Best Lawyer Mom Jobs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What lawyer jobs would you say are best for a highly credentialed, entry level attorney who is the primary parent for young children?

What kind of credentials? Like fancy law school degree/journal? What field, if any?

[Anonymous]

What does primary parent mean?

I used to be in the federal government and found it to be super micro-managey and not at all conducive to a flex schedule required. And at entry level you have to accrue leave which can take a while so that you can take time off. But still as an entry level all leave has to be approved usually.

Maybe things have changed post-pandemic but YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Federal govt - non litigating attorney who does policy work at an agency OGC

+1

This is a great gig if you like the issues, but at least at my agency, we only hire attorneys with several years experience for program review positions.

I'm the PP who suggested it. I came in from a law firm but we also hire new graduates through our honors program, fellows, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does primary parent mean?

I used to be in the federal government and found it to be super micro-managey and not at all conducive to a flex schedule required. And at entry level you have to accrue leave which can take a while so that you can take time off. But still as an entry level all leave has to be approved usually.

Maybe things have changed post-pandemic but YMMV.

Depends on the agency. If you can telework, set your own hours on a flex band, flex in and out as needed for appointments, and have a manageable workload it’s not bad. Of course you’re right about starting at the lowest leave level. That is tough. But after 3 years you get a bit more leave and also if you have another child you get the 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Wish that had been around when I had my kids.

[Anonymous]

This needs a lot more information. What field of law? What's your timeline?

My government job hires entry level and is a great mom job (flex schedule, remote from day 1). But they're currently interviewing for the next hiring class and it's going to be probably a year before they hire again.

[Anonymous]

None. Lawyers work too much.

[Anonymous]

compliance at an investment firm. Not exactly being a lawyer but there are many lawyers, the pay is good, and you're not going to be working around the clock.

[Anonymous]

What type of law?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go through an agency honor’s program if you haven’t graduated yet.

OP here. Should have clarified this in the original post, I’m currently in law school. So looking for family-friendly first year attorney jobs. Ideally 40ish hrs/week, no travel, good telework, flextime options. I’ll definitely look into honors, but wasn’t sure how often it converts to a permanent position. Definitely looking for something with job security.

[Anonymous]

I'd vote for a non lawyer job. I have quite a few lawyers work for me who work on program management, contracts, writing policies, regulations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go through an agency honor’s program if you haven’t graduated yet.

OP here. Should have clarified this in the original post, I’m currently in law school. So looking for family-friendly first year attorney jobs. Ideally 40ish hrs/week, no travel, good telework, flextime options. I’ll definitely look into honors, but wasn’t sure how often it converts to a permanent position. Definitely looking for something with job security.

It's a black mark to not retain honors program lawyers, so there is job security. The positions also tend to be very competitive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go through an agency honor’s program if you haven’t graduated yet.

OP here. Should have clarified this in the original post, I’m currently in law school. So looking for family-friendly first year attorney jobs. Ideally 40ish hrs/week, no travel, good telework, flextime options. I’ll definitely look into honors, but wasn’t sure how often it converts to a permanent position. Definitely looking for something with job security.

Absolutely apply for the PMF program.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never worked for the federal government, but I’m in a regulatory biglaw practice that regularly interfaces with a couple of federal agencies and they seem to have reasonable hours. I would think this really depends on the agency and their telework policies, culture, etc. - and you can get in at the entry level through the honors program. I don’t know how far in advance they hire, though - when are you graduating? My recollection is that my classmates from law school who did this route applied early in 3L.

If you go the biglaw route (and I think there are advantages to doing this, especially if you want an in-house position, since I don’t think those hire entry-level lawyers), regulatory practices typically have better hours. I switched practices as a junior associate from transactional work to a niche regulatory group, and the hours are not comparable. I generally work a 9-6 work day, and fire drills are pretty rare. This may not apply to all regulatory practices (especially ones that are there for deal support, like antitrust/HSR) and will also probably vary by firm, so you need to do some diligence, but generally it’s true. My group brings in its own work, i.e. we do investigations and regulatory counseling, so we don’t work on deal timelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does primary parent mean?

I used to be in the federal government and found it to be super micro-managey and not at all conducive to a flex schedule required. And at entry level you have to accrue leave which can take a while so that you can take time off. But still as an entry level all leave has to be approved usually.

Maybe things have changed post-pandemic but YMMV.

OP here. Spouse works long hours with occasional travel, don’t have family in the area. So looking for something ideally compatible with school pick-up and drop-off, staying home with sick kids, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never worked for the federal government, but I’m in a regulatory biglaw practice that regularly interfaces with a couple of federal agencies and they seem to have reasonable hours. I would think this really depends on the agency and their telework policies, culture, etc. - and you can get in at the entry level through the honors program. I don’t know how far in advance they hire, though - when are you graduating? My recollection is that my classmates from law school who did this route applied early in 3L.

If you go the biglaw route (and I think there are advantages to doing this, especially if you want an in-house position, since I don’t think those hire entry-level lawyers), regulatory practices typically have better hours. I switched practices as a junior associate from transactional work to a niche regulatory group, and the hours are not comparable. I generally work a 9-6 work day, and fire drills are pretty rare. This may not apply to all regulatory practices (especially ones that are there for deal support, like antitrust/HSR) and will also probably vary by firm, so you need to do some diligence, but generally it’s true. My group brings in its own work, i.e. we do investigations and regulatory counseling, so we don’t work on deal timelines.

You guys hiring? Im at a banking agency enforcement side looking to go biglaw