Requesting time off of SA Forum

[Anonymous User]

My sister is getting married this summer on a Friday in a different state, so I will need to request off all day that Friday from my firm. I also will need to attend her welcome events and rehearsal dinner on the Thursday evening before. I am planning to travel after business hours on that Wednesday. I was wondering how common it is for SAs to request time off and how early to go about doing so. I think it should just be one full day for the day of so I am hoping it won’t be a big deal. Also, are SAs typically expected to work after hours and weekends? I was not planning to formally request “off” for the Wednesday traveling and Thursday evening events, but I’m wondering if that is something I should do. Thanks for any input.

[SummerAssociate1689]

You should not do this. SA is a 10 week interview which albeit almost always end in an offer. But why take that chance? It's bad form.

[Dcc617]

Just ask recruiting and talk about it. Probably won’t be a big deal, this is your sister’s wedding.

[Dahl]

Yes just ask your recruiting contact. It is definitely not a big deal to take a day off, but since you know the date and can plan it far in advance you should.

[wanderinglawyer]

It's your sister's wedding. That's not an event that is going to recur (hopefully). Everyone will understand and don't miss it because you are a summer associate. But do let recruiting know in advance, remind them as it gets closer, and make sure you have looped your supervisors in and have a plan for completing their work so their expectations are set appropriately.

While I would not recommend asking for lots of Fridays off so you can attend weddings and other events, it is not uncommon for summers to be allowed to leave early on an occasional Friday to attend an out-of-state wedding. You just want to show good judgment in what is important and still getting your work done well and in a timely fashion and generally handling this in an adult fashion.

[Anonymous User]

It's your sister's wedding. That's not an event that is going to recur (hopefully). Everyone will understand and don't miss it because you are a summer associate. But do let recruiting know in advance, remind them as it gets closer, and make sure you have looped your supervisors in and have a plan for completing their work so their expectations are set appropriately.

While I would not recommend asking for lots of Fridays off so you can attend weddings and other events, it is not uncommon for summers to be allowed to leave early on an occasional Friday to attend an out-of-state wedding. You just want to show good judgment in what is important and still getting your work done well and in a timely fashion and generally handling this in an adult fashion.

Thanks for the input (both from you and others). I also failed to mention that I’m the maid of honor so I will need to do all of the hair/makeup and photos the day of, which takes up pretty much the entire day. I certainly don’t take the request off lightly but I’m very close with my sister would not want to put her in any sort of position on her big day.

[Anonymous User]

You should not do this. SA is a 10 week interview which albeit almost always end in an offer. But why take that chance? It's bad form.

I'd agree with you... if this wasn't her sister's wedding. It'd look weirder to not request off for this.

[Definitely Not North]

It'd look weirder to not request off for this.

[RaceJudicata]

It'd look weirder to not request off for this.

This is the correct answer. Isn’t summer going to be remote anyway? Take a late flight Wednesday; work remote Thursday til evening welcome events; take off Friday. If firm gives hard time, they suck

[theneuro]

It'd look weirder to not request off for this.

This is the correct answer. Isn’t summer going to be remote anyway? Take a late flight Wednesday; work remote Thursday til evening welcome events; take off Friday. If firm gives hard time, they suck

Taking the day off for the wedding wouldn’t be a big deal during a regular summer; even less so during the remote/partly remote summer after Covid.

This is one of those things you’ll laugh about worrying about when you’re an associate.

[theneuro]

It'd look weirder to not request off for this.

This is the correct answer. Isn’t summer going to be remote anyway? Take a late flight Wednesday; work remote Thursday til evening welcome events; take off Friday. If firm gives hard time, they suck

Taking the day off for the wedding wouldn’t be a big deal during a regular summer; even less so during the remote/partly remote summer after Covid.

This is one of those things you’ll laugh about when you’re an associate—that you worried about taking a day (or two) off for a wedding as a summer associate.

[goldenflash19]

Some firms give you summers one day off, with no need to get approval. If so, take Friday off and work remote Thursday.

[lavarman84]

This is no big deal. Just give people a head's up.

[supermario26]

You should not do this. SA is a 10 week interview which albeit almost always end in an offer. But why take that chance? It's bad form.

Clearly this is some gunner who is still in law school and has no idea what they’re talking about.

Please take the day(s) off to be maid of honor in your sister’s wedding and don’t think twice about it. I’m sure some of the people you work with will ask to see pictures and/or hear about the weekend. This is a nonissue.

[Anonymous User]

It'd look weirder to not request off for this.

This is the correct answer. Isn’t summer going to be remote anyway? Take a late flight Wednesday; work remote Thursday til evening welcome events; take off Friday. If firm gives hard time, they suck

Taking the day off for the wedding wouldn’t be a big deal during a regular summer; even less so during the remote/partly remote summer after Covid.

This is one of those things you’ll laugh about when you’re an associate—that you worried about taking a day (or two) off for a wedding as a summer associate.

Thank you for this. I feel like so much emphasis can be placed on things like this in these kinds of forums so I just wanted to be sure I was approaching it correctly. I am relieved to see it is almost 100% a non-issue.

[Anonymous User]

It'd look weirder to not request off for this.

This is the correct answer. Isn’t summer going to be remote anyway? Take a late flight Wednesday; work remote Thursday til evening welcome events; take off Friday. If firm gives hard time, they suck

Yes, my SA firm at least is entirely remote for the full 10 weeks. This was my exact plan actually haha just wasn’t sure how often they expect SAs to be available after working hours. I’ll just be sure to communicate with everyone.

[Anonymous User]

Already clear in this thread that it's fine, but just noting that I took two days off to go to a best friend's wedding as a SA and it was not an issue at all. Law students and lawyers have a strong tendency to be neurotic and anxious, and I also wondered if I was making a bad impression at the time. I was wrong. It's totally normal to take time for this.

[LawSk3WW]

Just to echo others, this is not an issue. Tell recruiting, and then let the people you’re working with at that time know. DO NOT miss this.

FWIW, I took a half day on a Friday just to fly to see my SO for the weekend. Wasn’t an issue at all. No one cared.

[SGTslaughter]

Gonna keep beating the dead horse here given the terrible first response. This is absolutely not an issue. Multiple people did this during my summer for weddings (some took more than one day off). The worst thing to expect is you might not get paid for the day depending on the firm.

[Anonymous User]

Gonna keep beating the dead horse here given the terrible first response. This is absolutely not an issue. Multiple people did this during my summer for weddings (some took more than one day off). The worst thing to expect is you might not get paid for the day depending on the firm.

Out the firm(s)! That's TTT behavior (if you've only taken off 1-2 days for an entire summer).