Should I give a former atty of mine a small thank you gift for providing me a positive reference?

Job Searching/Interviewing

So a few months ago I was let go from my job after 4yrs with the firm. It was no longer a good fit for any of us. Bc it was a small, toxic firm, I didn’t feel comfortable asking any of the attys there for a reference, especially since they were firing me and pretty much everyone except for a few very new associates, everyone was a partner or had been there for 10+yrs. Well, in the 4yrs I was at this firm, we had only one atty who came and went and she was a very lovely person who I could tell from the meet n greet “interview” we were too small fry of a firm for her. Not shockingly, after 9mos, she got a job with a big corporate firm. I wished her well on her journey with sincerity and a bit of sadness and exchanged social media info though never interacted with each other beyond acceptabing each others requests. After being terminated about a year after she left our firm I reached out to her for a reference, sent her my resume and she provided some very glowing feedback to potential firms. In part bc of her reference I had two offers. She was also expecting her first baby at the time and was very close to being due. Of course I updated her on which job I accepted and then promptly moved out of the city (new job is remote) and I know she was busy being a new mom and badass atty, so I’ve left her alone for the last few months. I feel like I should give her some small token of my appreciation in the form of a baby gift. Thoughts?

Posted Aug 12, 2026, 8:22 PM UTC

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