50 Best Firms for Women (Out of 105)

The American Lawyer raises some interesting criticism of the Working Mother magazine's "50 Best Law Firms for Women." I still applaud the magazine and Flex-time Lawyers for continuing to do the survey (it does keep the issue alive and force firms to at least think about the issue); but clearly this "study" does little to prove that things have improved for female attorneys (i.e. the study does not demonstrate one way or the other that during the recession, firms have become more willing to adopt better work/life practices).

Balanomics?

In the last recession (i.e. way back in the early "aughts"), work/life balance took a back seat at law firms. During that time frame, I sat on the Boston Bar Association's Standing Committee on Work/Life Balance and heard many discussions about how large law firms are unwilling to focus on the issue at a time of economic stress. Will anything change this time around?

It is hard to say; but several organizations have joined together to launch a new initiative called Balanomics. The organizers of Balanomics are taking the position that work/life balance is important in good time and in bad times. The sponsors include Flex-time Lawyers, a number of bar associations, several major law firms, and two corporate legal departments. According to the Balanomics website:

Balanomics™ is premised on the understanding that improving work/life balance for attorneys will minimize the costs and negative consequences that result from loss and lack of productivity of high performers. The Balanomics™ mission is to improve work/life balance, profitability, and productivity in the profession by enhancing the retention, promotion, and professional satisfaction of talented attorneys. The goal is to achieve this by encouraging a work/life culture that emphasizes work quality, flexibility, responsiveness, and accessibility rather than face time.

Best Firms for Women--Round II

I noted a month ago that Working Women magazine has come out with it's second annual list of best law firms for women. Yale has now come out with it's own third annual list. For my Boston readers, WilmerHale and Mintz Levin have made the cut.

While I think these lists are instructive as to which large firms are most focused on creating better work/life programs (and implementing them as well), don't miss the big picture. By design, large firms are most likely to service the largest clients. Large firms are most likely to have the highest billing rates. Large firms generally pay the highest salaries. Large firms are therefore most likely to have clients who are the most demanding or who have the greatest expectations when it comes to customer service.

So maybe the firms on these lists do try harder than other firms; but large firms are probably not the best place to find work/life balance.

Best Firms for Women

The results are in. Working Mother Magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers have released their second annual report on the top 50 best law firms for women. As I've written in the past, I do believe that rankings should be kept in perspective. Large law firms are complex institutions that offer many different realities to individual attorneys (i.e. depending on which office you work in, which department you work for, what deals or litigation matters you get staffed on, how busy your practice area may be, the personalities of the partners you report to, etc.)

Over time, look for the firms that appear on these lists year after year. Appearing once means something. Appearing consistently is worth noting.

Blocking the Exits?

Do law firms need to block the exit doors to stop associate attrition? Should they keep raising associate salaries so that other options become uncompetitive? In the long run, I'm not sure that higher salaries will keep unhappy associates from seeking alternatives to the large firms; though in my experience, these increases certainly make other options look less attractive. I know this first hand because recruiting for smaller firms has become more difficult.

Ironically, there are much less expensive ways to slow associate departures. If firms could communicate better with associates, give them more meaningful context about their assignments and simply pay more attention to their professional development, then attrition would slow. These and other good suggestions from two law school professors (one who has worked in-house and currently with a large firm.)

These authors focus mainly on professional development as the key to retention. But clearly, work/life balance is a major issue that firms also need to address. There are a lot of talented associates who want sophisticated work, but not at all costs. The accounting industry has found ways to make this a reality. The legal community needs to crack this nut as well. One option is to adopt the model proposed by Deborah Epstein Henry of Flextimelawyers.

Positive Work/Life Signs in Today's NY Times

Work/life balance is not all doom and gloom in the practice of law. The New York Times documents some of the positive developments.

Surviving the Holiday Season--Joyfully

I always find this time of year to be very stressful, though not for the reasons you might think. Being Jewish, I don't have a large x-mas shopping list. In fact if anything, this is the time of year when I am happiest not to be a Christian (too much shopping pressure.) What makes this time of year hard for me is that I am in the recruiting business. Since very little hiring takes place between Thanksgiving and the New Year, this is my "dry season."

In the past, I have written about the importance of using the holiday season as a time to focus on relationships. If you are in the job market, this is a good time to keep up your visibility so that you will be remembered when hiring decisions are made in the New Year. If you are trying to build your practice, the holidays provide many natural ways to connect with your clients and referral sources.

This year, however, I am doing things a little differently. While I have done a lot of marketing to keep up my visibility as we move into the New Year, I'm also taking time off. And so far, it is having a very positive effect on my normal holiday malaise.

Last week, we celebrated the bar mitzvah of my oldest child. Since it is a slower time of year, I took a couple of days off the help my wife prepare for the festivities. I put work out of my mind and focused on meeting and greeting friends and relatives as they arrived from out of town. On the day of the event, I was completely consumed with the ceremony, supporting my son, and being very present. A day later, I again focused on entertaining out of town guests and work was on the far back burner.

Today, a week later, I am still glowing. It was a great weekend and I was so proud of my son. While I didn't spend as much time at work these past two weeks, when I was at work, I was very focused.

Tomorrow, we leave on a long planned 2 week vacation in the sunshine. If we had stuck around, I would have nibbled away at some of my searches; but in all likelihood, I would have also felt very stressed out that none of my candidates were getting interviews or offers.

When I return, I expect to be refreshed and ready for action. I do not plan to be checking a blackberry or calling in for messages frequently. In the past, I would have felt inclined to do so. But this year, I'm planning to enjoy myself.

So if you are slow at work, here is my advice: Enjoy! Find something you like and do it. If not now, when?

A New Model of Flexibility

While I would echo the sentiments of Suzanne's post (i.e. that on a practical level, it remains difficult for women to find alternative path's to success in a law firm) there are some very good ideas floating around out there. For example, Deborah Epstein Henry of Flex-time Lawyers, has proposed an interesting model called F.A.C.T.S.

According to Henry's model, firms should offer women a mix of options. Women should be given the chance to choose a reduced schedule that is premised on the desire for regular hours, the desire for high-quality work or some mix of the two. While I'm not sure if any firms have yet to adopt the model, I would not be surprised if there were at least one firm trying it out within the year. The recruiting benefits of offering such a model are simply too great.

Hobbies are Good For Your Career

If the demands of work and family leave little time for personal pursuits, should you squeeze in time for a hobby anyway? "Yes" writes a career columnist in the New York Times. Even if you only have a few minutes a day, there are strong arguments in favor of taking a break in order to pursue an interest.

When you’re really engaged in a hobby you love, you lose your sense of time and enter what’s called a flow state, and that restores your mind and energy.

Given the on the job stress that most lawyers face, having an outside interest would seem particularly valuable. We are not wired to be in a heightened state of alert 24/7. The human body needs down time to recharge once in a while.

But stress management and productivity are not the only reasons to participate in yoga classes, collect old books, play guitar or go bird watching. A life with outside interests is more fulfilling. It is also a good way to help you market yourself.

If you like wine tasting, you will have a natural way to connect with other wine lovers. If baseball is your diversion, then you will find no shortage of fans who share your passion (particularly if you live in a city like Boston where the Red Sox have now won the World Series twice in a decade after an 80 plus year drought.)

So get out of the office once in a while. No one wants the number of ours they billed during their legal career captured in their obituary. But being a lawyer who was known for his love of sailing and his contributions to important charities...now that is an obituary to live for!

Can You Have Your Cake and Eat it Too?

What if you could work with big firm lawyers, get good work and come home for dinner most nights? That seems to be what many young associates want today; but it is not really one of the options for most lawyers who work for large firms.

In Law.Com today, I read an article about Gen Y lawyers heading to boutique firms whose founders came from biglaw. These associates are billing 1600 hours on sophisticated matters and trading a chunk of salary in order to have time in their lives for other pursuits. Recruiters quoted in this article describe it as a new phenomenon.

Actually, I think the basic business model has been around for a while (i.e. leave a large firm with a few partners, cut your size and overhead, lower your rates somewhat and let associates work livable hours--oh and pay them less.) There are a lot of smart associates out there who would be happy to earn less and work less. I certainly meet a lot of them. Is the trend picking up?

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.

Getting Control of Your Hours

The central career issue of our day is finding meaningful work which leaves time for our personal lives. Professionals who charge for their time know this firsthand. In the legal profession, where the pressure to bill more hours has never been greater, this is particularly true.

But choosing a career in law does not automatically require you to sacrifice your whole personal life. With some deliberate thinking and good career planning, it is possible to enjoy a measure of work/life balance even at some of the top law firms. Here are 5 tips for making this a reality. While this list is based on what I know about the legal profession, the principles apply to other professional services business as well.

1. Focus on work that has predictable flows.

Following your interests is good career planning. But most of us have multiple interests. If you have the choice, choose work that is more predictable. In law, stay away from high stakes litigation where you will be subjected to unpredictable deadlines. Avoid becoming a high powered “deal lawyer” who works on large mergers and acquisitions, IPO’s or other highly time sensitive transactions. Stay away from entrepreneurial clients who want everything to happen yesterday. Instead, choose to focus on work that has more predictable deadlines. In corporate practice, that might mean securities compliance or bank lending. In real estate, that might mean leasing work. If you do choose to spend part of your time on “interesting” litigation matters, make sure you balance out your work with other matters that are less time sensitive (e.g. appellate work.)

2. Early in your career, be a “yes” person and do great work.

If you demonstrate early in your career that you are ready, willing and able to sacrifice nights and weekends for the sake of the firm, you will have a lot more leverage to say “no” when you are more senior. Your ability to say no later on will also increase if you earn the reputation for doing great work.

3. Build strong partner and client relationships.

Taking the time to build your relationships with partners and clients will also give you move leverage in the future. If you have good relationships, you will find it easier to ask a partner or a client if he or she really needs something by the following day.

4. Find a firm where the culture supports outside interests.

Believe it or not, firm cultures do vary. While work/life balance is hardest to achieve at large law firms, there are some small and mid-sized law firms that do high quality work but still manage to allow partners and associates to pursue personal interests. Of course you have to do a lot of homework to find these firms; but they do exist. Talk to associates and ask them what they do outside of work. Find out whether partners are at the office after 7 p.m. on a regular basis.

5. Learn some time management skills and learn to delegate.

I left this one for last because time management does not solve the underlying problem if you simply have too much work to do. On the other hand, managing your time and learning to delegate more effectively can help you to make better use of the limited time that you do have for work.

Finding Balance May Mean Living With Less

Years ago, I remember reading several funny pieces in the American Lawyer by large law firm refugee, Cameron Stracher. Since that time, I have seen some of his articles in the Wall Street Journal. While I have never read his books on the legal profession, he is a strong and entertaining writer and I imagine his newest work, Dinner With Dad, is a good read as well.

What is interesting to me is that after he gave up large law firm life for in-house practice, Stracher found himself just as busy as ever. And because of some corporate changes that were in the works at his company (always a risk of in-house legal jobs as I have noted here), he jumped back into private practice and found his life once again out of balance. Now he writes about his efforts to be home for dinner every night.

Personally, I have never opted for that sort of existence but I can say with certainty, that there are trade offs. If I worked longer hours, I might earn more. If my wife had gone back to work sooner, (she was out of the work force for 7 years--until just this Spring), we would have saved more. Instead, we have chosen to forgo the annual winter getaway with the family. We have not been able to put as much money into our house as we would like. We have not saved for retirement at a rate that I believe is prudent; and we continue to drive our aging cars.

But our kids are doing great. They are well adjusted, all doing well in school and all have multiple interests. Teachers consistently rave about what a pleasure it is to have them as students and although we as parents, don't always get to see our kids on their best behavior (who else can you abuse if not your parents!), to me, living with a little less has been well worth the trade off.

I'm not saying that I truly know what it is like to live without. By most measures, we are comfortably upper middle class. But we live in a community where winter getaways and ski weekends are the norm. Many of our neighbors have been doing major renovations on their homes. So in a relative sense, we are doing without. It's not always easy to see the empty bank account; but I think it would be much worse to not see my kids.

For Gen X, Time is the New Currency

Penelope Trunk, author of the Brazen Careerist, talks about the importance of "time" vs. "money" for Generation Xers. Baby Boomers were willing to work long hours to achieve financial success. Gen X, according to Trunk (and to many other career gurus,) is much more concerned about having time in their lives for relationships.

Unfortunately, for the most part, large law firms have not yet figured out how to capitalize on this. Whoever does, though, will have access to a huge pool of great talent.

Women Are "Staying" in Droves

Almost 80% of women who leave law firm practice end up staying in or returning to the workforce; and more than 50% of them stay in the legal profession. In other words, female attorneys are not leaving either the workforce or the profession to be stay at home moms. But they are opting out of law firm practice at far greater rates than men. As a result, although men and women have been graduating from law school at equal rates for the past 15 years, women still only account for 17% of the partners in law firms. Those are some of the key findings of a new study just completed by the MIT Workplace Center . Robert Ambrogi of the Law.Com Blog Network writes about the study here .

Yesterday, I attended a reception at the Federal Courthouse in Boston where Mona Harrington of MIT did a great job of presenting the results of her research. Judge Nancy Gertner, who was a major catalyst behind the study, and Lauren Rikleen, past president of the Boston Bar Association and author of a terrific book on how law firms can begin to address the lack of female advancement in the legal profession (Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law) also gave articulate presentations which quickly went to the heart of the issue (i.e. that law firms can do a lot more to promote the advancement of women.)

Afterwards, I received an e-mail message from Sheila Statlender, a clinical psychologist in Newton, Massachusetts who sits with me on the BBA Standing Committee on Work/Life Balance. She also attended the session and had some interesting things to say. Here are some excerpts from an e-mail she sent to the members of our committee:

Findings which indicate that female attorneys are not opting out, but rather finding work outside of law firms, and in astonishingly high percentages at every stage (associate, partner, etc.) provide important documentation, and refutation for those claiming that women really are just "choosing" to be stay-at-home moms.

OK, I admit it - at first I thought - this is not new news. We've been hearing it and saying it for quite a while. Women aren't progressing in their career paths and are earning significantly less than their male counterparts. "Opaque" discrimination now makes it harder to identify factors such as less desirable work assignments, inferior mentoring and tougher challenges with regard to business development. This doesn't seem so much a wake up call, as it does a signal from the "snooze alarm:" we've heard it before, and now it's blaring again. But we also know that change happens slowly, especially in large, powerful and at heart conservative organizations (like law firms). So I say bravo to those of you who continue to reset the alarm, letting it blast, rather than simply shutting it off.

I do have a question for Lauren especially: you really are calling for in essence a revolution in the legal profession: an overhaul of how firms handle compensation, what kinds of professional practice and activities will get acknowledged in terms of the bottom line, and along with this, a necessary shift in the values which underlie these practices. What kind of response are you getting from your audiences, from firms, from individuals? Is anyone hearing and responding? Can you give us some hope here?

I couldn't help but think, as I listened to the presentations yesterday, of comparisons with other professional fields. Physicians, for example (female and male alike) are standing by as more and more of their professional freedoms are slipping away. Health insurers are dictating reimbursement and even basic medical practice. It has occurred to me that many professionals are in the position that factory workers found themselves in in previous decades - only factory workers formed unions and were able to go on strike. They found ways to take back or establish power (ok, maybe I'm idealizing a bit). Can anything comparable be done in the current arena(s)?

Since I am sharing my morning musings and subjecting you all to some stream of consciousness (except for those of you who may have had the wisdom to hit the "delete" button already :-) I'll take it one step further. I fantasized about a walk out of female attorneys, hopefully accompanied by their male supporters - perhaps only an hour or two in length, to protest current conditions and to express support for the ideas/strategies proposed at yesterday's briefing. Or an all day conference, a sort of pre-planned walkout, filled with workshops on getting better asssignments, business development, the work-life continuum (I agree with Lauren that "balance" is not a realistic term!), self-care, etc. - not held on the weekend, but pointedly during the workday.

The Secret Behind All the Secrets to Success

There are many secrets to success. They are as plentiful and as numerous as the sands under the sea. Some are easily discovered through diligence and creativity, some by meeting with others we consider more successful than ourselves, some by paying to see specialists, and some by scaling lofty mountains and seeking our gurus. But I can tell you that all these secrets are subordinate to the one, glorious secret within all such secrets.

Best of all, it will cost you nothing, requires no discipline, will not cause you to sweat, does not involve unending self-absorption, is not fattening, and, boot, will make you happier.

And that is: desire. I do not mean mere 'wanting', I mean an all-encompassing passion directed toward a particular state or goal or need. The point is not that you must have goals-goals are too superficial. What you need is to unlock the floodgates before the ocean of your passions. Don't laugh. It is the natural and unassailable state of all men and women that they have massive storehouses of passion walled up inside them. The trick is to let them out. And it is not hard to do so. In fact, it is merely the knowing, the realization, that such a storehouse really does exist, that starts the waters to boiling.

Thus, now that I have you starting to think about that well of passion, you need but allow that truth to sink in a little, and the inexorable drive of your well-honed mind (you ARE a lawyer, right?) will bring to you the point where that passion will find an outlet. Once that begins to happen, the only challenge will be to channel the force of the waters that flow out from your creative and competent mind.

On a lighter note, it is sort of like "cooties"-it is easily passed on-tag! And now that I have planted this tiniest of seeds in your mind, it will have no choice but to germinate. In those with high intellect and fortitude (you automatically qualify by virtue of getting through law school and passing the bar), those seeds will of necessity fall on fertile ground. Just you wait, even the tiniest of realizations can become an unstoppable force. It has happened to me; it has happened to many of my candidates. It can happen to you.

If you want to learn more about your own unlocked potential as a lawyer, as a person, as a professional, surf over to www.bcgsearch.com/pete_smith.html.

Time IS Money

New research by Stanford Business School demonstrates that for individuals who bill by the hour, the world can turn into a 24 hour clock divided by dollar signs (I discovered this link courtesy of Stepanie West Allen who writes the blog Idealawg.) Of note, the study talked about lawyers who "admitted to mentally ticking away lost income for each minute they stood on the sidelines while watching their kids play soccer admitted."

What this highlights for me is how easy it is for your life to get out of balance if you bill for your time. Lawyers who live by the billable hour should set aside breaks in their day/week/month/year when the clock is not running. This can't be done informally. It must be deliberate. And so as I sit here on a Sunday blogging away (and I don't even bill for my time), I realize it is time to sign off and go eat lunch and play with my kids (and get ready for the AFC playoff game!)

Getting your brain around "happiness"

Every day of my working life I talk to attorneys who are looking for something to make them "happier." Mostly they think that a new firm will get them "there." And sometimes they are right. Even if they aren't, usually when attorneys have picked up the phone to initiate a relationship with a recruiter, they have "crossed the Rubicon" and have no intention of staying at their current position. It then falls to me to find the gig that is going to get them what they want: more money, better work, more prestige, a chance at parnership--happiness. Thus, I always, always, always try turn the recruiting experience into something more than musical chairs. The "more" part is a process by which the candidate will really evaluate his or her past successes and failures and delve in to that part of the mind that holds dreams, pet projects and wild fantasies about a future practice.

I do all this because I do not believe that happiness comes from "work-life balance." There is no such thing. I do not believe that working more or less, harder or easier, upside down or backwards is going to make anyone happier. Rather, I believe that happiness comes from an ordered mind. And the only way to get to that state of orderliness is to start rummaging through the detritus that accumulates there. We have to sort through the nagging little thoughts here and there that pull us toward something new and different. If we can take control of that mess, that protoplasm of thought and angst, and really look at it all, structure it, corral it, we can start a rational process that will help us get our actions into line with our dreams. If you don't think that will get you to happiness, maybe you've never experienced it. Ecstasy? I hope so. Joy? Surely. But happiness?--that state of calm pleasure, of contentedness with one's life, an absence of unreasonable fear, a state of habitual clarity of thought and unhurried productivity? Think about it.

Is your career on course?

If you are like most attorneys, the thought of planning your career past the next few months can be daunting. However, those that do plan their careers--and take the time to periodically evaluate whether they are on track--are much more likely to have a satisfying career.

Here's a recent article I wrote on this subject, which provides four quick questions you can ask yourself to determine whether your career is on track. http://www.lawcrossing.com/article/index.php?id=2356. I hope you enjoy.

Time Management Reminders

In today's Career Journal some good reminders about time management. Nothing particularly new here but it is always good to be reminded of some of the fundamentals as the New Year starts (i.e. know when you work best, set deadlines, control your environment, eliminate unessential work, work on the go.)

For associates, controlling your environment is probably the hardest (it's hard to tell a partner to go away.) But getting drafting done in the early hours before partners arrive is one way to limit interruptions. Similarly, associates may not alway get deadlines from partners (particularly partners who are disorganized); but nothing stops you from asking for deadlines. Getting clarification can help you better plan your own time.

A Work/Life Balance Calculator

Want to figure out how many hours you need to be at your office in order to meet your billable hours target? JD Bliss blog has created a calculator to help you factor in all of your non-billable time (vacations, legal holidays, commuting time, meals, administrative and other non-billable tasks, etc.) and arrive at a more accurate picture of how many hours a week you need to work.

Kids Fight Back on Blackberry Use

The Wall Street Journal today offers some cautionary notes about blackberry addiction (subscription required.) In an article aptly entitled "Blackberry Orphans", the Journal explores the growing resentment that children have about parents who are constantly checking their blackberries.

Clearly, the blackberry is a great tool for enabling busy parents to "have it all" (i.e. work in high pressured legal jobs but still attend kids soccer games.) The key, as the article points out, is to know when to turn it off. Kids know when you are not paying attention and they will resent it.

I am reminded of an experience I had while snorkeling off the coast of Maui.

I also confess that I have been know to sneak off to check my own e-mail once or twice while my kids are brushing their teeth (last night, for example.) It's not always easy (I always thought that the "Just Say No to Drugs" campaign that Nancy Reagan championed oversimplified the complexity of fighting an addiction.) But as with any kind of change, the first step is to recognize the problem.

ROI for Work Life Balance Programs

JD Bliss links to an article in Computerworld on work life balance and suggests that lawyers should bring this article to the attention of senior management at their firms.

Computerworld does do an excellent job of laying out the traditional business case for allowing flexible staffing (the high cost of replacing employees who leave, the positive impact on morale at firms that offer flexibility, the institutional knowledge that stays with the firm, the increased productivity of happier employees.) But the article focuses mainly on the IT profession. I would imagine that senior partners at many major firms would find ways to distinguish the practice of law.

The business case for allowing flexible work arrangements in the law is similar to the IT profession. But the attorney/client relationship is often a more personal relationship and anyone arguing that flexible staffing makes business sense in a law firm must also address the issue of client service (i.e. how to ensure that clients who are paying top dollar are getting the high level of customer service and the high quality of legal representation that they expect.)

Certainly law firms can save on recruiting and training if they find creative ways to reduce turnover. However, they also need to be more creative about finding ways to staff deals and litigation matters in a way that ensures the client always has access to a professional that he or she trusts.

Great Article on Burnout

Legal Sanity links to a great article in New York Magazine on the subject of burnout. While the New York article does not focus much on the legal industry, blogger Arnie Herz notes a reference at the end of the article to the American Lawyer survey of mid-level associates. The article points out that the number one and number three firms in this year's survey both had a perfect score on their support for pro bono work.

So what is the reason for this? Does pro bono work provide lawyers with a greater sense of purpose? Do these firms support pro bono by counting pro bono hours when calculating an associate's billable hours?

Have Children During Law School?

Now there's a thought! After all, you have more flexibility when you are a student.

Of course this requires you to have a spouse who will support you through law school (not to mention the requirement that you meet someone with whom you want to raise a family.)

How Coaching Can Help With Balance

Ellen Ostrow offers her thoughts on how working with a coach can help lawyers achieve better work/life balance. Her interview appears on the website www.lawyerswithalife.com .

Dealing With Distractions When Working From Home

RainToday.Com has a good article on how to work more effectively from a home office. I followed most of these suggestions for the eight years I worked worked from home. My conclusion after reading the article: I would have been even more productive had I done everything on the list.

When You Live to Work and Your Boss Works to Live

Dealing with a workaholic boss is a huge challenge if you are trying to work a reduced schedule. In the law, this is particularly challenging since clients have such high expectations (wouldn't you expect a lot if you were paying your rates.) But there are ways to deal effectively (and ineffectively) with a workaholic boss who keeps scheduling meetings when you need to leave to pick up children. Suggestions in today's Career Journal.

New NALP Publication on Work/Life Balance

In Pursuit of Attorney Work-Life Balance: Best Practices in Management provides new data on the strategies utilized by employers to support attorney work-life balance and on the nature of the conflicts attorneys experience between their work responsibilities and personal/family priorities.