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Work/Life Balance: Scales Balance All Sorts of Ways
Is Biglaw work/life balance simply an oxymoronic pipedream? In the novel Anonymous Partner, a hilarious send-up of Biglaw culture, the eponymous protagonist sneers, “Of course we have work/life balance. Scales balance in all sorts of different ways.” This sentiment captures much of the skepticism, if not cynicism, that large law firm attorneys reflexively feel toward attempts to reengineer the daily grind of the billable hour into something a bit more humane.
One might ask, from the firms’ perspective, who cares? With the job market such as it is, there is no foreseeable shortage of associate talent to fill roster spots. As long as the rhetorical pretense and organizational possibility of alternative work arrangements are kept up—and 95% of firms say they offer such programs—there are ten quality law grads eager to fill the place of anyone unable to hack the rigors of firm life. Yet striving to make some progress on the balance front might just be sound business. More than forty percent of new associates, and an even greater percentage of women and minorities, leave their firms by year three, even though associates do not begin to reach ROI until at least year four. The Project on Attorney Retention reports that it costs somewhere between $200,00 and $500,000 to replace an attorney. Constant turnover and churn costs dearly.
There are two constituencies where work/life balance is of particularly urgent concern: Women and the so-called Millennials.
I. Women Attorneys
As previously noted in this space,“No area of the business world is more illogically gender imbalanced than law firms.” Women make up 60% of the entering associates but only 17% of the equity partners in the country’s largest firms. Law firm staff attorneys are 64% women. Yes, of course, quality of life is of some concern for all lawyers, regardless of gender, but what research we have shows that there is a divide between what men and women attorneys consider an “appropriate” amount of time off work. (For a round-up of the current scholarship in this area, see The Law Firm Working Group’s Bibliography on Work/Life Balance) Less than 5% of male lawyers take reduced schedules or leaves of absence and almost half of men in law firms think it is unacceptable to request part-time work. One study found that more than 80% of women who took time off did so to be with their children, as opposed to 12% of men. Face it: usually, what we’re talking about when we talk about work/life balance is the struggle of women attorneys to balance career and family.
The debate over women attorneys and work/life balance features two conflicting schools of thought. There is the “opt-out” school, which maintains the absence of women in the upper reaches of Biglaw is a function of a widespread, deliberate choice to prioritize family life. (A longitudinal survey of Denver attorneys found that men seeking balance change practices within the law firm, while women take careers outside of private practice.) Other observers characterize the “opt-out” view as deeply flawed in its refusal to acknowledge that women are actually “pushed out” due to inflexible working conditions. Attorneys who take advantage of work-life balance policies feel stigmatized and devalued, often without any significant reduction in actual workload. The day may never come, but until it figures out how to reconcile the primacy of the billable hour with the meaningful retention of its women attorneys, Biglaw will continue to fail half of its human—and only—resources.
II. Millenials
What about these annoying youngsters, with their “work-to-live” rather than vice-versa mentalities? Does anybody remember the group Building a Better Legal Profession? It was a “national grassroots movement that seeks market-based workplace reforms in large private law firms.” BBLP bemoaned the growing “social and geographic distance between associates and management” which made it “increasingly easy for firm management to impose hours policies that increase profits at the expense of associate job satisfaction or family life.” BBLP was also strongly in favor of racial diversity and an increased emphasis on pro bono work. If you visit BBLP’s site today you’ll be greeted with this come-on: “New! Just released 2011 data!” Oh well, those kids were adorable.
Although BBLP and its idealism were apparently obliterated by the recession, vestiges of its Millennial sensibilities endure. Ironically, the acute economic pressures on the Biglaw business model might be actually redounding to the benefit of some Millennials seeking a more balanced lifestyle. As Forbes noted not too long ago, some firms are responding with measures that are creating career paths incidentally more in alignment with Millennial expectations. Such efforts include so-called “associate farms” in second- or third-tier markets, where for reduced pay and no partnership prospects, associates can lead a more “normal” life in the hinterlands. Pioneers in this approach include Orrick, Reed Smith and WilmerHale.
Other firms are revamping the partner-track associate position altogether. Greenberg Traurig has created a “residency” position, which may lead to a regular associate position or newly created “practice group attorney” gig. Similarly, Duval & Stachenfeld has initiated an “Opportunity Associate Program” which also has a two-tiered outcome model. The upshot of the Duval and Greenberg style programs is a trade-off between lower pay and increased training. Throw in a more moderate hours expectation, this is may turn out to be the very compromise many younger attorneys have been seeking.
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