Summer & junior associates, do you reply to seniors’ emails with just “thanks”? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I’m working as a summer right now and it’s always bugged me because I don’t know if I should show that I read the email, or if I shouldn’t add clutter to the senior’s inbox.

For actually important stuff like giving me assignments, I would say “thanks, I’ll start asap” or ask questions. But if I asked a simple question and got a definitive answer, should I still say “thanks” or is that unnecessary?

I’m sure nobody really cares about this but knowing it’s okay to do one thing or the other would really put my mind at ease.

[tlsguy2020]

It’s really contextual but nothing wrong with a “great, thanks” or similar

[Anonymous User]

You can't really do harm just sending a confirmatory thanks to an internal answer. Their inbox is probably full of stuff anyhow, so I wouldn't worry about acknowledging somehow annoying them. Generally safer to lean on the side of being responsive, too.

[DoveBodyWash]

I remember worrying about this as a summer/junior. The senior associate has dozens of emails streaming in every minute. Rest assured that your email (with whatever formulation of thanks you use) isn't going to be the one email that annoys him or her.

[Anonymous User]

It's definitely convention in biglaw to acknowledge receipt of an email or instruction. People more often than not will later confirm that you received it if you don't respond.

[Anonymous User]

It's definitely convention in biglaw to acknowledge receipt of an email or instruction. People more often than not will later confirm that you received it if you don't respond.

I tend to disagree and generally don't like my inbox cluttered. It's more important if I am working with juniors that haven't proven themselves

[Anonymous User]

I remember worrying about this as a summer/junior. The senior associate has dozens of emails streaming in every minute. Rest assured that your email (with whatever formulation of thanks you use) isn't going to be the one email that annoys him or her.

I come out on the other side of this. If the email doesn't need a response, better not to respond. But no one is going to get annoyed at a summer over this but the number of emails some people get is just insane so reducing email volume is generally always appreciated.

More important is if there are other people on the chain - then you shouldn't say thank you - unless it is an important distribution and you need to confirm receipt and want everyone to see that. Otherwise, side email the person and drop the rest of the chain if you want to say thank you.

[Anonymous User]

It's definitely convention in biglaw to acknowledge receipt of an email or instruction. People more often than not will later confirm that you received it if you don't respond.

I tend to disagree and generally don't like my inbox cluttered. It's more important if I am working with juniors that haven't proven themselves

Sorry, maybe not for "thank yous" but I think a "will do" after an email giving an instruction is usually appreciated, so that they know that the instruction was received.