Biglaw

Will Associates Take Advantage Of These Innovative Parental Leave Policies?

Believe it or not, your law firms want you to take advantage of the parental leave they're offering -- without consequences.

baby suitIf you look back just 10 years, it would not have been even a thought that this would happen. It’s not enough to have these policies. You really have to stand behind them and encourage your associates to take advantage of them.

Regine Corrado, a partner at Baker & McKenzie who leads the firm’s North America Women’s Initiative, commenting on the firm’s parental leave policy. Baker & McKenzie currently offers 18 weeks of paid leave for primary caregivers and six weeks for secondary caregivers. Corrado says the number of parents who have taken advantage of the firm’s secondary caregivers policy has increased since it was rolled out in March of 2014, which is an “extremely positive development.” Corrado says firm leaders have made it clear that they really want associates to take the full leave time that is offered to them in order to bond with their children.

(Do you intend to take advantage of your law firm’s parental leave policy? Please take our poll, which you can find below.)

[poll id=”566″]


Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.