Bettina “Betsy” Plevan prioritized work-life balance before it was trendy. As an associate at Proskauer Rose in the 1970s—one of only a few women lawyers at the firm and the only one in the litigation department—Plevan didn’t hesitate to take time off or refuse late hours to look after her two young sons, one of whom had special needs.
“I just did it,” Plevan says. “I didn’t see a reason not to.” Largely because of her, in the early 1980s the firm began a program that allowed lawyers to work part-time for family reasons and full-time attorneys to take time off for family obligations.
