Biglaw associate leaving: who do you give notice to first? Forum

[phan]

What's the proper etiquette, giving notice to HR first, the partner that heads your practice group, the partner you work with most? Ideally I'd like to tell the the head of the practice group and let them take it from there.

[goldenflash19]

I’d tell the partner you work with the most (assuming good relationship), then head of group/other partners you work for, then HR.

Especially if you have a good relationship with the partner you work with this most, it seems best that he/she should find out from you, not through the grapevine. If HR finds out from someone else before you tell them shortly after, there’s no harm.

[Anonymous User]

Your firm may have an internal memo on how to give notice or leaving the firm generally--I'm not saying you should follow it to a tee but it may be worth a look.

I'm sure the partners will tell HR anyway but you should reach out to HR yourself, not wait to receive a call. Tell the partners you work with first but don't stop there.

[Anonymous User]

I think the best practice is you tell the top partner on each matter you’re on, the partners that you work with regularly (if any in addition to the first group), and then HR. I suppose some groups would tell a partner in charge of the group, but that wouldn’t make sense for mine. And when you tell each partner on your matters, you ask them how they’d prefer you handle informing the rest of the team. Some partners will prefer that you not inform your associate colleagues until they’ve shared the news with all relevant partners, and some others may prefer to tell the team themselves rather than have you break the news. (Of course, you do not have to accept their preferences with these things but it is probably a good idea to do so.)

[Anonymous User]

Your firm may have an internal memo on how to give notice or leaving the firm generally--I'm not saying you should follow it to a tee but it may be worth a look.

I'm sure the partners will tell HR anyway but you should reach out to HR yourself, not wait to receive a call. Tell the partners you work with first but don't stop there.

For what it's worth I scheduled a meeting with the two partners I worked with the most, told them then, and clearly they blasted out an e-mail because other partners wrote me quick notes and then HR got in touch before I even tried to. The system knew how to react.

[lolwutpar]

Sometimes it doesn't work perfectly.

First firm I left, nobody was around. No partners I could tell. Tried calling a few, no answer. One finally called me back but wanted to talk about a deal and I awkwardly dropped the bomb.

Second time around, same deal. Practice group leader had a family emergency. Nobody was around. Told a junior partner but she told me she has no idea what to do, she just made partner lol. So I, again, waited until someone called me about a deal and dropped the bomb.

So awkward. But at the end of the day, not a big deal.

[phan]

I’d tell the partner you work with the most (assuming good relationship), then head of group/other partners you work for, then HR.

Especially if you have a good relationship with the partner you work with this most, it seems best that he/she should find out from you, not through the grapevine. If HR finds out from someone else before you tell them shortly after, there’s no harm.

In telling the partner, is it best to call them (seems abrupt and out of the blue but maybe more personable) or share the news via email?

[nixy]

I would say call (but you could always email ahead of time to find out a good time to call).

[Anonymous User]

I think the best practice is you tell the top partner on each matter you’re on, the partners that you work with regularly (if any in addition to the first group), and then HR. I suppose some groups would tell a partner in charge of the group, but that wouldn’t make sense for mine. And when you tell each partner on your matters, you ask them how they’d prefer you handle informing the rest of the team. Some partners will prefer that you not inform your associate colleagues until they’ve shared the news with all relevant partners, and some others may prefer to tell the team themselves rather than have you break the news. (Of course, you do not have to accept their preferences with these things but it is probably a good idea to do so.)

It was common practice at my firm to let your office department head(s) know, even if you do not work with them. Unfortunately, in my case, by the time that partner had availability to meet, they already found out from others. I would rather err on the side of letting more partners know face-to-face (no real harm other than the awkward conversations).

[nealric]

When I left, I went to the partner I worked most closely lift first, then the department head, then HR. Fortunately, I found a time when they were all around, so nobody was in the dark for long. HR is the last that needs to know. Partners need to know so they can start looking for alternative staffing. HR just needs to stop sending you a paycheck once you are gone.

[goldenflash19]

I’d tell the partner you work with the most (assuming good relationship), then head of group/other partners you work for, then HR.

Especially if you have a good relationship with the partner you work with this most, it seems best that he/she should find out from you, not through the grapevine. If HR finds out from someone else before you tell them shortly after, there’s no harm.

In telling the partner, is it best to call them (seems abrupt and out of the blue but maybe more personable) or share the news via email?

Agree on calling. Email them and ask when a good time to talk is, or that they call you at their convenience sometime today. They’ll know what’s likely going on before even picking up the phone.

[phan]

I’d tell the partner you work with the most (assuming good relationship), then head of group/other partners you work for, then HR.

Especially if you have a good relationship with the partner you work with this most, it seems best that he/she should find out from you, not through the grapevine. If HR finds out from someone else before you tell them shortly after, there’s no harm.

In telling the partner, is it best to call them (seems abrupt and out of the blue but maybe more personable) or share the news via email?

Agree on calling. Email them and ask when a good time to talk is, or that they call you at their convenience sometime today. They’ll know what’s likely going on before even picking up the phone.

Thanks everyone, a call to the partner seems to be the consensus so I'll plan to go with that