Biglaw Perk Watch: Mayer Brown Matches 18 Weeks
These announcements aren’t the most exciting things to read (or report on). But we’ve spoken to a number of associates and law students, especially women, who follow them closely. So we’ll continue posting them (and they’re easy to skip over anyway).
The latest law firm to improve its parental leave policy is Mayer Brown. Check out their memo, issued earlier today, after the jump.
MAYER BROWN — MEMORANDUM — NEW LEAVE POLICY
M E M O R A N D U M
February 15, 2008
TO: All Attorneys in the U.S. Offices
FROM: James Holzhauer
Kenneth Geller
Paul Maher
RE: New Leave Policy for Paid Parental / Eldercare Leaves
We are very pleased to announce that the Policy & Planning Committee has approved an increase in the amount of paid leave provided to attorneys in caring for their families. The Firm has increased paid maternity and parental leave for lawyers who work in our U.S. offices from 12 weeks up to a total of 18 weeks, inclusive of medical leave. For adoptions, the primary caregiver of a newly adopted child will now have paid parental leave for 18 weeks (previously 6 weeks). Both are effective January 1, 2008. The details of this paid leave are as follows:
• Maternity Leave: A maternity disability leave with full salary is granted to women lawyers in connection with the birth of a child. (This is generally six weeks after the birth of the child but can be longer if the disability extends more than six weeks.)
• Parental Leave: A 12 week leave of absence with full salary is granted to lawyers who are the primary caregivers (i.e., the person who has primary responsibility for the care and welfare of the child during normal working hours) in connection with the birth of a child. [FN1]
• Adoption Leave: An 18 week leave of absence with full salary is granted to an adoptive parent who is the primary caregiver of a newly adopted child.
• Eldercare Leave: Lawyers who need time to serve as primary caregiver for elderly family members may take up to 6 weeks leave with full salary.
In addition, we will offer a coaching program to provide support to new parents returning to work from maternity, parental and adoption leave who are facing the challenges of integrating the demands of work and family life.
As noted above, these new benefits are effective January 1, 2008 and apply to any births or adoptions that occur on or after that date and to anyone who was on paid maternity or adoption leave as of January 1, 2008. In all cases, paid leave runs concurrently with (and is not in addition to) leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act and any state laws that provide leave for similar purposes. The full details of these new policies will be distributed shortly.
Mayer Brown is committed to providing a workplace that is supportive of attorneys and their families and that allows for time to focus on these important aspects of family life. Please contact [xxxx] at [xxx.xxx.xxxx] if you have any questions.
[FN1] Secondary caregivers will continue to be eligible for six weeks of paid leave in connection with the birth or adoption of a child.
(34) Comments
Comments
Comments hidden for your protection. Show them anyway!
I follow these posts, please keep them coming. I'm hoping my firm matches this sometime before I need it.
i'm sorry, but getting 18 weeks of a substantial biglaw salary to take care of a baby is *not* standard procedure in most industries. while it is nice that these firms are doing this, to expect a business to have this policy is unreasonable.
I'm going to become friends with a bunch of "elders" so I can take Eldercare Leave at least once a year. Six weeks paid time off to take my beloved Elder to the Caribbean will be sweet.
Keep 'em coming. It's one of the big reasons I check ATL these days.
Parental Leave List of Shame
2008 Vault Rank
1 Wachtell, Lipton
2 Cravath, Swaine
3
4 Skadden, Arps
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 Kirkland & Ellis LLP
12
13 Paul, Weiss
14 Shearman & Sterling
15 Wilmer Cutler
16 Williams & Connolly LLP
17 Sidley Austin
18 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
19 O'Melveny & Myers LLP
20 White & Case
21
22 Jones Day
23 Morrison & Foerster LLP
24 Milbank, Tweed
25 Clifford Chance
26 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
27
28
29 Fried, Frank
30 Ropes & Gray LLP
31 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
32 Wilkie Farr
33 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
34 Winston & Strawn LLP
35 Dewey Ballantine
36 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
37 Linklaters
38 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
39 Freshfields
40 Proskauer Rose
41 King and Spalding
42 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
43 Quinn Emanuel
44 Baker & McKenzie
45 Baker Botts LLP
46 Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
47 Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
48 Dechert LLP
49 Irell & Manella LLP
50 McDermott, Will & Emery
51 Jenner & Block LLP
52 LeBeouf
53 Allan & Overy
54 DLA Piper
55 Cahill
56 Fish & Richardson P.C.
57 Fulbright & Jaworski LLP
58 Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
59 Goodwin Procter LLP
60 Cooley Godward LLP
61 Alston & Bird
62 Heller Ehrman
63 Vinson & Elkins
64 Bingham McCutchen
65 Sonnenschein Nath
66 Greenberg Traurig
67 Kaye Scholer
68 Holland & Knight
69 Steptoe & Johnson
70 Foley & Lardner
71 Kirkpatrick & Lockhart
72 Chadbourne & Parke
73 Hunton & Williams
74 Nixon Peabody
75 Thacher Proffitt
76 Bryan Cave
77 Schulte Roth
78 Perkins Coie
79 Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
80 Patton Boggs
81 Howrey
82 Reed Smith
83 Crowell & Moring
84 McGuireWoods
85 Hughes Hubbard
86 Arent Fox
87 Katten Muchin Rosenman
88 Finnegan, Henderson
89 Dorsey & Whitney
90 Thelen Reid & Priest
91 Baker & Hostetler
92 Kramer Levin
93 Venable
94 Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
95 Kelley Drye & Warren
96 Dickstein Shapiro
97 Fenwick & West
98 Kilpatrick Stockton
99 Mintz, Levin
100 Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
Oh Great. When a lawyer leaves on parental leave, their work is simply dumped on the associates that stay behind. You know what this means for the rest of us? Now, instead of leaving at 8 p.m. and working on Saturday, I get to leave at 10 p.m. and work both Saturday and Sunday to cover for somebody else for 18 weeks. This is really unfair and will breed a lot of resentment out of those who are forced to work extra hours so that some other associate can be out for 18 weeks with full pay.
Most lawyers at MB wouldn't risk their careers by taking time off, let alone for a child. The NY office is particularly harsh on holiday takers (where it is frowned upon), so it's a nice PR stunt that will mean very little in practice.
1:49, I don't know where you're getting your information - I'm scheduled for my third (full) week off in 10 months, in addition to a handful of individual days, and have gotten sterling reviews and plenty of work when I get back.
2:09... Plenty of first/second years have been told that it is not wise to take holidays and lots have been made to work eg on Christmas (did you see the story on what ex-head of Finance Mark W did to that poor jewish associate when they both went to A&O). My friends who are still there tell me that the firm has been hit hard by the credit crunch and departures and is therefore not that busy. If you've taken advantage of that, all power to you.
18 weeks is too long and unfairly burdensome on those who don't have kids
and yes, i have kids and i see them every day
lat, in all honesty, my girlfriend loves reading these announcements. do keep posting them.
When my colleagues are on maternity/paternity leave it doesn't bother (childless) me at all. They will ask me to cover clients/work for them while they are gone, and I will take on whatever I am willing and able to do. I don't take on more than I have time to do. I am happy to oblige, because when the time comes and I want to take a vacation or other time off, they are happy to return the favor.
1:48 - if you are stuck working more than you would like because a co-worker took maternity leave, my guess is because you didn't have the balls to say no. Sorry about that, but better you than me.
1:49: Do people actually think they're going to get fired for taking a day off or having a child? What is the "risk" doing so poses to his or her career? Seriously. Do people actually think that if they sweat it out they'll make partner? Grow up.
It makes sense if they want to retain women. The extra 6 weeks leave isn't much for the firm, but it is a lot in the life of a baby. Putting a kid in day care at 3 months vs. 4.5 months can actually be a big difference.
It makes sense if they want to retain women. The extra 6 weeks leave isn't much for the firm, but it is a lot in the life of a baby. Putting a kid in day care at 3 months vs. 4.5 months can actually be a big difference.
3.15 - Grow up? Check out the stories about the jewish associate at A&O who was allegedly fired for "taking a day off". The guy who had him fired was the last head of banking at MB and was a typical MB partner. So, yes, people do think this is an issue, which is why we have discrimination laws, etc. What do you think the glass ceiling is all about? How naive are you?
It doesn't matter what Mayer says in its press release. What the press release fails to mention is that taking maternity leave eliminates chance at making partner. Hence, there are about 4 female partners in the NY office.
To quote a certain former MB partner now at A&O, taking time off (even if you're entitled to it) when there's work to be done shows a lack of "commitment".
hmmm...how difficult do we think it would be to fake a baby in order to get 18 weeks of paid leave...?
MB to surrogate mothers!
Do I understand this correctly - mothers get 18 weeks, fathers 12? Clarification appreciated.
And Lat, please keep posting these links, either for parental leave or for flex-time schedules. Thank you for your help.
Fathers get 6 weeks, mothers 3x that.
Clearly this is just about keeping the women around who choose to be home with the kids rather than working. The question is why do we want them when we can replace them with people who choose to work?
Also, isn't the definition of "primary care giver" silly? Either the attorney is coming back to work, in which case he/she certainly will not be caring for the child during business hours, or the attorney is going to quit. Bottom line, the test for 6 vs 18 weeks is the genitalia of the attorney at issue, which is absolutely absurd. Most women are ready to work 1-2 weeks after birth. Giving them any more extra time is blatant discrimination.
12:20 -- I tend to agree with your statement about how gender should not determine the amount of time off, but the rest of your comment is insane! Most women are NOT ready to go back to work, full-time, 1-2 weeks after giving birth. Also, are you serious about choosing to be home with the kids rather than working?? Your priorities are WAY screwed up; please find a therapist.
2:19 - 18 weeks is not too long or unfairly burdensome on those who don't have kids. You’re crazy! Those w/o children now, may very well have children in the near future or have parents that need their attention. Don't be so short sighted. We all make sacrifices at one point and then reap the benefits later on.
Also, how much do you really see your kids every day and how much time did you spend with them during their first 2-4 months? I betting the answer to both questions is -- not that much. I feel sorry for your significant other.
Putting a kid in child care (even at 4.5 months) is ridiculous. Just buy a Honda Accord instead of a second BMW and make a few other minor life style adjustments and stay home with the kid when they are that young. If your gonna take that much time off of work just leave and resume your career when your kid is in school.
And before the comments about how difficult that would be, and how unfair, and how unreasonable it would be to ask a woman to do that come flooding in, just remember that nobody said having kids was easy. Its just my opinion that if your gonna have kids one parent should just make the sacrifice and stay at home when they are young. The fact that it is most often the mother who makes such a sacrifice is not indicative of a systemic societal prejudice that seeks to marginalize women and hold them back. Its just the simplest response to the facts of life.
3:56: Tell that to women who have normal jobs and go back to work 2 weeks after giving birth. Most doctors only ask for a week of bed rest (at home) after child birth and put few restrictions on on the mother thereafter (admittedly she will be sore for about a month). For a woman who undergoes a C section, the recovery is about six weeks.
Of course the firms are very illogical in limiting paternity time to 6 weeks while giving the women 18. They could make paternity 18 weeks without costing them a thing, the men would never take it because it would be carreer suicide.
Keep these postings coming.
Paternity leave is NOT limited to 6 weeks if the father is the primary caregiver. Thus, unless that man is gay, he's not likely to take this leave.
I like the eldercare leave because I'm more likely to be need that leave.
The List would be more helpful if you could list the ones that do provide the Parental Leave, not the ones who don't. Thanks in advance.
Do other firms have paid eldercare leave? That seems like a new perk.
"Adoption Leave: An 18 week leave of absence with full salary is granted to an adoptive parent who is the primary caregiver of a newly adopted child."
Excellent move, Mayer Brown. Hopefully other firms will follow suit.
Now if we could just get firms to follow so many of their clients in offering adoption assistance benefits. (All the expensive medical care surrounding pregnancy is covered by insurance. The costs of adoption are not.)
12:13: "Sore." Ha ha ha ha ha. Just because women go back to work quickly doesn't mean they're ready to, it just means they frigging have to.
To those who claim that all who take leave at Mayer Brown are punished:
Check out the example of Miriam Nemetz, a partner in the appellate practice in Washington. She took 2 maternity leaves while at Mayer Brown and yet has been a fully integrated part of a high-powered appellate practice at all times.
As for the Mark Wojciechowski incidents, it's fair game to talk about them if the information is truthful. It's not at all fair game, however, to describe Wojo (no longer at MB) as "a typical MB partner." He was not even a typical MB-NY partner, and MB in NY is (like other firms in NY) more demanding than the same firm in other cities.