Maternity Leave in Law Firms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NPer but where's the attitude? Of course this is true. Certainly takes more time/money/trust to replace a partner than a staff member. Of course the firm wants to keep the partner more.

Actually that's not entirely true. Lawyers are a dime/dozen in DC. Just kidding of course.

Of course we know it's true. But my baby is just as precious to me as that partner's is to her. The firm could afford for me to stay out for 4 months easily. They just don't want to.

I guess I'm still missing your point. Are we comparing how "precious" our children are based on maternity leave offered? What about my vacation time? Don't I consider it to be near/dear to me? Sure but I don't walk into a firm expecting equal amounts of vacation time across the board. Of course the higher up / more experienced get better benefits. I'm not surprised at all maternity leave is one of them. It's a benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For employees (secretaries, admin staff and such) no maternity leave at all. Only short term disability and vacation/sick leave.

For associates 4 moths paid, then vacation and sick.

For partners 6 moths paid, then vacation and sick.

That figures. Give the people that make five times more money paid time off. That'll teach those underlings not to procreate.

Those people getting more leave make money for the firm. The staff doesn't bring any money in; they are only an expense. Sorry, but that is just the reality.

Come on--this is such an elitist attitude. If it's all about making money, then get rid of the staff and see what your clients say when you try to charge them for you doing all the things the secretary and admin staff do.

Sorry, can you explain where the elitism is in the earlier post?

[Anonymous]

At my large firm they recently rescinded the 18 weeks paid policy and went back to 12. You then can take another 12 unpaid. We don't have vacation or sick days b/c we are "professionals." Just another way for the firm not to pay for extra maternity leave or have to pay you out when you leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a benefit.

In every other civilized country it is a right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a benefit.

In every other civilized country it is a right.

That's why we are the most prosperous country. Hard to put in all those 80 hour plus weeks if you get time off. JK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For employees (secretaries, admin staff and such) no maternity leave at all. Only short term disability and vacation/sick leave.

For associates 4 moths paid, then vacation and sick.

For partners 6 moths paid, then vacation and sick.

That figures. Give the people that make five times more money paid time off. That'll teach those underlings not to procreate.

Those people getting more leave make money for the firm. The staff doesn't bring any money in; they are only an expense. Sorry, but that is just the reality.

Come on--this is such an elitist attitude. If it's all about making money, then get rid of the staff and see what your clients say when you try to charge them for you doing all the things the secretary and admin staff do.

Sorry, can you explain where the elitism is in the earlier post?

Yes, I don't believe it's fair to make generalizations about a person's worth to a particular firm based on their job title. If that poster wants to be "real" about who does and who doesn't make money for a firm and base maternity leave on that, then many first and second year associates would not get any maternity leave (there have been several studies done showing that associates don't really make money for the firm until they are ~3rd years). Furthermore, a good secretary who has been in her position for many years is worth more any day than a junior associate (and I'm saying this as an attorney myself). Everyone contributes so an attorney can bill the client for his or her time.

Also, what about the legal assistants? At my firm they get the same benefits as the secretaries, but, their time is billed to the client--under the model of giving benefits based on $ billed, shouldn't they have more maternity leave?

Law firms are the only place I've seen where there is such a class distinction based on job titles. In most other places (e.g., the government), benefits are based on how long you've been there, not your title.

[Anonymous]

The partners own the business so they make the rules and decide who gets what benefits whether that is fair or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The partners own the business so they make the rules and decide who gets what benefits whether that is fair or not.

So? That doesn't mean they are making the best decisions and it also doesn't mean that they know what's "fair."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For employees (secretaries, admin staff and such) no maternity leave at all. Only short term disability and vacation/sick leave.

For associates 4 moths paid, then vacation and sick.

For partners 6 moths paid, then vacation and sick.

Not all maternity leave is created equal. An associate on maternity leave can choose to never lift a finger/check an email during the time and can (in most cases) step right back into their career. The same is not the case for partners. At my old firm I cannot think of a single female partner that took more that 3 months off and even during those months they were not completely disengaged - was seeing emails sent very late at night or very early in the morning. One woman came back, fulltime, after about 6 weeks (her husband was a SAHD).

[Anonymous]

It has nothing to do with title and everything to do with credentials. If you don't like it, start your own company. It's America, after all.

[Anonymous]

4 months for attorneys & staff - it's great. And yes it was upped from 3 months in 2008.

[Anonymous]

I was the one who said the lawyers make more money for the firm. It is just a fact. Even with my 18 week leave this year, the firm netted (after paying me but before accounting for other expenses like my assistant who I share, rent for the office, etc.) almost $400,000 from my billing. It is therefore unsurprising that the firm allows associates who they would like to retain-and who they would like to attract to the firm-so much leave. And, while I was gone, they just passed off my work on my colleagues, who they paid the same salaries to bill more time on matters I would've been working on. So, the firm really didn't lose too much money. With staff the dollars and cents just don't work the same. And, firms don't need 18 week paid leave policies to compete for the best staff. It's not elitist. It is just how businesses work. Of course they don't work the way the government does; the government has no profit motive.

[Anonymous]

Whah, whah, whah.

Do you people have ANY idea what paralegals are billed at? Do paralegals take home that money? Of course not. A paralegal could also say they take in "so much money for the firm". But you said it yourself, you're expendable.

Don't be so silly and naive. It's not as if you don't have a gazillion law firms to choose from here. It's D.C. - lawyer capitol. Isn't THAT why you're here, after all?

If you don't like it, start your own firm. Period.

[Anonymous]

You can't have it both ways, OP. Don't act so spoiled.

[Anonymous]

How is the original poster acting spoiled by asking for information about area firm policies?