Lawyer Wellness

Firms Take Family-Friendly Approach to Retain Women

Responding to what the Los Angeles Times calls an exodus of female talent who are faced with dated concepts of career path, firms are changing … slowly but surely. A feature this weekend in the Times leads with environmental lawyer Loren Montgomery, who when she became pregnant eight years ago,…

Sep 29, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

Four Law Firms on Working Mother’s List of 100 Best Companies

Working Mother Magazine has released its 2008 list of 100 best companies, and it includes four law firms. They are: Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling, Katten Muchin Rosenman and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, the National Law Journal reports. The list was released one month after the magazine listed the…

Sep 25, 2008 12:54 PM CDT

Low-Paid PDs and Prosecutors Try Moonlighting

Public defenders and prosecutors struggling to pay off high student debt are increasingly turning to side jobs to make ends meet. The National Law Journal reports on the trend, finding that lawyers are not sticking only with traditional moonlighting jobs such as doing wills on the side or teaching law…

Sep 19, 2008 2:14 PM CDT

How LA Lawyer Dropped 90 Pounds, Became Iron Man

His demanding job as an in-house general counsel, difficulties with his marriage and adjusting to being a father made it easy for Steven Spitz to pack on the pounds. Luckily, his job is at a nutrition-oriented company. With the help of a dietitian at Los Angeles-based Natrol, which manufactures and…

Sep 15, 2008 8:43 PM CDT

Yale Law Women List Top 10 Family-Friendly Law Firms

Updated: Last year, Quarles & Brady was No. 1. But this year, the Milwaukee, Wisc.-based law firm didn’t even make it on a list of the nation’s 10 most family-friendly law firms compiled by Yale Law Women. It wasn’t alone in being left out, however: Only three law firms—Arnold &…

Sep 8, 2008 11:21 PM CDT

‘Damning Picture of Dissatisfaction’ at Australian Law Firms

More than half of the lawyers in private practice in Australia are thinking about leaving their law firms, a survey by a legal recruiter has found. Among those looking for greener pastures, the Mahlab survey found, roughly one-quarter want to move to bigger firms, one-quarter want to move to smaller…

Aug 13, 2008 6:00 PM CDT

Is Your Firm on Working Mother’s Best of 2008 List?

Noting that the legal profession is in a “work/life crisis” with 78 percent of associates leaving firms by year five and nearly half of women lawyers leaving the profession altogether, Working Mother magazine has released its 2nd annual list of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women. The August/September issue…

Aug 12, 2008 11:33 AM CDT

Criminal Defense Lawyer Moonlights as Painter of Serial Killers

When he’s not working as a criminal defense attorney, Martin Baker needs a way to relax. So the central California practitioner paints as his avocation. One of his frequent subjects: serial killers. Using mug shots as his model, at a time when his subjects knew they had finally been defeated…

Aug 11, 2008 6:28 PM CDT

Poll: Will You Welcome or Dread Wireless in Flight?

With news from Delta Airlines this week that it will begin offering Wi-Fi access on some flights beginning this fall and the prospect that other airlines will soon follow suit, we wondered whether you welcome the chance to text, e-mail and surf the Net as you fly.

Aug 7, 2008 12:25 PM CDT

Workload Is the Same or Higher for Most Associates Surveyed

Despite the reports of a downturn in work at some big law firms, most midlevel associates surveyed are not seeing reductions in their workloads. In an American Lawyer survey of more than 7,500 associates, only 23.5 percent said their workload was lighter this year than last, the Am Law Daily…

Aug 6, 2008 2:05 PM CDT

Psychotherapist’s Lawyer Diagnosis: Preparing to Live Syndrome

Professional coach and psychotherapist James Dolan says he has seen too many lawyers living for retirement as they sacrificed happiness and their real passions. Dolan has coined a term to describe this lawyer affliction: preparing to live syndrome. He writes in Texas Lawyer that too many people fail to grasp…

Aug 5, 2008 5:18 PM CDT

Egalitarian and Inclusive Cultures Propel Firms to Top of Associate Rankings

An egalitarian culture helps explain why Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner is so well-liked by its associates—if you dare call them that. The law firm has job titles of lawyers, staff attorneys and patent specialists, but it prefers not to use the term “associate,” the Am Law Daily reports.…

Aug 5, 2008 12:54 PM CDT

A Law Firm Ditches the Lockstep System and Retains More Women

A law firm that replaced lockstep promotions with a system based on competency has seen the percentage of women lawyers leaving the firm drop below that of men. Husch Blackwell Sanders had an average annual attrition of about 30 percent when it had the old lockstep system. Under the new…

Jul 31, 2008 11:04 AM CDT

Backup Elder Care Is Latest Benefit Offered by Big Law Firms

More big law firms are beginning to offer backup elder care as a benefit, usually at no cost to the lawyers and employees who use it. The Daily Journal lists 10 law firms that offer the benefit in California. They are Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker; Wilson Sonsini Goodrich &…

Jul 23, 2008 11:23 AM CDT

Big UK Firm Bans BlackBerrys for Attorneys on Vacation

Apparently seeking to help associates maintain a better work/life balance, one of London’s major “magic circle” law firms has banned attorneys from using their BlackBerrys while on vacation. But the recent edict by Linklaters, which applies both to partners and to associates, hasn’t been received with unqualified agreement, reports the…

Jul 23, 2008 12:21 AM CDT