Anyone making a part-time Big Law career work with family life?

[Anonymous]

After several years off as a SAHM, I'm thinking of going back to work at Big Law and they're willing to hire me 75%. A regulatory practice group. It's been years since I was in a big firm, and I don't know if I'm being overly optimistic that this can work. Back then I had no kids and could just stay late as needed or work on weekends.

DH is government and gets home usually by 4-5pm. Our 3 kids are elementary aged. I'd take the mornings with the kids and would hope to work from 10-6 and then as needed after kids are in bed (so, some days 9-11ish). So 8-10 hour days. I don't look forward to working nights, but can deal when needed. I hope not to work weekends much aside from communicated with colleagues as needed. We'd have a cleaning service, and we'd hire a part-time sitter to ensure someone is here when the kids get home. We'd need a summer nanny / sitter.

It all sounded do-able at first, and we do need to money (need to save more for college and retirement, need new cars but don't want to take on debt for them, etc). We lived lean so I could be home with the kids, but I need to go back.

But . . . I start to panic when I think about all the kids' stuff and how we're going to juggle it. Well visits, dental appointments, afternoon sports practices, etc.

Anyone else making it work on a part-time Big Law schedule? And I don't mean just getting by. But does it work well for you? Like you can get home in the afternoon for kids' stuff (even if you have to log back on later), have family time on the weekend, take a vacation, get enough sleep, etc?

[Anonymous]

Question: what is the salary for 75%? I’m not big law and I know they work lots of hours, but are 50 hour weeks a 75% commitment and does the salary link up?

Can you do that a couple of years then move to government? I think you’d be happier with a straight 40 given other responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Yes, though I probably only work 50% and not 75%

[Anonymous]

Yeah, for two or three years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, though I probably only work 50% and not 75%

OP here. Can you explain more? You do 50% of your firm’s billable requirements? Is that a formal arrangement, and are you still on the associate pay scale? I assume you work less than 40 hours per week at 50%? About how many hours do you put in total (not just billable)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question: what is the salary for 75%? I’m not big law and I know they work lots of hours, but are 50 hour weeks a 75% commitment and does the salary link up?

Can you do that a couple of years then move to government? I think you’d be happier with a straight 40 given other responsibilities.

OP here. Depends on the firm and your level. In my case it would be $165,000. Yes- I would actually like to eventually move to government but those jobs in my practice area are hard to come by and I’ve got an in here with a firm after some time out. Also with bonus, I’ll probably make a lot more at a firm whereas in give me to I’m not sure how much I’d still bring home after paying aftercare, summer care, housekeeping, commuting cost, etc. It would be great to have several years of high pay to replace out old cars, do some much needed repairs and updates to our house, and boost college savings. I actually really like the firm and people too, just feeling worries about making the schedule work

[Anonymous]

OP here again- a corollary question… what is it looking like from I side big law in terms of how much the flexible telecommuting will stick permanently. Being able to work from home 2-3 days per week permanently would make things much more workable, saving me 1-1.5 hours per day in commute time and allowing me to help with afterschool activities without so much impact on my hours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again- a corollary question… what is it looking like from I side big law in terms of how much the flexible telecommuting will stick permanently. Being able to work from home 2-3 days per week permanently would make things much more workable, saving me 1-1.5 hours per day in commute time and allowing me to help with afterschool activities without so much impact on my hours

“From inside” the firms is what I meant to say in first sentence

[Anonymous]

This is what I have found helpful - really outsource everything you can. I have a legitimate housekeeper once a week, I could hire her more but she has other clients. She does all laundry, light cleaning, and can handle any project (such as switching out seasons clothes), we pay her a ton, but she makes the week easier. I always also had a housecleaner once a week, came in and did the bathrooms, floors, but no laundry obviously! Then I hired babysitters that did the food shopping while kids were in pre-school and often made dinner for everyone, but this was pre-delivery that covid has brought us so you could probably skip and just get babysitter like you are planning to. Have the babysitter pull out all homework, fill out and sign permission slip forms (have they sign your name), put backpacks away, get water bottles out - basically anything you do if you were home with them. We have a weekly lawn service all year long, they do leaves, mowing, weeding. That's what I can think of. My mantra is do whatever I can to keep working without sacrificing my time with my kids. I have worked all the way through and my kids are in high school. Only you know if it's the right choice for your family. It was the right choice for me, my husband and ultimately my kids.

Here's a rough breakdown of costs per year -
Housekeeper - about $10,000
Housecleaner - about $7,0000
Lawn Service - $3,500
Babysitter - I have paid anywhere from $15 to $25 per hour more recently

Add in accountant to pay all taxes on employees. I know this seems like alot but you will make much more over your career if you are in biglaw.

[Anonymous]

What will your billable target be? I’m not at a firm, but friends who are at firms are all back in the office a few days a week. No one is there every day unless they want to be. If you will be working a 40-50 hour week, that seems doable and is what many dual income households do. Sounds like a good way to get your foot back in the door at a pretty high level. Is DH on board and willing to take on more of the child-related work while you ramp up and adjust back to working? What you don’t want to do is take the job and not be able to perform at the expected level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what I have found helpful - really outsource everything you can. I have a legitimate housekeeper once a week, I could hire her more but she has other clients. She does all laundry, light cleaning, and can handle any project (such as switching out seasons clothes), we pay her a ton, but she makes the week easier. I always also had a housecleaner once a week, came in and did the bathrooms, floors, but no laundry obviously! Then I hired babysitters that did the food shopping while kids were in pre-school and often made dinner for everyone, but this was pre-delivery that covid has brought us so you could probably skip and just get babysitter like you are planning to. Have the babysitter pull out all homework, fill out and sign permission slip forms (have they sign your name), put backpacks away, get water bottles out - basically anything you do if you were home with them. We have a weekly lawn service all year long, they do leaves, mowing, weeding. That's what I can think of. My mantra is do whatever I can to keep working without sacrificing my time with my kids. I have worked all the way through and my kids are in high school. Only you know if it's the right choice for your family. It was the right choice for me, my husband and ultimately my kids.

Here's a rough breakdown of costs per year -
Housekeeper - about $10,000
Housecleaner - about $7,0000
Lawn Service - $3,500
Babysitter - I have paid anywhere from $15 to $25 per hour more recently

Add in accountant to pay all taxes on employees. I know this seems like alot but you will make much more over your career if you are in biglaw.

OP here. Thank you. This is helpful, and the expenses do not sound too bad. Well worth it. I do A LOT as a stay at home parent with no hired help . . . cooking, shopping, cleaning, organizing, scheduling, helping with homework, on and on. So I know we will need to pay to have some help on many of these things so we I can still have plenty of time with my kids.

[Anonymous]

I'm not saying don't do it but part of the issue is that you won't be able to predict when exactly you will be working. If a client needs something done, you'll have to do it, regardless of the time. And it will be on you to create boundaries and say no. If you're a people pleaser (like me and many people who end up in law) then that is hard. The firm's not going to be like oh hey don't call her to work she's over her limit. They will push you to work until you say no. IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What will your billable target be? I’m not at a firm, but friends who are at firms are all back in the office a few days a week. No one is there every day unless they want to be. If you will be working a 40-50 hour week, that seems doable and is what many dual income households do. Sounds like a good way to get your foot back in the door at a pretty high level. Is DH on board and willing to take on more of the child-related work while you ramp up and adjust back to working? What you don’t want to do is take the job and not be able to perform at the expected level.

Billable target will be about 1400 hours. I *think* I can do this in 40-50 hours per week. There will be slower weeks and busier weeks because that's just the nature of the work, and I'll have to do my best to be very efficient busy weeks and rely on DH to pick up more. And during slower weeks I'll have to take advantage and pickup slack on personal things when I can. Yes - DH is an engaged parent and involved in the housework. He has a more regular schedule, so I can rely on him. The exception will be that he travels sometimes. We may need ask my parents to come from out of town and stay with us during those times, which I think they'll usually be able to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not saying don't do it but part of the issue is that you won't be able to predict when exactly you will be working. If a client needs something done, you'll have to do it, regardless of the time. And it will be on you to create boundaries and say no. If you're a people pleaser (like me and many people who end up in law) then that is hard. The firm's not going to be like oh hey don't call her to work she's over her limit. They will push you to work until you say no. IMHO.

OP here. Yes- I am a little worried about this. Although I have much more of a spine now that I'm in my 40s than when I was a new associate years ago. But, yes, my least favorite part of private law is the unpredictability and I am nervous about that. On the up side, my field does not involve much litigation, so I think that makes the schedule a *little* more evened out.

[Anonymous]

What is your spouse willing to add to their plate to support you? If husband is in government, he should have sick/annual leave available to cover kid appointments and days off - will he take on those days/duties on to support your transition? Will he help manage the household help?

Your plan is doable, but only if your husband is actually willing to do substantially more household management - especially in the first 1-2 years as you re-build your skills and your reputation at the new firm.