How Do I Say No to More Work?

Q: I’m staffed on two cases right now, one of which is a doc review that eats up about six hours a day at least, and the other isn’t much better. A partner who I haven’t worked with, but is a pretty big deal in IP litigation around here (which is something I’m interested in) has asked me if I have time to help out on a project. I don’t. I guess I could work 18 hours a day to fit it in, but am I expected to do that? To be honest, I’m already going crazy with the workload I have and I can’t imagine more. Is it OK to say no? And how do can I say it without offending the partner or screwing myself over for future work from her? I’d appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

A: Listen closely: It is absolutely, completely fine to say no to work. Saying no is skill set all its own and you just have to learn how to do it the right way—and you have to understand the consequences, because depending on who/what you’re saying no to, there’s gonna be a few. Wanting-to-say-no-to-work situations tend to fall into three general categories: (i) you’re too busy to handle more work, (ii) the partner/senior associate asking is a complete douchebag and you’d rather kill yourself than work with him or her, and (iii) you have no interest in the particular practice area. And sometimes, it’s a combo of all three. It sounds like your situation, luckily, falls into the first group, which is probably the easiest one to navigate (sort of).

OK, so, here’s what you do: First, wait a few hours before you respond at all. Usually, especially in bigger firms, projects need to be staffed ASAP and if the partner or senior associate doing the staffing doesn’t hear back from you, they’ll move on to someone else. (This is assuming the partner left you a voicemail or an email instead of a pop-in request—and it’s worth noting here if you haven’t learned this already: never, ever pick up your phone when a partner who you’re not currently working with calls you; it can only go downhill from “hello.” Seriously.)

Right, so, wait to respond—try to send the email after 1 a.m. and not from your Blackberry—this will help strengthen your “I’m working round the clock on other projects” argument. Thank the partner for her email and tell her that you’re very interested, but you’re already staffed on two cases that are occupying 100% of your time and you don’t want to say yes to her and then not be able to perform adequately and “let down the team.” (I know, it’s repulsive, but it works.) Then, apologize for not having better availability (see previous note re: “repulsive”), tell her that you’ve been very interested in working with her and request that she please keep you in mind for future projects. That should cover it. Polite, professional and clear.

That all said, there’s a decent chance that the partner will never ask you to work with her again.  When I was a new associate, a senior associate I used to work with once told me, when it comes to staffing, “It’s rare that you have to say no to the same person twice.” And he was right. If you really do want to work with this partner in the future, make sure you keep in touch with her and check in regularly, otherwise, chances are, she’ll find someone else in your year to work with and won’t come calling again. And if you don’t want to work with her, well, congrats—you should be in the clear. Now you just need to work on getting yourself off that doc review. Good luck.

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