I am a senior assistant at a US firm in London and am pregnant. Although, on paper, the maternity benefits package is very generous (up to 12 months on a mixture of full and half-pay) only partners seem to have taken more than four months. How much time should I take in order to keep my partnership ambitions on track?

The question actually only relates to how much time should be taken in relation to maternity leave, so maybe you are on a promise of partnership already. However, even if this is the case, I have to agree with many of the earlier comments – namely that pregnancy/motherhood issues in law firms are, and will continue to be, looked on very negatively by partners.