Is Being a Mother and a Lawyer a Lose-Lose situation?

How could anyone possibly resist this face?

I know what you're thinking- what does a cat have to do with a post about mother and a lawyer? Well for me, my pets are often what spawns these thoughts about life balance. When I look at the face of my cats and dogs with their sad eyes and the "please don't leave me" look, I feel riddled with guilt. So what happens if I ever have kids? How will I feel when I have to leave them?

DeMANding Work: Is there a place for part-time?

This weekend I attended the Legally Female conference at Yale Law School. After hearing an amazing set of speakers and panelists and interacting with amazing women from across the country, I can't stop thinking about a question that was raised during one of the sessions. What is the limit of the part-time phenomenon? Can corporate litigators or criminal trial lawyers and others under huge time pressures really do their job effectively in a part-time situation?

Because We Can

So often the question is asked- why do so many women leave big law firms in droves? Why don’t they stick around and make partner? Are they being forced out? The answer to that question seems like a simple yes when we look at the numbers. Why else would women be leaving at these rates from prestigious high-paying jobs? After considering this, however, I came to a different conclusion. Maybe women don’t leave law firms because we have to- maybe we leave because we can.

Let’s face it- BigLaw is known for being its high salaries- but also its ridiculous hours and crippling stress levels. It’s not exactly what you would call a dream job.