Work-Life Balance Flexibility at a Tipping Point in the Legal Field
There are certain industries that seem to be less kind to working parents than others. (Not that any of them have it easy). One of them is the legal field.
If you’ll pardon me a pop culture reference, I remember years ago on L.A. Law a story line about a female lawyer that had a baby. She ”went part time” in order to spend some time with her kid. The problem was part time meant 40 hours a week as opposed to 60 or 80.
This was TV, of course. But that image has always left an impression on me. That’s why I was interested in news about a Boston law firm working with employees to encourage a balance between career and family life. WilmerHale (from Boston) is looking to change working conditions by offering employees “paid parental leave from 12-18 weeks and for secondary caregivers, from three to four weeks.” They also have a work-life balance committee that advises management on things that would help employees deal with families issues and career.
More than that, they are ensuring that the policies actually meet the culture of the firm. How many times has a company talked about doing something, formed a committee, and then make absolutely no significant changes? I’ve worked for a few. So if this firm is indeed making sure changes get made rather than talked about it’s a step ahead.
The firm is also making sure part-time workers aren’t looked down upon and that people are actually encouraged to take time off to spend with their families.
I especially loved this quote from Flex-Time Lawyers founder Deborah Epstein Henry:
“The industry as a whole is at a tipping point.”
If you’ve read the book, The Tipping Point, you know that it’s “the point in time in which a technology, procedure, service or philosophy has reached critical mass and becomes mainstream” (as defined by PC Magazine.)
If the legal industry is indeed on the verge of a tipping point with their work-life balance initiatives, imagine what that could mean for the rest of the working world? It could indicate a change in corporate cultures across the board and in varying industries. It could mean things could get easier for working parents in the next several years.
Is this possibility a do-able reality at this point? Or just a nice idea that will never come to fruition? What’s your opinion?
Tags: business culture, changes in legal field, family support, flex-time, flexibility at work, la law, parental leave, tipping point, wilmerhale, work-life-balanceRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Career, Career and Kids, Managing Work, Raising Kids, Schedules, Spending time with kids, Time Management, Transition between work and home, Work Environment, Work and Life, Working from Home
3 opinions for Work-Life Balance Flexibility at a Tipping Point in the Legal Field
Betsy
Aug 27, 2008 at 9:51 am
The percentage of women seeking law degrees is going down. This certainly supports the tipping point claim.
As the Millenials join the workforce they are expecting gender neutral access to flexibility in order to manage a dual-career family; it is not solely the woman’s responsibility to juggle any longer. The couple profiled at WilmerHale was a perfect example.
We are all too aware of the professional men and women across industries who take career breaks, when they would prefer flexible options, because neither partner’s job offers flexibility.
We, at http://www.youronramp.com, are already seeing change in the business and financial worlds in addition to law. Science and Engineering are beginning to get the picture, as well. Half of college graduates are women. When companies realize they are not easily retaining half their workforce, they will recognize the need for change. When they acknowledge that is not incapability on the part of women but the inadaptibility of the workplace, change will come.
These glimmers of hope could herald the future of work and family for both men and women!
Cherie Burbach
Aug 27, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Betsy: Great info. Your point about Millenials is excellent. Thanks for commenting. :)
midlife mommy
Sep 1, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Call me cynical, but I would like to talk to some of the working moms and dads at that firm and find out what their actual experiences have been. When the percentage partners, who have gotten where they are because of their outrageous hours, are confronted with a person who (in their minds) isn’t willing to do the same, they will just pass that person over for someone who is like them. And the end result will be that the advancement and training opportunities will still go to the people who are willing to work 60-80 hours (or more) per week. I do hope that I’m wrong.
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