As More Male Lawyers Use Flextime, its Acceptance Increases
More law firms are offering flextime, and it may be gaining in acceptance because more male lawyers are using the benefit.
“To stem those defections and attract recruits, flextime has become the perk of the moment,” the American Lawyer reports. The story reports that law firms offering flextime or allowing work at home include Arent Fox; Ropes & Gray; Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; and Baker Botts. Wal-Mart also offers the accommodation to its legal staff.
At Milbank and Cleary Gottlieb, junior associates are discouraged from taking too much flextime. “It can be a bad career choice for junior associates,” said Milbank’s hiring partner Taisa Markus. “You’ll miss out on training, mentoring and client meetings.”
More men are using flextime, even though it started as an accommodation for working mothers, according to Jennifer Halliday, the head of human resources at Arent Fox. She told the American Lawyer that younger male lawyers are bold about using flextime, and that may have helped increase the acceptability of the benefit.
The story features Baker Botts partner Robert Murray Jr., who leaves the office to coach his kids’ little league team. Officially sanctioned or not, “our attitude is that as long as you get the work done, it doesn’t matter where you do it,” Murray told the publication.
Topics: Career & Practice
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