Biglaw

Departure Memo Of The Day: Chris Wray Bids Farewell To King & Spalding

Christopher Wray will deeply miss his superb colleagues (and that seven-figure paycheck).

By David Lat on August 02, 2017 2:59 pm

Christopher Wray, at his Senate confirmation hearing (via YouTube).

Here at Above the Law, we love a good departure memo (almost as much as we love a good bonus memo). We especially enjoy the bridge-burning ones (especially when they come from partners).

But we appreciate classy goodbyes as well. For example, in 2014 we wrote about Jeh Johnson’s eloquent farewell to Paul, Weiss, when he left the firm to become Secretary of Homeland Security.

Today’s classy missive comes from Christopher Wray, who was nominated to serve as director of the FBI by President Donald Trump in June. Last night, after the Senate voted to confirm him as FBI director — by an overwhelming vote of 92-5 — Chris Wray sent the following email to his colleagues at King & Spalding, where he has been a partner since 2005:

Short, sweet, and heartfelt. Here’s what one K&S source had to say Chris Wray and his goodbye message:

[He] was generally well regarded and respected at the firm — and I think the sentiments he shared in his farewell email are indicative of how he was viewed at the firm. When was the last time you heard a Biglaw partner emphasize the fact that they were proud of the fact that they’d achieved success without “compromising our commitment to kindness”?

Congratulations to Chris Wray on his confirmation, and good luck to him as FBI director. The pay in his new post is a fraction of what he was earning at King & Spalding, but public service has its own rewards.

Earlier:

DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].