Lawyers, Ready to Move On? How to Notify Your Employer After Accepting an Offer

Once you accept an offer, how do you let your current employer know? Here are some things to keep in mind when providing notice: 

1. Before giving notice, make sure all preconditions to employment have been met. At many law firms, this often means completing and clearing both a background check (focused on simple and significant personal background matters, such as any criminal conduct) and conflicts check (focused on conflicts between matters you’ve handled vs. the firm’s clients.). 

   Background checks rarely cause any unanticipated issues, but there is a small chance the conflict check can. While most clear in a shorter time frame, the conflict check can take up to two weeks or even longer in some cases. There is only a small chance that it may put an offer at risk, but I have seen conflict checks cause an offer to be withdrawn through no fault of the candidate when a past matter presents an unwaivable conflict to one of the offering firm’s clients. Candidates should avoid a situation where a conflict check fails to clear and they have also given notice to their current employer. 

2. Once preconditions have been met, if you have one or more central supervising mentors or others, provide them verbal notice. In-person is best if you can manage. This is good practice in order to maintain those relationships going forward. There are exceptions to this rule of thumb. For example, if you know your supervising attorney could be abusive or toxic, then you can refrain from notifying them directly. 

3. Provide notice in writing to the proper person. This is typically someone in HR, but it may be someone else depending on your employer.

4. Provide two weeks' notice to manage and delegate your current matters. It is proper and will help maintain the relationship going forward. It is possible that they may require less once you give notice, which is just more time to recharge before your new role. If they request more time to transition, you do not need to grant it, although you can if you wish and your start date for your new role allows. 

5. Be wary of counteroffers. Studies have shown that up to 90% of people who accept a counteroffer still leave their current employer within 12 months. Better compensation is typically not enough to overcome whatever other issues led to a job search. 

6. Be tactful in any exit interviews. The world can be a small place and you never know when you may cross paths with colleagues or your employer in the future. I recommend erroring on the site of gratitude vs. criticism.