Maternity Leave and Discrimination
I am a law student constructing a presentation on maternity leave and its impact on legal careers. For my presentation, it would be helpful to have some original feedback. If you or someone you know has had any personal experiences with maternity leave, would you kindly post a comment? Does your firm encourage employees to take a brief maternity leave? Is there any pregnancy discrimination in your firm? What are some issues female attorneys face when considering starting a family?

You should interview Shinyung Oh:
http://www.abovethelaw.com/2008/05/meet_shinyung_oh_of_paul_hasti.php
Ok, here's my story: Upon learning that I was pregnant, I decided not to tell everyone in my firm until I was more certain (after an ultrasound) that the baby was viable. However, my morning sickness caused a few late morning arrivals and several mid-day trips to the bathroom and a partner, with whom I closely work, noticed. When he asked what was happening, I blurted out the truth about my condition. While he gave the perfunctory congratulations, he also asked if I planned to continue working after the baby was born. I said "Of course", to which he responded that in his experience, it doesn't really work out for the mother to keep working. I said that I have worked my entire life to be in the position I hold now and he responded "You have the rest of your life to pursue a career." He clearly does not approve of mothers in the workplace and during my pregnancy has continued to act accordingly. He became increasingly critical of my work product and redrafted documents I prepared, which later had to be reverted to their original form because his changes were nonsensical and the other parties to the deal (not adverse parties) objected to his strange changes (including starting with Exhibit D rather than Exhibit A, seriously, the changes made no sense). My hours dropped dramatically because he stopped giving me work and he was the partner with whom I worked most prior to telling him about the pregnancy. When the managing partner asked about my hours and he said my work product has been sub-par, I was livid. I told him, in front of the managing partner, that his attitude towards me has shifted dramatically since he learned I was pregnant, I recounted the conversation we had upon his learning and said his criticism of my work is related. The managing partner defended him by saying that these concerns arose before I became pregnant (but the discriminating partner knew I was pregnant before everyone else). After this, I told the same story to another partner in my group and the partner in charge of associate review (in anticipation of a bad review from the discriminating partner). I also called my local branch of the EEOC and a representative assured me that I have a claim, should I decide to pursue it. I have not done so at this time because I have been working with other partners and avoiding this partner but I will certainly do so if any action is taken against my career.