WORK/LIFE BALANCE
Fathers seek it, too
June 16, 2008
It's June again, the time of year when florists and greeting card companies exhort us to honor our favorite "grads and dads" with bouquets and cheery sentiments. Although newly minted male law school grads are surely happy to celebrate their accomplishments, many of them, who are thinking ahead to their time as dads, are also worrying about their future. They worry whether they will be able to find a healthy balance between their legal careers and family life:
"I wouldn't like sending my kids to child care all day, and I'd rather be around for them."
"With all the extra hours, I find [law firm perks] disingenuous . . . .Why don't you give us divorce counseling too? . . . We can do our own dry cleaning."
"With what firms pay . . . , the paid leave isn't as important as the respected leave . . . it's not the money."
"It's the hours, stupid."
We recently conducted a survey of students at New York University School of Law about work and family issues. The survey was e-mailed numerous times to all students during one week in the fall of 2007. Out of a total enrollment of 2,167 students, 248 women (24% of women) and 103 men (9% of men) completed surveys. The respondents included 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls and LL.M. students. The results indicate that worries about balancing work and family weigh far more heavily on the minds of top law students than do other career concerns, including compensation and job prestige. We expected women to be worried, because work/life balance has often been framed as a women's issue, but we found men to be equally concerned. Seventy-two percent of male and 76% of female students said they were very or extremely worried about being able to balance work and family. That's more than twice the number of those who were worried about earning top pay, doing high-profile cases or working for a prestigious firm. Moreover, students are prepared to put their money where their mouths are. Eight out of 10 indicated a willingness to trade money for time, i.e., to accept reduced earnings in return for flexibility and reduced hours. See www.abetterbalance.org for the survey report.
Our findings support the conclusion that there is a generation gap around work/life balance. As the demand for a greater balance grows among new associates, law firms must take heed. During the past 10 years, these firms have been competing for talent by raising associate salaries dramatically. The sterling salaries often come hand in hand, however, with increased billable hour requirements and the expectation of 24/7 availability. Many young lawyers would happily trade sky-high salaries for more personal time.
In another effort to attract and retain top talent, firms offer benefits that make it easier for associates to spend more time at their desks when they really yearn for time to spend with their families. Instead of offering stigma-free flexible work options, these firms promote "life style" perks, such as fancy snacks and parties, personal valet services, stress counselors, and dinner delivered to the office, which aim to keep lawyers happy but also to keep them at work.
There are signs, however, that the legal profession may be on the cusp of real change. A few firms are changing their billable hour policies, offering a slower path to partnership for less pay to associates who want to work fewer hours and spend more time with their families. Others have done away with the billable hour model altogether, charging clients instead by the project or paying salaries and bonuses based on revenue generation.
Such changes make good business sense and are long overdue. Flexible work schedules make for happier and more efficient lawyers. Clients would also prefer to be represented by lawyers whose minds are well rested and alert rather than blurry from billing late into the night week after week. Improving work/life balance also helps to reduce the cost associated with attrition of talented attorneys, 78% 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 Taubman is a project attorney/incoming Equal Justice Works fellow at A Better Balance: The 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.
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