Using offer to negotiate retention bonus (Big Law to In House)? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Have an In-House job offer in hand (competitive but not a match to my current compensation), need to accept/decline in the next few days (as noted below, I'm currently in Big Law). Curious how any of you have used this to negotiate a retention bonus or the like with your firm? Do you wait until you accept and then tell them when you give 2 weeks notice? Do you talk about having an offer in hand and see what they say, before accepting? Any other strategies? I don't see them as being pissed but maybe a bit panicked due to the lack of backfill in my position in my office.

Background: I'm senior associate (years class years 2014-2016, Big Law Corporate/M&A associate; work in secondary market on national scale) and the firm has been trying to get a peer of me in my office for over 2 years with no luck (they always go to competitors). I have one client that I brought in (over $400k in billings last 6 months), consistently have positive reviews, and hours are in firm's top quartile in any particular year (average over my tenure is ~2190 hours). By all accounts I'm on partnership track and will be moved to the next stage within the next year or two (non-equity partner, of the sorts). I have a number in mind, that if they met it, I would stay for another year or two, but absent that I think I'll take the offer and kiss Big law goodby for the near future.

Curious on strategies to negotiate a stay bonus or the like or not worth it? If you did it or tried, how did it go?

[Anonymous User]

I can’t speak to exactly this situation (different types of employers), but I don’t see any reason why you’d wait till you’ve accepted and are giving notice. The standard practice (as I’ve always seen it) is that you get the offer and go to your current employer to try to negotiate to stay before you accept the offer.

Accepting the offer and then backing out because your current employer makes you an offer you can’t refuse does happen, but I’ve only seen it when the employee fully intends to leave, and really is presented with an unexpected counteroffer that they really can’t refuse.

If your purpose is to negotiate something better with your current employer, there’s no reason to wait and accept the new job and then have to back out, it gets way too messy. Plus it just doesn’t make much sense. Either you say, “I’m giving notice and have accepted another job,” to which their response may well be, “sorry to see you go, good luck!” and then you have to backpedal; or you say “I’m giving notice and have accepted another job but I’d stay if you pay me a bonus,” which just seems kind weird and internally contradictory. It makes much more sense to say, “I have an offer for another job and while I love working here, it would be hard to pass on this new job unless there’s some way you can make it worth my while to stay” (not in those words, but that’s the gist).

I tend to think accepting counteroffers isn’t a great idea - it doesn’t usually remedy the things that made you want to leave in the first place, and flags you as a flight risk to your current job - but that’s obviously subjective and fact-specific and it may make perfect sense in your current situation.

[jotarokujo]

Have an In-House job offer in hand (competitive but not a match to my current compensation), need to accept/decline in the next few days (as noted below, I'm currently in Big Law). Curious how any of you have used this to negotiate a retention bonus or the like with your firm? Do you wait until you accept and then tell them when you give 2 weeks notice? Do you talk about having an offer in hand and see what they say, before accepting? Any other strategies? I don't see them as being pissed but maybe a bit panicked due to the lack of backfill in my position in my office.

Background: I'm senior associate (years class years 2014-2016, Big Law Corporate/M&A associate; work in secondary market on national scale) and the firm has been trying to get a peer of me in my office for over 2 years with no luck (they always go to competitors). I have one client that I brought in (over $400k in billings last 6 months), consistently have positive reviews, and hours are in firm's top quartile in any particular year (average over my tenure is ~2190 hours). By all accounts I'm on partnership track and will be moved to the next stage within the next year or two (non-equity partner, of the sorts). I have a number in mind, that if they met it, I would stay for another year or two, but absent that I think I'll take the offer and kiss Big law goodby for the near future.

Curious on strategies to negotiate a stay bonus or the like or not worth it? If you did it or tried, how did it go?

agreed do it before you give notice. also, try to get them to give a number first. if it's at the point where they will not give a number and just tell you to leave, just give an insanely large number that you actually would stay for (assuming you actually are down to leave)