Happy National Singles Week!
(And: Do single people or married people make better law firm employees?)
Are you still stuck at the office, settling in for a long evening of work, and thinking about what to order from SeamlessWeb? Maybe you goofed off all day because you have nobody to go home to at night.
(We know what that's like. It's why we've been covering the ATL night shift lately.)
Fellow single people, we wish you a Happy National Singles Week (September 21-28). From the San Francisco Chronicle:
There are 92 million unmarried Americans, and this is their week.Since the 1980s, the third full week of September has been National Singles Week. Started by Ohio's Buckeye Singles Council as a way to recognize the role singles play in society, it is now known as National Unmarried and Single Americans Week. According to the U.S. census, the adjusted name acknowledges that many unmarried Americans do not identify with the word "single" because they have partners or are widowed.
Many of them are also rejecting the stereotyped notion that they're living in hope of the perfect spouse appearing, a Disneylike vision in a reality-show world. They're creating a grassroots effort to obtain equal rights in health care access, taxation and other areas while demanding that they be seen as living their lives in full.
And equal rights in law offices, too. Single lawyers: How many times have you had to pick up the slack or hold down the fort for a colleague who left work early for an anniversary dinner, daughter's ballet recital, or Valentine's Day celebration?
Read more -- plus take a reader poll, concerning whether single people or married people make better Biglaw employees -- after the jump.
Single lawyers, do you suspect that your coupled-up colleagues secretly pity you? Well, they probably do:
"The stereotype is that single people are miserable, lonely, self-centered," says Bella DePaulo, a UC Santa Barbara psychology professor, Huffington Post blogger and author of "Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After" (St. Martin's Press, 2006). "If only they would marry, they'd be magically transformed into healthy, happy people."Research suggests otherwise, said DePaulo. The findings reveal that single people are more likely to maintain community and intergenerational ties. Couples with or without children are absorbed in their own world, according to DePaulo, who says, "Single people are the glue."
Law and public policy reflect a bias in favor of marriage, some argue:
"There's a very heavy focus on marriage as a public-policy matter," said Nancy Polikoff, a professor of law at American University's Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. "You have it in the Bush administration's policies that spend three-quarters of a billion dollars to promote marriage, and a really widespread campaign to convince the country that the decline of lifelong heterosexual marriage is responsible for all our social problems.".... DePaulo has calculated that there are 1,138 federal provisions "in which marital status is a factor in receiving benefits, rights or privileges. That's an astounding number of ways that marriage is the pass code to an elite club."
So, readers, what do you think? Are single people getting a raw deal under the law?
Returning to ATL's focus on law firms, which group makes for better Biglaw employees: single people or married people? There are arguments on both sides.
Single people aren't distracted by spouses or kids, so they have more hours to devote to billing. It's easier to get them to cancel their weekend plans or vacations (or at least partners or clients don't have to feel as guilty about it when they do). Singletons can be "married" -- to their jobs.
On the other hand, single people may be distracted by the search for a romantic partner. Married people don't have to worry about that; it's all been squared away. Marrieds may be more efficient and focused at work -- because they have to be, in order to balance their professional and personal lives, or because they just want to get home to their families.
(That's under a positive view of marriage. But even a more pessimistic outlook on the marital institution weighs in favor of hiring married people at law firms. Unhappy marriages breed workaholics, who log long hours in the office to avoid their miserable home lives.)
What's your view on singles vs. marrieds as law firm employees? Opine in the comments, and take our poll below.
And now, if you'll excuse us, we have to go feed the cats.
(No, we don't really have cats; the cat-owning single person is just a stereotype. But, like many stereotypes, it may have some basis in reality.)
National USA Week [Unmarried America]
Celebrating the single-minded life [San Francisco Chronicle]
(75) Comments
FIRST.... single.
Married people have families.
Families = Houses = Mortgages
Families = Kids = Day Care / Tuition Bills
Therefore, Big Law likes married people, because they have no choice but to go for the $$$.
Married people are more emotionally stable. They last longer at law firms than 25-year-old kids straight out of undergrad (who are still "finding themselves").
Singles shouldn't whine about staying late to cover for a colleague's family events. Be real - your solo performance in Rock Band at your apartment is not as important as his/her daughter's recital.
As a single person, I don't understand why our legal system should subsidize the lives of married people.
The lesson I take from the gay marriage debate: it is time for government to get out of the business of marriage.
Co-sign #4.
Single people - once you are no longer loveless losers, YOU can play the Anniversary Dinner trump card.
Based on the partners at my firm, married people make for better law firm employees.
In fact, the more marriages, the better! The top two partners have about eight current and ex-wives between them.
Lat, you're overanalyzing this. Single people are better law firm employees because we have nothing better to do but work. We don't waste time on all that "family crap."
Just like married people have priorities that take up their time (kids, anniversary dinners, household worries), single people have equivalent worries (new love, social scene, taking care of the residence on their own). Both sides are equally distracted - both sides have pros and cons.
Hey, Singles rock, we get to go out after a long day's work, and enjoy our paycheck by doing all those things you see in certain blue light movies to the women you married folk look at but can't touch. Then we get to go home... alone ... and stretch out in our comfortable king size bed all by ourselves, and sleep the remaining 2 hours before another day of work. No kids, no hassles, no drain on the wallet, great sex, great pay.
-zeus
i aint giving no woman half my shit
"Marrieds may be more efficient and focused at work" -- and exactly which firm is it that likes its worker bees to be efficient and focused?
Single women and married men are the best employees. Single dudes fuck around too much, and married women leave to pop out kids.
I only hire married Orientals named Ching that are approved by my chums at UVA.
GULC grads don't need significant others; we get the job done regardless.
Zeus, and the few minutes before you fall asleep in your king size bed and reflect on your life, you have that hopeless feeling wishing you were actually with someone. The "great sex" with your random hook-ups start to feel more and more ....awkward and empty. Enjoy!!
If you're a hard working dedicated lawyer, you're fine regardless of whether you are married or single.
How can Lat, a certified superhottie, be single?!?!?!? Wonders never cease.
Single people are systematically discriminated against within American Society.
Being married should carry no special privileges or benefits under the law. It's an antiquated way for a government or religious organization to exercise control over its subjects.
Married people are easy to control. Single people have to much freedom. To much freedom is something power-holders fear.
David, you sound kinda sad.
The government should not allow GULC marriage. Its in the Bible.
Adam and Eve were both GULC grads.
I prefer all the women I encounter at work be single.
I prefer all the men I encounter at work be married (and uglier than me).
The law is a jealous mistress.
Ask Ben Cardozo. Lifelong bachelor.
Hey, all I know is Lat spelled "San Francisco" right, pwning his nephew Mystttal.
And co-sign 10. You nailed it.
Yeah, being married is really great. You have to put up with a money-grubbing wife who wants a house in the Hamptons, a driver, a Mercedes S600, jewelry from Tiffany's, plus she's probably banging her tennis instructor.
Oh, yeah, kids are great, too. They have to be toilet-trained, you have to take their lip, change their diapers, pay for everything for them, and watch as all that work is thrown in your face when they tell you they hate you and everything you stand for.
Bottom line: Singles have it best in every way. You don't have to deal with a nagging wife, and you only have to answer to yourself.
Married Life Has To Suck!!! SINGLES UNITE!
previous commenter is totally a lonely iPeasant who masturbates to youporn every night...alone...
for definition of iPeasant - see, ipeasant.blogspot.com
married couples only have a tax break if one works and the other stays home; if both work, they'll usually end up paying more in taxes than if they were single. oddly, my wife didn't think my 'let's get divorced' suggestion was very funny even though it would have saved us thousands. but i digest (shout out to elie!).
the best tax break comes from the couples where neither works. ka-ching chong!
Dear teh Myster Lat,
Pleas dont leeve.
Teh reader's
GULCporn.com
Tell your friends.
Lat's boyfriend probably left him for hiring Mystal. I wouldn't blame him if he did ... No other explanation for why Lat would put up with Elie's awfulness unless they were boning.
A Heller update might be important ... to someone
Fuck you for that Hope Winters Shit. Fucking garbage.
It's not as simple as single vs. married. Tradtional gender roles are in play here. Studies have shown that billing productivity goes in this order:
1. Single women
2. Married men
3. Single men
4. Married women
Pretty easy to explain: single professional women have no lives (and/or are the most likely to have work foisted on them because their personal lives are considered the least important). Married men can be productive because they have wives at home holding down the fort. Single men are less productive because they have to take care of their homes and they have more of a social life. And married women are the least productive because they still shoulder the burden of providing for their family at home.
"but i digest (shout out to elie!)."
Well, well done.
33 - shut up
For whom is this week meant? There are two classes of "single." The pathetic fugly people who will die a sad lonely death; and the normal people who are just between relationships. The latter doesn't need the support, while the former doesn't want the attention.
2 - It's the 3 legs of associate servitude - house, spouse, kids
Wow, even more sexism from the readers of ATL...
34 has it right. And I say this as a married woman.
Married men are avoiding going home so they bill big time. Single women are avoiding going home so they bill big time too.
But reality is that the partners are mostly married (usually married, divorced, remarried, repeat) men. And they prefer their own kind. So married men win.
Well 40, it easily a game of numbers.
Single Women will eventually (at least usually) fall to Married Women status. 1 to 4....big drop.
Single Men will eventually (again, usually) get married going up to Married Men Status.
So, when you say "prefer" just what do you mean?
13 and 34 are correct.
The best associates are single women and married guys.
You have to break it down by gender.
39, it might be sexist, but it is still true.
umm, you don't have to be married to go to a daughter's ballet recital...
2 is absolutely correct. Married people are much more likely to have families to support and mortgages to pay (or inlaws to appease). Other than student loans, most single people don't have the same obligations and are way more likely to leave the world of biglaw (or at least plan to leave). And once you start planning to leave, it's hard to work with the same zeal.
check out www.singleedition.com It's great!!!
They're seeking equal rights when it comes to taxes? Haven't they heard of the marriage tax penalty?
When did Lat become a shill for SeamlessWeb? Lame.
Married dudes at my law firm are likely to stay late to avoid the family, but they aren't billing; they're talking to the 25-30 year old unmarried women.
There's also a huge difference between married women with kids and married women without kids....
In terms of efficiency:
- Married w/o children
- Single
- Married w/children
Married lawyers without children are not occupied by dating nor hindered by staying up late because their babies can't sleep a full night yet. There's also a division of labor for non-work tasks that you get in a marriage that you don't get when you're single, although that benefit is obviously destroyed when you have children and the number of non-work tasks you have to do increases dramatically.
4: I do realize that childrens' recitals, family dinners, etc are important. But, spare me the indignation that singles would like to protect their lives rather than always put in the extra effort/pick up the slack by saying that we should just deal with the fact that your family's activities are more important and special.
Married people have a higher threshold for pain.
3- You're a dipshit. Twenty-five year olds who are lawyers are usually extraordinarily responsible people and conservative with their lives. They get married. And, they'll be partners and still have a full life ahead of them when you're nearly dead.
Lat, way to attempt to ignite a culture war to drive up comments.
The reason that it didn't work is because your readership has, sadly for the site, shifted to law students, and they aren't yet involved in this dynamic. The law students are also the ones endlessly posting nasty comments here, which is why the comments here are generally much more thoughtful and civil than normal, despite your attempts at baiting people.
But I am sure you will come up with a topic soon that brings out all of the law student idiots, and I will be one step closer to not returning.
p.s. That Hope Winters garbage is unbearable.
There was a study a couple years back showing that married law students tend to outperform single law students. My guess is that the married students have a lot more pressure on them to study and get good grades. If a single student dicks around for three years, he has only his own life to screw up.
Also, few married students use the 10 minute break in the middle of a long class to run across the street and pound Long Island iced teas.
single people's highest tax bracket (down) to $160K!
Better to wait until you've got a nice BigLaw salary before you marry. Sell high baby.
the one thing is for hiring new attorneys, single people are more likely to decide to move somewhere in three years, and married are more likely to stick around for the long haul. they have more commitments, can risk less, etc.
I don't understand you people. Just because you are single you have nothing better to do but work?!? Christ, you people must be boring.
I don't understand you people. Just because you are single you have nothing better to do but work?!? Christ, you people must be boring.
Married or Single? Uh, last time I checked, the mob-run law firm in "The Firm" required that their attorneys be married, because things were more stable that way. If the mob is down with it, that's good enough for me.
The firm in "The Firm" also killed off their lawyers.
I co-sign 50. Married people with no kids are the best employees. Stable, yet both working full time and no rugrats to cater to.
11 wins
single parents are the worst employees; no one backs them up for responsibilities for children
Most of the "single people are less efficient" arguments are based on the presumption that they are too busy searching for a relationship to do work. That is the worst single-person stereotype of all. Many single people LIKE being single and don't want a relationship in the first place.
I work
She spends
I work more
She spends more
Firm Wins
I work
She spends
I work more
She spends more
Firm Wins
Most of the "single people are less efficient" arguments are based on the presumption that they are too busy searching for a relationship to do work. That is the worst single-person stereotype of all. Many single people LIKE being single and don't want a relationship in the first place.
Co-Sign 59 / 60. I don't understand why everyone assumes that single people have nothing better to do than work. Aren't single people more likely to have hobbies and time to travel? You have to be married to have other people in your life to think about?
47 - Click through to the link. It's a New York Times article quoting Lat about Seamless Web (which is probably why he linked to it).
I disagree with the comment about married w/o kids being the most efficient. Unless the sig-o is also a lawyer, usually he/she is nagging for the person to come home. Around my firm, those are the people who duck out earliest, because they have to make it home for dinner.
At least when they have kids, they either 1) hide out at the office to duck responsibility or 2) get more work done because the sig-o is too busy managing the kid to care.
Agreed with 18- The government should just get out of marriage. No benefits, no penalties.
I am surprised that neither the article or any of the comments have pointed out that, under both New York and California law, it is illegal to discriminate in the workplace on the basis of "marital status." (No provision of federal law prohibits such discrimination and it is legal in many states as well).
If you are a single person (in NY or CA) and you feel that your employer has discriminated against you on the basis of your marital status (example, expecting you to work late or on the weekends when marrieds don't have to, or sending you on a month long trip to another state instead of a married person), then you should consider taking legal action against your firm or supervising attorney. Workplace assignments must be made without any consideration of marital status, just as race and gender are improper considerations. In fact, the statute that forbids marital status discrimination in CA is the exact same one that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, and the damages and penalties are the same.
I am surprised that neither the article or any of the comments have pointed out that, under both New York and California law, it is illegal to discriminate in the workplace on the basis of "marital status." (No provision of federal law prohibits such discrimination and it is legal in many states as well).
If you are a single person (in NY or CA) and you feel that your employer has discriminated against you on the basis of your marital status (example, expecting you to work late or on the weekends when marrieds don't have to, or sending you on a month long trip to another state instead of a married person), then you should consider taking legal action against your firm or supervising attorney. Workplace assignments must be made without any consideration of marital status, just as race and gender are improper considerations. In fact, the statute that forbids marital status discrimination in CA is the exact same one that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, and the damages and penalties are the same.
Married men with children make the best law firm employees. But singles are second-best.