Work-life balance is increasingly an issue for burned-out lawyers of both genders, parents in particular. Law students interviewing at firms increasingly ask whether they’ll have a life once they have a job. Our roundup keeps track of this hot topic for you.
Improving work/life balance also helps to reduce the cost associated with attrition of talented attorneys, 78 percent of whom leave their firms by their fifth year of practice. Better work/life practices prevent costly disruptions to continuity of service and client relationships. Finally, as more in-house lawyers take diversity into account when selecting law firms, it is in a firm’s business interests to do whatever possible to prevent attrition of women and minorities.
Law student concerns about work/life balance are not a passing trend. Firms that wish to stay competitive must pay attention and adapt their policies accordingly. Further, the lawyers of tomorrow do not see work/life balance exclusively as a women’s issue. So, in the future, instead of a card or even a signing bonus, firms should try giving grads and dads what they really crave — a better balance.
Phoebe TaubmanThe Work & Family Legal Center, based in New York. Yolanda Wu is co-president of the organization and an adjunct assistant professor of law at New York University School of Law. This piece originally appeared in The National Law Journal, a Recorder affiliate. is a project attorney at A Better Balance:
