Working lawyer seeks advice on going part-time

[Anonymous]

I am a lawyer working for a small firm (5 partners, me and one other associate). I have a 7 month old baby who I really need to spend more time with. I'm currently working full-time (about 45 hours per week), and I'd like to approach the partners about going part-time (4 days per week and an additional 1 day from home). I know they are going to have lots of concerns about how this would work, whether they would still be able to rely on me, how it will impact their workloads, etc.

I would really love some advice from others who have successfully made the transition to part-time. How does it work for you? How did you respond to these kinds of concerns? Any thoughts on how to "sell" this to concerned partners? Any other general thoughts?

Much appreciated!
- An over-stretched mom who needs a better work/life balance

[Anonymous]

I sympathize with you, as you will find many lawyer-mom's on here do. If you search, you will find a lot of posts on this topic. I am PT lawyer, but I work at big law. The way PT works for me is that I delegate as much as possible and have people who are willing to help me file things, do research, etc. on the days that I am off to keep the process moving. So the way I presented this to my employer won't work for you in your work setting, but do a search and you find lots of posts on this.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP - I'm a partner in BigLaw. So my perspective may not be entirely applicable to yours. What I found works the best in our firm is for the attorney to request the schedule and state that there is flexibility. That is, while you may do 4 days with Fridays off, for example, if there is some deadline, you say you'll work on Fridays (and make it up by taking off extra time another day - no need to say this part explicitly). Also say you are reachable by blackberry even on your time off. And offer to do this on a trial basis. This way, you can demonstrate that their needs will still be served, and then keep it going.

How does it work at your firm? That is, if you take Fridays off, will you then get 4/5 of your pay for 4/5 of your hours??

[Anonymous]

OP here - yeah, I'm assuming 80% pay for going from 5 to 4 days.

Thanks so much for the advice. I will search the archives and also appreciate any responses from moms (and dads) doing the part-time thing at BigLaw or SmallLaw.

[Anonymous]

I'd be very careful how you explain your proprosed schedule. "4 days per week and an additional 1 day from home" sounds like you want to work from home one day, which isn't quite what I think you're proposing. (it also won't give you much more time with the baby!).

I'm at biglaw and i am in the office 4 days per week. I take off one day to be at home, tho I'm available at (odd) intervals for conference calls, approving documents, etc. Part of what you'll need to figure out is how the work you now do on the 5th day will get done. Do you have people you can delegate to? Or will you just not take as many matters?

Best of luck. I've really enjoyed my part time schedule.

[Anonymous]

In addition to the good advice posted above (particularly about being flexible, especially if you are in litigation), take on less matters (doesn't sound like delegation is an option as you have a small office). Sounds fair to me because you're getting paid less. Otherwise, you'll end up working the same for less pay. Speaking of that, as you have a small office & hopefully more of a personal relationship with the partners, request that if you end up working full-time hours, then you get paid full-time at the end of the year.

I'm doing 80% at BigLaw, and I just take on less matters & with the magic of technology I'm generally available. I try to protect by Friday as much as possible, but I am never explicit about it (particularly as I am in litigation). I also never tell clients, co-counsel, etc. that I am "part-time" - no need to do that at all. You'll be taking good care of them and the cases - so they don't need to know how you work & where.

I have a friend who's doing 80%, but in the office 5 days a week (also at BigLaw). She just works less hours each day. This gives her the flexibility to do afternoon things with her kids or spend some mornings with them, for example, and she feels a presence in the office each day is best for her situation.

Think about what's best for you.

[Anonymous]

I concur with the PPs that the key for me has been being willing to be flexible. It probably depends on the type of work that you do, but for me it has been key to have back up child care on Fridays and be able to come in/work from home if needed. I also check my blackberry regularly on those days. When DC was an infant I could take a conference call, review a document, during nap time but I do not have that time any more (DC no longer naps). For that situation, it has been great having DC in daycare close to home because I can bring DC for a few hours, get my work done and then pick up. I also have co-workers who work 80% in 5 days and work "shorter" days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I concur with the PPs that the key for me has been being willing to be flexible. It probably depends on the type of work that you do, but for me it has been key to have back up child care on Fridays and be able to come in/work from home if needed. I also check my blackberry regularly on those days. When DC was an infant I could take a conference call, review a document, during nap time but I do not have that time any more (DC no longer naps). For that situation, it has been great having DC in daycare close to home because I can bring DC for a few hours, get my work done and then pick up. I also have co-workers who work 80% in 5 days and work "shorter" days.

ITA with this and others' advice to be flexible. I'm not a lawyer but am in a similarly fast-paced environment and the key to my 80% schedule is flexibility. On my day home with my child, it is understood that she is with me, not at daycare, but if something comes up I will respond. In the two years I've been doing this, 90% of the time I have to do something, but most of the time it is a quick email or call and really doesn't effect the day. I also like to show I'm reachable, etc. to a degree.

The few times something more has really come up, I've been able to do it at nap time, and one time DH was able to come home early so I could actually get about an hour of work done near the end of the day. But most of the time it works great. Oh, and we have child care all five days if need be, so I've been able to shift my schedule if a meeting or something comes up fairly last minute. There have also been a few weeks I've done two half days, and that is not as preferable but it has it's advantages every once in a while.

The obvious downside to this is that, you can get into a position where you are doing 100% of the work for less pay. I haven't really felt like my productivity has fallen, so I'm doing as much for less and working smarter (though my boss is aware of my day off and is filling in) but I don't mind because my day off is my day off, and I'm not trying to stay home with my child and work all day, and I don't feel like I'm making up for hours of it during the nights or weekends. But it's something to be aware of.

[Anonymous]

I'm a partner in a small law firm and work part time - I leave by 5 every day (don't come in especially early, usually here b/t 8 and 9) and 1/2 days on Fridays. I am completely flexible though - if there's a big project I'll work on it from home after DS goes to bed, can make arrangements to stay later on Fridays if need be. If you have this kind of flexibility, it should work.

[Anonymous]

If you want them to say no:

Hi, partner. I have a baby and I want to spend more time with him. Can I work less?


If you want them to say yes:

Partner, I think that my performance here has been solid and that I'm reliable. For a while now I've been concerned about balancing my obligations here and my obligations to my family and I've taken a good look at my work load. I'm confident that I can fulfill my responsibilities here on a different schedule. Here is how I propose to do it (show them your plan).At this point there are two types of plans-- you work less, or you work different hours but as many (such as working at home a couple of evenings per week, or telecommuting so that you get that commute time back and spend it with junior. If you are scaling back and this is a small office, be ready to answer the question of how they are supposed to get the other work done.


You need to show them that you have thought about the firm's best interests and the clients' best interests. That shows that you are responsible. In this economy, new lawyers are a dime a dozen, so you don't have much bargaining power to say "give me this." You can, however, impress them as someone who takes their needs seriously and thinks proactively about how to meet them.

Don't be surprised if they say no to flat-out part time. Employees are expensive. Salary is the tip of the iceberg. Other benefits and overhead are 40% of what it costs, so hiring someone else for 15 hours isn't all that attractive. At this point, you might be able to expand your time with Junior through flexibility, and you should be ready to present that as a viable option if being part-time is not on the table. You should also be ready to talk about the $$ numbers. It's possible that they could do 1/2 time with no benefits, which could make sense if your partner has benefits.

Remember: if it's about you, they don't care. If it's about them and the working relationship, their ears will perk up.

[Anonymous]

I started working an 80% schedule when I started my job - I am a CPA. The only problem was that it eventually morphed into FT work for PT pay. I ended up at the same time needing more money because my dh was laid off of work, so I just went FT. So anyway, you have to monitor it to make sure you are not doing FT work for PT pay since that is not fair to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want them to say no:

Hi, partner. I have a baby and I want to spend more time with him. Can I work less?


If you want them to say yes:

Partner, I think that my performance here has been solid and that I'm reliable. For a while now I've been concerned about balancing my obligations here and my obligations to my family and I've taken a good look at my work load. I'm confident that I can fulfill my responsibilities here on a different schedule. Here is how I propose to do it (show them your plan).At this point there are two types of plans-- you work less, or you work different hours but as many (such as working at home a couple of evenings per week, or telecommuting so that you get that commute time back and spend it with junior. If you are scaling back and this is a small office, be ready to answer the question of how they are supposed to get the other work done.


You need to show them that you have thought about the firm's best interests and the clients' best interests. That shows that you are responsible. In this economy, new lawyers are a dime a dozen, so you don't have much bargaining power to say "give me this." You can, however, impress them as someone who takes their needs seriously and thinks proactively about how to meet them.

Don't be surprised if they say no to flat-out part time. Employees are expensive. Salary is the tip of the iceberg. Other benefits and overhead are 40% of what it costs, so hiring someone else for 15 hours isn't all that attractive. At this point, you might be able to expand your time with Junior through flexibility, and you should be ready to present that as a viable option if being part-time is not on the table. You should also be ready to talk about the $$ numbers. It's possible that they could do 1/2 time with no benefits, which could make sense if your partner has benefits.

Remember: if it's about you, they don't care. If it's about them and the working relationship, their ears will perk up.

I agree with this except for the "employees are expendable" part. I'm the non-lawyer, so I don't know if a firm can just pick someone up to hit the ground running, but in my company that is not the case. On average it costs a lot of money to lose someone and rehire. That is why most companies work on retention. Not all companies are good at this, not all bosses care, etc., but I wouldn't always assume you are expendable. The only way I could get a reduced schedule is I know my boss was afraid I'd leave. Two new moms before me had done it because of the inflexibility and that is just in my department. They didn't want that happening and so slowly the company has been working on retention and allowing telecommuting, flex time, and a lot of moms work four days a week or leave early a few afternoons a week for school-aged children. I'm not saying I am invaluable but they trained me for over three years before I left for maternity leave and frankly they had invested in me and mentored me. I can't imagine in a law firm that isn't the case.

I do agree that you have to make it about them and show why it will work for THEM not just you.

[Anonymous]

I'm not the OP but this has been most beneficial to me & I am sure many other mom's who are in the same FT situations.

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

I am the OP and I concur with the PP. Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to reply! I'm encouraged to see that firms big and small are starting to realize that it's worth being open to flexible work arrangements and better work/life balance in order to keep valuable employees .