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I just finished my first year as an associate at a V30 in a satellite office. My firm truly subscribes to a “one firm” mentality within my practice group and matters are staffed across offices.

In my satellite office juniors do not have their own secretaries. There are two secretaries who are assigned to the partners and more senior associates, and function as a pool for the juniors. I use one mostly, because she works for a partner I do a significant amount of work for, but use the other one for small things here and there. We also have a paralegal in the office, who helps me a lot, an IT guy, someone in the mail room, two office administrators, and another staff person (I’m not sure what this person does honestly).

Additionally, there are several project assistants (what we call baby paralegals that make binders, etc.) in New York (our headquarters) who have helped me throughout the year, and a secretary in another major market who works directly for a partner I do a significant amount of work for who is a great help to me.

This is a lot of people. Do I get a Christmas gift for all these people? What is the appropriate amount, given the pool system?

I was thinking $50 for my main para (Amex gift card), $25 each to the two secretaries in my home office (Starbucks gift card where they like to go), $25 to the partner’s secretary in the other office who helps me a lot (coffee place she likes to go), $25 to our IT guy (Amazon gift card? He doesn’t drink coffee), $20 to the guy in the mail room (again to his coffee place?) , same to the staff person I don’t really know what they do, and $15 uber gift cards to the project assistants that help me in NY (I’m pretty sure they all get coffee there at the in office cafe so no coffee card but everyone uses Uber). What about the office administrators? One is kind of like a boss, and one is more of a secretary— do I get them a small token too, or just the junior one?

Is this ok? I am wondering if the fifteen dollar Uber gift cards will come across as weird and miserly given that they are a small amount— I don’t want to seem cheap, but this is a lot of people and it’s adding up fast!

For what it’s worth— we are not on cravath scale in this satellite market (although I’m not hurting), and our bonuses are not the full match either.

You should double these amounts and give cash

Anonymous User wrote:You should double these amounts and give cash

Weird anon but good advice

I'm sure I'm going to get slammed as a cheapskate again, but I have a thick skin.

I really don't think it's necessary to give anything to the mailroom guy or the "staff person you don't really know what they do" or the "kind of like a boss" administrator or whatnot. You barely know these people! You don't even know what they do.

I'd limit the list to your main para and your two secretaries. Maybe the partner's secretary if you feel she's gone above and beyond to help you (as opposed to going above and beyond to help the partner you worked for, which in my view is a different thing), and maybe the project assistants in NY if you feel they've gone above and beyond to help you. I'd leave off everyone else.

TLS also generally has some folks who advocate strongly for some pretty large gifts - IIRC, in last year's thread we had folks advocating for gifts exceeding $500 per secretary for routine work. That's great if people want to give that much, but I don't think that's necessary (especially not from a stub-year who's been at the firm less than a third of a year) and you shouldn't think that's necessary either. In my view your proposed gifts & amounts are perfectly fine.

I agree generally with QContinuum. I'd only give to your main paralegal, your two secretaries and the partner's secretary only if she really does a lot for you. Also, I always give cash to my secretaries. I had two at my firm, one that I didn't use much I gave $50 and the one I used all the time, I gave at least $150

There’s no gift pool for the support staff like the mail room people? If not, I wouldn’t bother giving them an individual gift.

I think reasonable minds can differ on gift amounts, but I join the chorus of people who think it's weird to get gifts for random support staff you don't really interact with.

We are a small office. I generally interact with all of these people, save for the one (who I’m like what does she do?) I would say I interact with the mail room guy more than one of the secretaries, but I don’t think I can get one a gift and not get the other something. I definitely interact with our tech guy more than one of the secretaries as well, and it seems weird to get all the staff something except one or two people.

Oh and I’m not a stub, I just finished my first year.