Working Mother Survey is Out
The first annual survey of the Best Law Firms for Working Mothers is now on the newsstands. This survey, which was a collaboration between Flex-Time Lawyers and Working Mother Magazine attempts to hold law firms accountable for their practices. As always, I think it is important to view these lists with a healthy dose of skepticism. Firms can very greatly by office and department. Also, your destiny rests a lot on who you report to (and how enthusiastic they are about the firm's great work/life initiatives.)
In other words, don't take a firm's appearance on one of these lists as conclusive proof that you will be able to achieve the balance that you want.
By the same token, I do think it is great that the issue of work/life balance is getting such good publicity. Every bit of discourse helps and I'm happy to see the issue front and center in a respected publication. Presumably, this will be picked up by a lot of news outlets.
Labels: flexible legal work, work life balance
posted by Stephen Seckler, Esq. at 12:57 PM
7 Comments:
I agree, these lists don't tell the whole story. In fact, a friend of mine has, for five years, been the token part-time mommy lawyer for one of the firms that made this list. She is their model to young associates in the office that "it can be done." The firm just asked her - in the middle of the year - to start working more hours or take a greater pay cut, effective immediately. In going part-time in the first place, the percentage reduction in her pay had to be greater than the percentage reduction in her hours, and the firm wants to increase the gap. And they are listed as one of the best firms for working mothers . . .
Ashley at The Balanced Life Spa
How true Ashley. I look at the list and find myself thinking the same thing (I know women who are struggling at some of these firms.)But I still believe that Working Mother is making a valuable contribution by creating this list. More publicity for the issue can only help.
I also believe that some women are benefiting from these policies. The important thing to remember is that you still have to take responsibility for your own career and make sure that in your particularly situation, you will get the balance you want.
Finally, I do think that work/life balance remains an earned privilege at most firms. If you want it, you have to demonstrate your value first and that may take a few years of long hours.
I agree that we don't need more press releases and that individuals in firms both on the winner list and not will have different experiences, frequently based on the attitudes of their supervisors and work teams.
The good thing is to spread the talk and, hopefully, action about flexibility. Another aim of the "best firms" competition is to get the competitve juices and actions going in the firms that didn't make the cut.
The hope is that the desire for bragging rights makes firms do the right thing. Time will tell if this sort of thing speeds up progress.
Phyllis Weiss Haserot www.pdcounsel.com and www.nextgeneration-nextdestination.com
Law firms are definitely motivated by competition so I agree with your comment Phyllis (i.e. that hopefully, the desire to have bragging rights will get more firms to do the "right thing".) One only needs to look at how firms have behaved in recent months in response to salary increases in New York (one by one, most firms in major markets have walked the plank and matched the raises.)
Eight years ago, as a commercial litigator, I founded Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, a consulting firm advising lawyers and employers on work/life balance and the retention and promotion of women. In 2006, I met with Working Mother to propose conducting a national survey on work/life and women's issues and to create a list of the Best Law Firms for Women. My motivation was simple: use competition as an instrument of change. As I brainstormed with Working Mother, many concerns came to mind: celebrating firms too soon; encouraging bragging rights; creating complacency; and minimizing the struggles of women lawyers. These are the same concerns raised by some of the blog posts. I believe these concerns are outweighed by the long term benefits of running a survey that will help overcome obstacles for women lawyers. These benefits include: using competition as an instrument of change; creating a benchmarking standard; sharing information to open the dialogue for women and facilitate policy changes; empowering women law students to become another pressure point for change; and raising the visibility of work/life and women's issues.
I have watched as the numbers of women partners at law firms, the numbers of women leaders at law firms, the numbers of women rainmakers, the numbers of women working flexibly and the numbers of women advancing while working flexibly, have remained exceedingly low and stagnant. It is long overdue to create a baseline for law firms not only to let them know where they stand today but, more importantly, to help them improve their future standing. Many firms are poised to start devoting significant attention and resources to improve their retention and promotion of women. However, they do not even know their strengths and weaknesses or where to start. Firms that elected to participate in our free survey of about 500 questions received a scorecard giving them a snapshot of how they compared to the other applicants. Firms have also been invited to purchase an extensive benchmarking report to begin answering their own questions to reverse the gender gap. The profession as a whole will benefit from the survey through an article I will author later this year reporting on the data and trends we identified in law firms relating to programs, policies, usage rates and representation of women. The ultimate objective of the Best Law Firms for Women list is to invigorate a dialogue, measure where we are, arm firms and lawyers with information to change, create a competition and compulsion among firms, and continue to raise the bar of what makes a best law firm for women. For an article that explains the survey methodology and provides a more thorough discussion of why the Best Law Firms for Women initiative is so important, please see http://www.flextimelawyers.com/best/why.pdf and for more information about the initiative, please see http://www.flextimelawyers.com/best.asp.
Deborah Epstein Henry, Esq.
Founder & President
Flex-Time Lawyers LLC
dehenry@flextimelawyers.com
www.flextimelawyers.com
I am very unhappy and want to change careers. I spend 7 days a week working on things for my job. Every year we add one more thing to the already overflowing requirements. I want to change professions but don't know where to start looking. I am a teacher and am putting a child through college and need benefits. Please help.
I was a young attorney mom who opted out after flexible and part-time arrangements at two different law firms. Both situations rapidly evolved into full time+ jobs with a part-time salary and a dead end mommy track. The exception of occasionaly working a few extra hours for urgent matters became the rule. I was lucky enough to land a large corporate client and work part-time from home and raise my family. But now, at 50, I am trying to re-enter the traditional legal workforce (corporate, firm, nonprofit, anything) and am facing the most outrageous and blatant age and gender discrimination. Its a humbling blow to be completely disenfranchised and the disrespect and even contempt is startling and painful. I am grateful I had a workable family/work situation for the past decade but if I had known it would trash my career I would likely have taken another path. It is truly diheartening to feel unemployable at only 50. The simple fact is that our society does not respect or value the work of raising a family. That is why it is 'womens' work. Why isn't balancing an issue for men? Why are women saddled with this problem? I hate to sound bitter, but the truth isn't pretty. A man with my equivalent work experience (5 years corporate litigation and 14 years corporate counsel) would be at the peak of his career and salary. Here I am, an unemployable middle age (bitter) empty nest mom who can't seem to get on any track. So hooray for all those women in the study who are hanging in and juggling and struggling. You made the right decision. I even had a 25 hour/week corporate counsel gig but it means nothing because I was at home doing other work that simply is not valued by employers, our society, or really anyone.
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