Top Law Schools

I'm a midlevel NYC associate looking to make a lateral move before the end of the year--no one in my group ever makes bonus and I know I won't make it this year. I do have a ten day trip planned in July for an overseas wedding and I'm not sure how soon it is acceptable to take vacation as a lateral. Appreciate any input.

My colleague went on a two week vacation 2 weeks in. But the firm knew of this before she signed the offer and agreed to it.

2013 wrote:the firm knew of this before she signed the offer and agreed to it.

this. If you tell the firm beforehand that you've got something planned, they'll probably be fine with it. If you start there and immediately ask for time off, there's a good chance they'll immediately show you the door

Anonymous User wrote:I'm a midlevel NYC associate looking to make a lateral move before the end of the year--no one in my group ever makes bonus and I know I won't make it this year. I do have a ten day trip planned in July for an overseas wedding and I'm not sure how soon it is acceptable to take vacation as a lateral. Appreciate any input.

I did it 1-2 months in b/c of a friends wedding in Europe. I cleared it with the hiring partner beforehand during a follow up conversation after the offer (but before I accepted). It was no big deal at all. To the extent possible, I definitely would try to raise it before you start or accept an offer to ease any anxiety/stress about it.

Evidence of our shitty work culture

mvp99 wrote:Evidence of our shitty work culture

I think biglaw is probably more flexible with vacations than a lot of industries. When I worked grey-collar, entry-level jobs, a vacation six months in would be pretty unheard of (and of course, you’d likely have little PTO accrued to even do that). I know that’s probably an inapt comparison, but I can’t think of an industry where —by and large—a 1-2 week vacation 3 months in on the job would be totally cool

This is v simple. Get the lateral offer. Then when you have the offer say, "I already had this 10-day trip planned, is that going to be a problem". The firm will either say that's fine, or they'll say, let's just push your start date back until as soon as you're back from your trip.

This is how you handle this with literally any job.