Today at my internship, the partner I have been working with advised me that as a new associate, I would be expected to hire a nanny to care for my child so I could work late as the job demanded. She began her career at a large firm, married, with a son. Another partner at my firm described working in a large firm as indentured servitude. She also is married and has a teen daughter.

I have determined - after conversations with a few attorneys who came out of the big firms here in San Antonio - that as a single mama, BigLaw cannot be in my future because I don't choose to have a nanny raise my daughter.

I attended a luncheon with the Women's Bar Association and got the
impression that women and even men are demanding a better balance
between work and family.

Is such sacrifice a common expectation? I don't mind taking work home on occasion or working a weekend as needed, but I won't give up a normal life with my child simply for money.