I’ve now been forwarded this (at least) twice, and it is mildly amusing, so I’ll pass it along as another installment in, “Be careful what you put in email”.
The story: 24-year-old Boston lawyer Dianna Abdala responded to a job advertisement that another Boston lawyer, William Korman, had posted on Craigslist for a criminal defense associate. It seems that Korman offered Abdala the job, and even came up with a start date — but he cut Abdala’s pay slightly because he hired a second associate.
Here is the email aftermath:
–Original Message–
From: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 9:23 PM
To: William Korman
Subject: Thank youDear Attorney Korman,
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 sew [sic].
Thank you for the interviews.
Dianna L. Abdala, Esq.
– Original Message –
From: William A. Korman
To: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: RE: Thank youDianna -
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 stationery 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.
- Will Korman
– Original Message –
From: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:01 PM
To: William A. Korman
Subject: Re: Thank youA 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: William A. Korman
To: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: RE: Thank youThank 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: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:29 PM
To: William A. Korman
Subject: Re: Thank youbla bla bla
[Update] Whoa, sympatico: My buddy Jared Sandberg at the WSJ has a piece on the whole “runaway email” subject in Tuesday’s WSJ. He puts the Abadalla email in with others, like a Skadden associate of a few years back who sent out a note saying, “I’m busy doing jack.”
Related posts:
so who should I sympathize with here? Cutting somebody’s pay after an offer is poor form, and not accepting the offer is reasonable. I would have to go with bla bla bla.
What a complete and total idiot (Abdala). This has nothing to do with sympathy or who holds the moral trump card.
Machiavelli himself would give Abdala a big, fat, glaring red ‘F’ — for heaping embarrassment on herself and trashing her future career prospects, not just in Boston but wherever this email has circulated.
Korman can count himself lucky for missing out on this gem of a thinker. Regardless of her legal credentials, Abdala clearly has zero smart streets and little if any common sense.
OK, maybe its not a big deal for her career, as the WSJ piece suggests. Maybe there are plenty of boiler rooms, debt collection firms and ambulance chasing patnerships saying “You go girl!”
Regardless, flaunting yourself as a pompous ass (and living on funds from the parents no less) doesn’t seem to be the most brilliant move. This type of behavior is on par with people who think it’s cool to be bad at math, as if a glaring lack of intelligence / social effort is some type of bizarro asset.
She has the right to refuse when he reduced the pay, he is an idiot who is start bossing around before she even start the job.
go girl be your own boss and soon you will be making more then the whole Korman firm
Ah, for the finer things in Springfield! Manners not included?
He cute her pay slightly? I believe he cut it at least 20%. I wouldn’t call that slight.
She’s already making more than the entire Korman office. Call her up. She’s listed in the yellow pages. 77 Franklin Street in Boston.
It’s amazing how many folks manage to miss the point.
Whether the salary was cut is not an
issue. Both emailers agreed that such
was discussed in a 2nd interview.
The issue is the manner in which she
declined an offered position, and the
way in which she subsequently insulted
the attorney who offered her the job.
Decline the job? No problem. How about
a direct phone call in which she speaks
to the potential employer, and merely
says something to the effect of:
“I’m terribly sorry, but the pay
difference is significant enough
so that I don’t feel that I can
take the position.”
Finis…
I agree, its the issue of being an rude idiot that is the problem here, not the details of the position or her salary. She had every right to turn down the Job no matter what the details, but have a little respect for yourself and others and be respectful to the people you are communicating with.