A teachable moment

Recently, Mike told me about a 24 year old, Boston lawyer who declined a job offer with a Boston firm in a less than professional manner. This sounded like a great, real world example to show to my class. The emails were a resounding success and besides just being funny and shocking they did provide some good examples of Business Communication principles. Anyway, I thought I would share them with all of you.

This is the beginning of the emails:
At this time, I am writing to inform you that I will not be accepting your offer.
After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living in light of the work I would be doing for you. I have decided instead to work for myself, and reap 100% of the benefits that I sow.
Thank you for the interviews.
Dianna L. Abdala, Esq.
——-Original Message——-
Monday, February 06, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you
—
Given that you had two interviews, were offered and accepted the job (indeed, you had a definite start date), I am surprised that you chose an e-mail and a 9:30 PM voicemail message to convey this information to me. It smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional. Indeed, I did rely upon your acceptance by ordering stationary and business cards with your name, reformatting a computer and setting up both internal and external e-mails for you here at the office. While I do not quarrel with your reasoning, I am extremely disappointed in the way this played out. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

——-Original Message——-

Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:01 PM

Subject: Re: Thank you
A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so.
Again, thank you.
——-Original Message——-
From:
To:
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you
Thank you for the refresher course on contracts. This is not a bar exam question. You need to realize that this is a very small legal community, especially the criminal defense bar. Do you really want to start pissing off more experienced lawyers at this early stage of your career?
——-Original Message——-
From:
To:
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:28 PM
Subject: Re: Thank you
bla bla bla