Summary: Law firms offer paternity leave, so why aren’t male attorneys taking it?

To keep up with the times, law firms now offer generous paternity leave to their associates. For instance, Lowenstein Sandler allocates 24 weeks; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe gives 22 weeks; and Winston & Strawn provides 20 weeks. Law firms have stated that this is to attract high-level talent and to address the dearth of women in the workforce; and on the surface, these new policies sound great. What man doesn’t want to spend time with his children? Yet, even though the benefit is offered, many male attorneys are not taking it.

In non-legal industries, family leave has become a huge issue; and major corporations such as Ikea, Facebook, and American Express offer generous gender-neutral paid family leave. At Ikea, for example, new mothers and fathers are allowed up to four months of paid time off. Around the world, other countries are also helping new fathers. At Deutsche India, men are allowed six months of paternity leave, and at Lotte in South Korea, men are mandated to spend time with their newborns.

In contrast with these other white collar fields, experts say that the legal world is still trying to catch up.

“Law firms are a bit behind other industries, especially the financial and other professional service industries, when it comes to more innovative family measures,” Vivia Chen of The American Lawyer said.

Numerous studies have shown that women drop out of law, and one of the main reasons cited is that they end up choosing their family life over their career. The law firm culture is notorious for making its associates work an extensive number of billable hours; and for mothers, that commitment is often second-place to their responsibilities at home if their spouse is not picking up the slack.

“Having children is a massive factor in women’s careers,” Roxana Willis of the Economist said. “And sometimes women don’t go back to work, or go back much later, because of child rearing responsibilities.” She added that sharing responsibility “makes a big difference for women.”

Mitch Zuklie, CEO of Orrick, said that offering equal parental leave to men was crucial to fixing the low number of women at law firms. It is well known that the ratio to men and women in law schools is relatively equal, but with time, female attorneys drop out of the working world. Among 30-year-old lawyers at Big Law firms, women comprise 45 percent. By age 50, women only make up 27 percent.

“Let’s be clear: unlike some other industries, law firms don’t have a pipeline problem,” Zuklie wrote in an opinion piece. “Women are thriving in U.S. law schools at the same rates as men. But they are not thriving — in the right numbers — in law firms… At Orrick, one way we’re seeking to attract women, and inspire them to stay and lead, is by expanding our parental leave policy.”

Despite the strides that law firms are attempting to create through policy, company culture is still conservative. Male lawyers are having trouble utilizing all of their parental leave due to cultural norms that frown upon men choosing family over work. This means that they either feel stigmatized so they don’t request their full amount of paid time off, or they take the parental leave, only to return to a hostile environment.

In 2013, Dechert settled a lawsuit from a former attorney who said he was retaliated against after he took leave to be with his son. While the attorney may have won that battle, it is unclear what that action did to his law firm career long-term, according to FindLaw.

So how can law firms change their culture to match their family policies? One solution is to copy the foreign model of mandating leave. This eliminates the stigma for men to request time off, and it levels the playing field between men and women, who statistically are out of the office longer after a baby.

• Related: Guide to Law Firm Maternity and Paternity Leave Policies
• Related: Women From Top Law Schools Likely To Drop Out of BigLaw 
• Related: Why Do Older Female Attorneys Leave Law 

Do you think more male attorneys will utilize paid parental leave? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Why Are Male Lawyers Rejecting Paternity Leave? first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: A former female attorney for Goldberg Segalla  claims the firm allowed her to be subjected to harassment and gender discrimination after returning from maternity leave.

Goldberg Segalla, a Buffalo-based international law firm, is being sued for harassment and gender discrimination. The former attorney Marissa Jones, worked in the New York City office, alleges in the lawsuit that after she returned from maternity leave that she was subjected to inappropriate behavior.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York. In the suit, Jones explains how she filed a complaint with the human resources department at Goldberg Segalla and then was fired a few days later in March 2015.

Read Former Broadcom Employee Claims Gender Discrimination.

The details of the lawsuit detail the treatment of differential treatment, gender stereotyping, and sexually inappropriate behavior by the supervising partner Frederick Pomerantz. Managing partner Richard Cohen denies the allegations on behalf of the firm saying, “(the firm) does not litigate the merit or lack thereof through the press.”

Jones says the joined the firm’s global insurance services practice in 2013 because of their family-friendly culture and practices. After the birth of her second child, the environment at the firm changed. She worked under Pomerantz, who was new to the firm, where she was constantly criticized with gender-based comments regarding her family and home life, gender stereotypes over her work, exclusion from business trips and other professional meetings, and further treatment of “monitoring, humiliation, groundless criticism and discouragement of her professional development.”

See Gender Discrimination Suit Filed against WilmerHale.

Jones said, “I was punished simply for utilizing the firm’s supposedly family-friendly policies, then terminated when I complained about that punishment. I was subjected to treatment and behavior to which no person should be exposed. I am shocked that a law firm that publicly brands itself as valuing family, diversity and workplace protections acted in clear violation of the law.”

Reavis Parent Lehrer LLP is representing Jones, who has opened her own solo business – The Law Office of Marissa T. Jones.

Do you think there is a slippery slope where people think they are simply goofing around when making these kinds of comments or are women finally putting their foot down after suffering the derogatory remarks for years? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more another law firm being hit with a similar lawsuit, read  Gender Discrimination Suit for $100 Million Filed against Chadbourne & Parke.

Photo: prweb.com

The post Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Goldberg Segalla first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Working Mother and Flex Time Lawyers have released a comprehensive list of the top 50 law firms for women.

This month, Working Mother and Flex Time Lawyers released their list of the top 50 law firms for women. The list, which has been around for a decade, recognizes U.S. law firms that “create and use best practices in retaining and promoting women lawyers.” This includes offering flexible arrangements and generous paid parental leave.

• Related: Yale Law Women Announces 2015 Top Ten Family-Friendly Firms 

For instance, Arnold & Porter was included on this year’s list because it offers 18 full paid weeks of birth or adoption leave, flexible schedules, $10,000 in adoption aid, and “excellent subsidized childcare.”

Working Mother and Flex Time Lawyers said that, “Female representation is lower at partner levels than in less senior roles; however, Best Law Firms, on average, employ more female equity partners (20%) than the national average (18%).” They added that women represent 30% of lawyers of the firms on the list, and this is the highest percentage in the past ten years.

O’Melveny & Meyers earned a spot on this year’s list, and they stated that in 2016, 45% of their partner promotions were women.

• Related: Top Law Firms with Best Quality of Life 

“Our former chair Warren Christopher once said, ‘the most effective teams are comprised of talented people with divergent backgrounds and experiences,” O’Melveny chair Bradley J. Butwin said. “They do not look like the products of a cookie cutter.’ That commitment to diversity and inclusion impacts everything we do at O’Melveny, from developing our talent to building client and trial teams.”

Colorado-based Holland & Hart was listed because of its initiatives to promote work-life balance. According to Working Mother, “This firm eliminated billable-hours requirements for partners in 2015 and began basing compensation for mid- to senior-level associates on revenues, not in-office time. Its Women’s Forum promotes new telecommuting and on- and off-ramping policies.”

Working Mother’s mission is to champion a culture of change, and it has a readership of 2 million. Flex Time Lawyers is a consulting firm founded by Deborah Epstein Henry, and it focuses on promoting work-life balance in the legal profession. To create this list, firms applied by answering 300 questions about aspects such as representation, compensation, time off, and childcare.

2016 Working Mother and Flex Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women 

1. Arnold & Porter
2. Baker & McKenzie
3. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
4. Cooley
5. Crowell & Moring
6. Davis Wright Tremaine
7. Debevoise & Plimpton
8. DLA Piper
9. Dorsey & Whitney
10. Duane Morris
11. Faegre Baker Daniels
12. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
13. Foley & Lardner
14. Fox Rothschild
15. Fredrikson & Byron
16. Gibbons
17. Goodwin Procter
18. Gray Plant Mooty
19. Hanson Bridgett
20. Hogan Lovells
21. Holland & Hart
22. Holland & Knight
23. Ice Miller
24. Katten Muchin Rosenman
25. Kaye Scholer
26. King & Spalding
27. Kirkland & Ellis
28. Latham & Watkins
29. Littler
30. Lowenstein Sandler
31. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
32. McDermott Will & Emery
33. McGuireWoods
34. Morrison & Foerster
35. Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg
36. Norton Rose Fulbright
37. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
38. O’Melveny & Meyers
39. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
40. Perkins Coie
41. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
42. Quarles & Brady
43. Reed Smith
44. Schiff Hardin
45. Seyfarth Shaw
46. Shook, Hardy & Bacon
47. Sidley Austin
48. Troutman Sanders
49. Vinson & Elkins
50. WilmerHale

For the full study, click here.

What do you think about the firms listed? Let us know in the comments below.

The post 50 Best Law Firms for Women first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: The Geller Law Group offers a family-friendly alternative among law firms.

Can women have it all? A full time job, be great mothers, great lovers, the whole thing? “I think women can have it all,” said Maria Simon, a lawyer for the Geller Law Group, a six-woman firm, whose credo is family friendliness. “It’s just based on your paradigm of ‘all.’”

Well yes, certainly, if your definition of all is this abbreviated bled out thing, sure, you can have it all. But can you really have it all?

Ms. Simon puts in the 60 plus hours that most firms expect of their client, and yet has some flexibility to drop her son, Jack, off at preschool and see family events.

What Ms. Simon and her law partner, Rebecca Geller, are attempting to do is make a family friendly environment, where mothers can be mothers, can be there for their children.

As most partners are expected to bill 2,000 years yearly, which comes to about a 60 to 70 hour week, this is an especially tricky experiment Simon has come up with. Even her firm was banking on the women not taking time off for maternity leave, and only recently paid the extra insurance to allow that to happen.

A 2007 report by M.I.T. talked of “The difficulty of combining law firm work and caring for children in a system that requires long hours under high pressure with little or inconsistent support for flexible work hours.”

So many women who “have it all” also have stay-at-home spouses who tend the children. This the divorced Smith does not have, but insists on nevertheless having it all.

Given that most days of the Geller Law Group work out fine, it seems Smith is having it “all” by her definition. Whether it is sustainable or workable for other firms is another matter. Granting such thoughtful flexibility for mothers to come and go on the schedules of their children is harder to manage with larger firms.

News Source: NYTimes

The post Can a Female Lawyer Ever Have it All? first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Yale Law Women has surveyed national law firms, and has produced a list of the ten that implement the most family friendly policies.

Yale Law Women, or YLW, has announced the Top Ten Family Friendly Firms for 2015. 2015 marks the tenth year that YLW has documented firms that have the strongest family friendly policies and practices.

This chart compares vacation and maternity leave policies in some of the country’s largest firms.

In alphabetical order, the top ten family friendly firms are:

1. Arnold & Porter
2. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
3. Duane Morris
4. Hogan Lovells US
5. Hunton & Williams
6. Kirkland & Ellis
7. Morrison & Foerster
8. Munger, Tolles & Olson
9. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
10. WilmerHale

Several trends were noted in the survey results. For example, 11 percent of attorneys in firms that responded to the survey who had been promoted to partner in 2014 were either currently working or had previously worked part-time or flexible full-time schedules.

In October, a judge forced an attorney to bring her newborn to court.

Additionally, many firms have begun offering eighteens weeks of family leave for primary caregivers, and four weeks for secondary caregivers. Between firms, eligibility for leave varies.

Gender equity was also noted, in that 45 percent of associates were women, 19 percent of partners were women, and 29 percent of the attorneys promoted to partner in 2014 were women.

As for bonuses and billing, 52 percent of the firms that responded require full-time associates to work a minimum number of billable hours to receive a bonus. The median minimum for these firms was 1,950 hours.

In 2013, Holland & Knight changed its policies to bring more women to the firm.

Impressively, 42 percent of responding firms offered on-site daycare, and 40 percent of the firms had policies in place that allowed attorneys to take several years of leave with the option of returning to the firm at a later date.

Overall, there were several improvements noted in this year’s results, but there was also a lack of progress in several other departments. For example, many firms have improved their policy offerings related to parental accommodations, but the usage rate of family friendly policies has remained roughly the same. Additionally, the percentage of women partners has not increased since 2008.

To read the detailed results, check out the Top Ten List.

Photo credit: wickedcareers.com

The post Yale Law Women Announces 2015 Top Ten Family Friendly Firms first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: A New York attorney requested a postponement of a trial due to her high-risk pregnancy. She claims that prosecutors harassed her in response, and the judge has yet to decide the issue.

As any woman knows, being pregnant is tough and exhausting. When it’s a high-risk pregnancy, things become even more serious. The New York Times reports that Deborah N. Misir is a New York attorney who is in her sixth month of a high-risk pregnancy. She is scheduled to be in a trial roughly two months before her due date, and put in a request that the trial be postponed.

Misir’s doctors told her to “avoid stress, pressure and upsetting confrontations, which could result in medical complications that could threaten the life of [her] baby,” Misir explained in a letter to the judge.

To Misir’s surprise, the U.S. attorney’s office has objected to the delay, and the judge, noting Misir’s health, inquired about a trip to Washington that Misir has planned. In response, Misir said, “I am puzzled by the U.S. attorney’s office’s objection to any adjournment due to my pregnancy. Pregnancy—much less high-risk pregnancy—has long been recognized in this country as a legal disability requiring accommodation.”

Read about Stacy Ehrisman, who was scolded in open court by a judge for bringing her newborn to a hearing.

On October 16, Misir wrote Judge Kenneth M. Faras of Federal District Court and asked for the delay, stating that she “physically cannot try a grueling federal white collar case during [her] third trimester.” Misir added, “Because of my medical history and health conditions that have developed with the pregnancy, my doctors have ordered me to substantially reduce my workload, and to restrict travel and activity during the remainder of my pregnancy.” Misir additionally explained to the judge that she called two prosecutors, Perry Carbon and Douglas B. Bloom, to see if they would consent to a delay, but in return she was “shouted at and insulted.” James Margolin, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, stated that Misir’s description of the prosecutors’ behavior was “factually inaccurate.”

Misir represents Vincent Tabone, who is scheduled to face a retiral in White Plains, New York beginning January 5 on corruption charges. Tabone is the former vice chairman of the Queens Republican Party. His co-defendant is Malcolm A. Smith, a Democratic state senator. Both have pleaded not guilty to bribery conspiracy and other charges they are facing.

In June, the trial ended after Judge Faras declared a mistrial because prosecutors failed to expeditiously turn over hours of wiretapped conversations to the defense. Many such conversations were in Yiddish. However, a third defendant, Daniel J. Halloran III, a former Republican councilman, was tried and convicted in July.

Click here to read about a Hobby Lobby employee who claims she was forced to leave because she was pregnant.

Prosecutors wrote the judge on October 20 and expressed opposition to the request. They argued that the case had been pending for quite some time and that Misir had previously agreed to the January trial date. They noted that she had “highly experienced and able” co-counsel, and that Tabone had a right to a speedy trial, adding that the court “should not countenance further delay of the trial.”

On October 30, Misir responded, and asked that a pretrial conference be postponed because she had a long-planned trip to Washington, D.C. to speak at a lawyers’ conference. In response, Judge Karas drafted an order noting that Misir was traveling “despite the fact that in her request for an adjournment” of the January trial she stated she had to restrict traveling. Further, the judge scolded Misir for what he characterized as her “ex parte communications” with his chambers, noting that she had called his chambers and spoken with a law clerk for about 10 minutes regarding scheduling the pretrial conference, during which she expressed criticism of the prosecutors. Misir later stated in a letter that she had called only to resolve scheduling and procedural issues with the court and denied speaking about the “merits” of the case. She said her frustration was a result from her condition and what she felt was prosecutors’ conduct toward her “at a medically delicate time.”

Here is an article about a Pier 1 employee claiming forced maternity leave.

Misir said that she and her husband were thrilled to be expecting their first child together. Misir explained, “As any doctor or woman will tell you, it’s very difficult to have a successful pregnancy at my age, and I have faced many medical issues in the past.”

Misir stated that she has worked as a Justice Department attorney, an ethics lawyer in the White House, and as a deputy assistant secretary of labor for policy. “In over 17 years of federal practice, I have never been treated so disrespectfully, brutally, and with lack of basic civility by opposing counsel, as has occurred in this court,” she declared.

Judge Karas has yet to make a decision about the delay.

Photo credit: New York Times

The post Prosecutors, Judge Resist Pregnant Attorney’s Request for Delay in Trial first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: An attorney, who was denied a continuance for a hearing scheduled during her maternity leave, was humiliated by a judge when she was forced to bring her newborn to court with her.

According to The Stir, an attorney was humiliated during a court proceeding by a judge when she asked to continue the proceeding. Her reason for the request? She had just given birth six weeks earlier and was on maternity leave.

Stacy M. Ehrisman-Mickle tried everything to make other arrangements for her newborn so that she could attend the hearing, but due to circumstances beyond her control, she simply could not. Her husband was traveling for work. A daycare would not accept the child because it was under 6 weeks old. On top of the exhausting stress of giving birth and taking care of a young baby, Ehrisman-Mickle was new to the area, so she did not have a law partner who could take over the hearing for her.

Although the opposing attorney in the case consented to the continuance, the judge still refused to grant it. Stacy M. Ehrisman-Mickle was then forced to show up for the immigration hearing with her newborn baby in tow. The judge, Justice J. Dan Pelletier, Sr., then felt the need to humiliate the new mom.

Ehrisman-Mickle recalled in the complaint she filed against the judge, “He scolded me for being inappropriate for bringing her. He questioned the fact that daycare centers do not accept infants less than 6 weeks of age. He then questioned by mothering skills as he commented how my pediatrician must be appalled that I am exposing my daughter to so many germs in court. He humiliated me in open court.”

The Daily Report added that Ehrisman-Mickle notified the court well in advance of needing to postpone the hearing. She requested a continuance on September 8. The hearing was scheduled for October 7, and Ehrisman-Mickle’s due date was September 12, and she was scheduled to be on maternity leave until October 24. In response, the judge wrote, “No good cause. Hearing date set prior to counsel accepting representation.”

When Ehrisman-Mickle showed up for the hearing, she had her 4-week old daughter on her chest in a baby carrier. When the tiny baby began to cry, the Judge started his tirade.

However, Ehrisman-Mickle is glad she stood up for herself, although she fears a bit of backlash for complaining and speaking to the media. “…I believe what I was doing was right. As a woman, we’re always fighting in this profession. I’m ready for it. I’m not looking forward to it. But it’s part of the game, I guess.”

Ehrisman-Mickle did receive a call from Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Elisa Sukkar with the Executive Office of Immigration Review in Miami. Ehrisman-Mickle said, “She was very supportive. She said she would look into it more. I have no idea what that means, though.”

Due to the fact that the judge turned off recording in the courtroom, there is a “presumption of facts in [her] favor.”

Photo credit: carolinalive.com

The post Judge Forces Attorney to Bring Newborn to Court and Taunts Her first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Florida’s Holland & Knight wants to attract more female lawyers to their firm. That is why they’ve beaten the local competition with what they offer to female employees – specifically, what they offer mothers. They’ve bumped up maternity leave from 12 to 16 weeks, and paid leave for adoptive parents from 6 to 10 weeks.

Furthermore, they’ve set in ramp-down and ramp-up periods, buffer zones before and after leave when a worker has a grace period with fewer expected billable hours.

It’s a move the firm feels good about, after Tammy Knight, a partner of the Port Lauderdale branch, worked to have the policy changed. Knight, herself a mother of a 4-year-old, felt the firm should offer something to women that the other local firms weren’t, saying, as the Daily Business Review reported, “I felt that 12 weeks wasn’t the norm anymore nationally. People were moving toward 14. I thought if I could get 14 weeks, that would be great, but 16 would be better.”

Not only those within the firm, but outside commentators, approve the move, and hope other Florida firms will follow. Joe Ankus, a legal recruiter with Ankus Consulting, said, “Holland & Knight is known as one of the most liberal, family-friendly firms. It’s a kinder, gentler kind of law firm. Undeniably it will help them in attracting women on a practical and philosophical level. A lot of other firms should take their lead toward equalizing the gap in the sexes.”

Likewise, Brittany Maxey, president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, said, “I think it’s great. One of the things we are seeing a lot of is women are starting to not go to law school because they are afraid they won’t be able to handle the work-life balance, and they see that only 4 percent of managing partners are women. When they leave for maternity leave, it’s hard to return to the billable hours requirements.”

The post Holland & Knight Changes Their Policies to Attract More Women first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Fortune cited features like Arnold & Porter’s generous paid maternity leave and on-site child care options. It also offers a sliding scale for health insurance premia, based on income.

Founded in 1946, Arnold & Porter LLP is an international law firm based in Washington, which is well known for its trial, corporate, and antitrust work; and for its pro bono commitments and support for liberal causes.

The post Arnold & Porter “Best” DC Law Firm for Employees first appeared on JDJournal Blog.