am serious. My mental health has suffered a ton and I am super burned out. For whatever bs reason, one of the partners I work for brags about how much they work/won't take vacation for themselves so expects the same from associates.

[Anonymous User]

Worked all the time with no vacation for two years in biglaw?
Serious?

Yes, I am serious. My mental health has suffered a ton and I am super burned out. For whatever bs reason, one of the partners I work for brags about how much they work/won't take vacation for themselves so expects the same from associates.

Three weeks is fine.

That's great for him. He can go ahead and keep making his own terrible life decisions, but you need to start setting some boundaries with a partner like that. You don't need to "gauge their reaction" or ask permission, just do what you need to do on your end to get coverage lined up and then take your vacation and ignore your phone for the duration.

You're entitled to your vacation. The partner(s) can deal with it.