Vacation Days in BigLaw Forum

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thecatgoesmeow

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Vacation Days in BigLaw

Post by thecatgoesmeow » Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:21 pm

A while back I saw a thread where people were talking about taking their vacation days or they will lose them. Do some biglaw attorneys actually get allocated a set number of vacation days to use? My firm says we have unlimited vacation which ironically means we never get to take vacation. Any insight?

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Re: Vacation Days in BigLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:25 pm

thecatgoesmeow wrote:A while back I saw a thread where people were talking about taking their vacation days or they will lose them. Do some biglaw attorneys actually get allocated a set number of vacation days to use? My firm says we have unlimited vacation which ironically means we never get to take vacation. Any insight?
We accrue 4 weeks per year. The unlimited policy used by some firms, I believe, is a way for firms to get around having to pay out accrued vacation if you quit or are fired, with no downside to the firm, since they know that no attorney in good standing is going to be able to use over 4 weeks of vacation and remain in good standing.

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Re: Vacation Days in BigLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jul 16, 2018 2:30 pm

Both biglaw firms I've been at have granted associates a set number of vacation days (4 weeks + 1 week for stub years). I've always used all 4 weeks without a problem.

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Re: Vacation Days in BigLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jul 16, 2018 2:33 pm

I have four weeks per year.

My firm's policy is that you can roll over up to two weeks per year, but you have to use at least two weeks of vacation per year to be able to do so.

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Re: Vacation Days in BigLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jul 16, 2018 3:30 pm

Same - four weeks per year, can accrue up to six weeks. I think I averaged about 2.5 weeks of vacay per years so far as a fourth year... which reminds me that I really need to work on taking more.

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Re: Vacation Days in BigLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:59 pm

I'd take as much vacation as they give you tbh. No one will give you like, brownie points for not taking it: they just won't know/remember. Obvi if you dip out in the middle of a really busy period and dump the work on your team that pisses people off, so be flexible about rescheduling. (And maybe at some firms the rule is basically no one takes it, period - but that should be obvious pretty quickly)

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Re: Vacation Days in BigLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:44 pm

We get 3 weeks per year, can accrue a total of 6 weeks. Usually, when "vacationing" I still check email and do some work, so I don't end up having to use my vacation days anyway. I depleted all 6 weeks to extend my maternity leave.

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