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I need to give notice to my big law firm in the next day or two. The partner I do 90 percent of my work for is currently out of the office until the end of the month, and I will not really be able to reach him. My current plan is to give notice to the office managing partner and the one other partner I do some work for. I know giving notice in an email is bad form, but because the main partner I work for is available only for emergencies, would it be okay for me to send him an email, so he can at least hear it from me?

I’d email him and say you have an emergency you do need to discuss, and see if you can get him on the phone. If a few days go by and he doesn’t answer, I think fine to notify him by email, but I’d make a pretty good attempt to get him on the phone first.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 7:52 am

I need to give notice to my big law firm in the next day or two. The partner I do 90 percent of my work for is currently out of the office until the end of the month, and I will not really be able to reach him. My current plan is to give notice to the office managing partner and the one other partner I do some work for. I know giving notice in an email is bad form, but because the main partner I work for is available only for emergencies, would it be okay for me to send him an email, so he can at least hear it from me?

When you call the managing partner or tell the managing partner in person (even better), bring up that it’s important that you tell this other partner asap and then try to call him immediately after.

Doing this will insulate your from any blowback.

Good luck and congrats

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 9:03 am

I’d email him and say you have an emergency you do need to discuss, and see if you can get him on the phone. If a few days go by and he doesn’t answer, I think fine to notify him by email, but I’d make a pretty good attempt to get him on the phone first.

OP is thinking too hard. It's fine to give notice by email.

And you're also being too extreme. Quitting is not an emergency unless there is a situation such as a filing or other deadline that only the quitter can meet. You can tell the partner you need to discuss something important, not an emergency.

BrowsingTLS wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 12:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 9:03 am

I’d email him and say you have an emergency you do need to discuss, and see if you can get him on the phone. If a few days go by and he doesn’t answer, I think fine to notify him by email, but I’d make a pretty good attempt to get him on the phone first.

OP is thinking too hard. It's fine to give notice by email.

And you're also being too extreme. Quitting is not an emergency unless there is a situation such as a filing or other deadline that only the quitter can meet. You can tell the partner you need to discuss something important, not an emergency.

Yeah, I feel like a great way to end up on a partner's shit list is by interrupting them with an "emergency" when that "emergency" is giving your two weeks...

BrowsingTLS wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 12:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 9:03 am

I’d email him and say you have an emergency you do need to discuss, and see if you can get him on the phone. If a few days go by and he doesn’t answer, I think fine to notify him by email, but I’d make a pretty good attempt to get him on the phone first.

OP is thinking too hard. It's fine to give notice by email.

And you're also being too extreme. Quitting is not an emergency unless there is a situation such as a filing or other deadline that only the quitter can meet. You can tell the partner you need to discuss something important, not an emergency.

I think he may well view someone who spends 1800 hours a year working exclusively for him quitting as an emergency. Don’t need to mark it high importance but can at least say you have something important to discuss you’d rather discuss by phone but you can email if he prefers.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 1:18 pm

BrowsingTLS wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 12:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed May 18, 2022 9:03 am

I’d email him and say you have an emergency you do need to discuss, and see if you can get him on the phone. If a few days go by and he doesn’t answer, I think fine to notify him by email, but I’d make a pretty good attempt to get him on the phone first.

OP is thinking too hard. It's fine to give notice by email.

And you're also being too extreme. Quitting is not an emergency unless there is a situation such as a filing or other deadline that only the quitter can meet. You can tell the partner you need to discuss something important, not an emergency.

I think he may well view someone who spends 1800 hours a year working exclusively for him quitting as an emergency. Don’t need to mark it high importance but can at least say you have something important to discuss you’d rather discuss by phone but you can email if he prefers.

Unless there's something that literally going to blow up immediately, I agree, it's not an emergency. Important, sure. Biglaw is designed around associates leaving and I'm sure this partner has experienced it before. An annoyance isn't an emergency.

I gave notice primarily by email because my main partner was unreachable too. I ultimately sent an email saying that I had something important I wanted to discuss in person that would only take a few minutes of their time, so I hoped they could give me a call today. When they didn't give me a call, the next day I just replied to that email myself saying sorry we couldn't connect, here's my notice, and then I followed up with another partner or two and HR. (Funnily enough, the first partner replied to THAT email almost immediately with a "Sorry to see you go! Sent from my iPhone" - they did eventually call me, too.)

Be direct & let the partner decide whether or not your impending departure is "an emergency".

My partner was out so I texted him asking if I could give him a call.

I put in notice by email and didn't think twice about it. Granted, during Covid, but still. You drop emails on me ruining my weekends, I drop a resignation email on you.

I put in notice by email (this was a few months ago). I said something to the effect of "I accepted an offer at X firm and my last day at the firm will by X. Thank you for XYZ. When you have a moment, I would like to thank you over the phone before I leave. Please let me know your availability."

It worked fine.

OP Here--Phone call went well, thank you all for the advice. Partner knew exactly why I needed to speak with him after he received the email. He was very gracious and reminded me why I was attracted to the firm in the first place. As a fourth year who had not billed more than 115 hours a month in 2022 (very slow group), I am pretty sure I was being pushed out and he was just happy I found a great exit option.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu May 19, 2022 8:11 am

OP Here--Phone call went well, thank you all for the advice. Partner knew exactly why I needed to speak with him after he received the email. He was very gracious and reminded me why I was attracted to the firm in the first place. As a fourth year who had not billed more than 115 hours a month in 2022 (very slow group), I am pretty sure I was being pushed out and he was just happy I found a great exit option.

How much advance notice did you give to your firm ?

CanadianWolf wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 12:23 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu May 19, 2022 8:11 am

OP Here--Phone call went well, thank you all for the advice. Partner knew exactly why I needed to speak with him after he received the email. He was very gracious and reminded me why I was attracted to the firm in the first place. As a fourth year who had not billed more than 115 hours a month in 2022 (very slow group), I am pretty sure I was being pushed out and he was just happy I found a great exit option.

How much advance notice did you give to your firm ?

I gave the standard two weeks. The firm asked me if I could stay one extra week until the aforementioned parter returned from his leave. I agreed because I really respect the firm and I want to leave on as good as terms as possible. Also, I had planned on giving notice next week and working that week anyways, but had to give notice early because I needed a reason to get out of an emergency placement on a trial team. I am primarily making a move for practice area reasons, and was actually personally as "happy" as a big law associate can be at that firm.