Reply to Dating A Woman in 30’s

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Attorney speaking. First five years for a new lawyer are critical. If she is working for a large firm, she will need to bill 2600 hours every year. That's 50 hours average every week. She will also be averaging another 10-15 hours per week every week. She will be working 10-12 hours a day every day, probably more. That's every day. She will buy new clothes because she will not have time to launder her current clothes. Think she is tired and stressed now? A junior associate at a law firm of any size will go 2-3 years without a day off, not even Christmas. 
Unfortunately, from what you have described, she can either succeed as a lawyer or have a family. Sad but true.[/quote]

That's simply not correct. I know young lawyers that establish themselves in the first year or two and then transfer to part-time, which delays their partnership track but allows them to have children. Some firms offer 4-6 months paid maternity leave. It all depends on what she wants.

There are also plenty of govt jobs that offer much more friendly hours.[/quote]

Not if she works for a large firm and seeks to become partner. Regardless of the idealism sold on various media, serious law firms do not have a part-time 'Mommy track' for junior associates.

If she desires to be a lawyer and not just a clerk, she will need to pay the price.[/quote]

I worked many years at two different large firms. This is exaggerated. [/quote]

+1.  Female biglaw PT partner here....  The quote above about 2600 billable hours a year is also exaggerated.  You bill a lot, but most attorneys don't bill that much.  Associates at our firm bill on average something like 1950 in the latest numbers  -- so some will be at 2300 and others at 1700.  It usually depends on the practice group or person you are working for.  That said, most attorneys who end up in biglaw out of law school definitely want to invest a lot of time in the first few years, and then after they prove themselves, have more flexibility to ease off on hours or work part time (if they choose). Most firms are very cognizant of the mommy track barriers, female lawyer attrition etc, and the impact this data has on their rankings, and are actively trying to fix the problem.  So most of the big firms are pretty open to PT women making partner (maybe on a slightly delayed schedule).  Ability to do this ultimately depends on your practice area and the partner you work for.  Assuming you can make partner on a reduced schedule (not rare these days), the big barrier for women is jumping to equity partner.  That becomes much harder on the mommy track.  All that said -- most of this discussion is irrelevant for 95% of attorneys who aren't ultimately interested in being an equity partner in 15 years.  Most people want to do their 2 to 7 years of biglaw, get it on their resume, make contacts, and move to in-house, govt etc. So putting in 2600 hours a year as a 7th year associate isn't a concern for the 95% of biglaw attorneys who are totally okay with the up and out plan.  In other words, OP should plan on his GF needing to do a couple years of intense (but not necessarily insane, hours, depending on her practice area), but to the extent she so desires, there is usually flexibility after that point.  [/quote]

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