Number 63 and Abandoned: A Rant From the Forgotten Eighty Percent

I’m not in the top twenty of my class. I’m not even in the top twenty percent of my class. In fact, by definition, the majority of my law school class is not in the top twenty percent of my class. Yet, we keep being forgotten by our professors, our deans, and perhaps most noticeably, our career services offices.

Does your firm offer in-house career counseling?

Recently I wrote about lawyer development, urging firms to invest as much in the success of their existing attorneys as they do in hooking new hires. Here's one way: some firms are retaining in-house career counselors for associates. Niraj Chokshi reports that a few firms are staffing these formal, permanent positions.

The position, say firm development managers, offers associates a neutral and confidential third party to go to with questions: How do I stay on track to make partner? How do I better build my practice? How can I switch practices? How do I get out of here?

There are a couple of business reasons for in-house career counseling...

[More after the jump]

Legal recruiter answers the question: will taking maternity leave in my first few years as an associate derail my career?

Ann Israel, a New York legal recruiter with nearly 30 years' experience, answers the question: "Will taking maternity leave in my first couple of years as an associate derail my career permanently?" Her unspoken answer seems to be "yes," although she offers tips to mitigate the problem. Part of me wishes she'd come out and say it--we need frank advice, so we can work around obstacles and eventually get into positions to improve the system.

When I was asked to speak to some undergraduates at a "women in leadership" conference a few months back, my panel got the same question about fitting a pregnancy into a career trajectory. I feel like Ms. Israel, however well-meaning, is disingenuous to advise that if you just work hard enough beforehand, "hopefully... you will be sorely missed" by senior partners. The best time to have a baby if you're a woman in law, the lawyer on the panel agreed with me, is before you leave law school, in the spring of your 3L year. It's the lightest part of law school, in terms of juggling coursework with mood swings and morning sickness. And nobody expects you to be working 90 hours a week the summer after you graduate--that's when you're taking the bar.

My classmates have voted with their feet (or, uh, their wombs?) on this one: there is a mini-epidemic of pregnancy among my 3L friends and acquaintances. Seems like everybody with a committed partner decided to get pregnant in September, and many of them succeeded. Now they're all just starting to show!

[More after the jump]