Survey: Flexing, Floundering or ‘Just Fine Thanks’: Work/Life Issues in America
By Janet Wallace • October 10, 2008 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
Life Meets Work is conducting a first annual survey: Flexing, Floundering, or 'Just Fine Thanks': Work/Life Issues in America. Seeking to capture the opinions of Americans regarding work/life challenges, the role of government, and flexible work programs, Life Meets Work invites you to share your views on Work/Life Issues in America. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Your responses are confidential and only will be shared in aggregate. Take the Survey now. The results will be discussed during a free webinar on October 28, 2008. To register for the Webinar, click here.
Ms. JD Weekly Round-up: Week Ending October 10, 2008
By Janet Wallace • October 10, 2008 •Ms. JD, Ms. JD Weekly Roundup
Cleveland Law Firm Offers Perks that Help Employees Balance Work and Family ABA Secretary Wins Women Judges Award Old Gender Roles With Your Dinner? Obama and McCain’s Stances on Work-Life Issues What Michelle Obama Didn’t Like About Working at Sidley Austin
Table for Two
By Janet Wallace • September 17, 2008 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
The benefits of eating dinner together as a family are well documented, but a recent study indicates that the benefits of family dinner time apply to couples without children, too. [The researcher, David] Schramm said that while more couples are dining out, simply eating together may not be enough. The tasks surrounding mealtime—food preparation and clean up—also can be beneficial to a relationship. “The purpose of the task is not just to get the task done, but also to strengthen the relationship with time spent together,” Schramm said. Couples who start this pattern before having children are more likely to…
Business or Pleasure?
By Janet Wallace • September 16, 2008 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
A recent New York Times article, Business or Pleasure? More are Choosing Both, caught my eye today. Adding leisure time to business travel is something that my husband and I have done on many occasions. With one airfare and several days of hotel paid for, adding on an additional ticket and a few extra days at the hotel can be a cost-effective way to explore a new city. Mr. Cohn of Orbitz for Business said that given rising travel costs, it made sense to tack some family leisure travel onto a business trip in which “part of the cost can…
Call for Papers: Applied Feminism: How Feminist Legal Theory is Changing the Law
By Janet Wallace • September 16, 2008 •Other Issues
The University of Baltimore School of Law is hosting their Second Annual Feminist Legal Theory Conference in 2009. The conference, which will bring together law students, legal academics, practitioners and activists, "will look at discrete areas of the law and ask how feminist legal theory operates or could operate to expand existing law, create new law, or combat contractions in the law." This conference will address these issues from the perspectives of activists, practitioners and academics. The conference will provide an opportunity for participants and audience members to exchange ideas about the current state of feminist legal theory by looking…
The World’s Most Powerful Women
By Janet Wallace • September 05, 2008 •Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
Forbes magazine released its list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women last week. The list includes several women with Juris Doctorates, including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ranked at #72, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, ranked at #28. Two female attorneys rank among the Top Ten, although both are now in executive roles--one is Chairman of the FDIC, the other is the CEO and President of WellPoint. Sheila C. Bair, the #2 most powerful woman according to Forbes, was sworn in at the 19th Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission in 2006. Forbes describes "Bair's domain" as "the last…
A Savvy Sacrifice?
By Janet Wallace • September 04, 2008 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
The Feminist Legal Theory Blog, organized by Professor Lisa Pruitt at UC Davis School of Law, directed me to this article in the ABA Journal's online edition. The article, based in part on a recent Time magazine feature, characterizes Michelle Obama's career choices as "savvy sacrifices": Working as an associate at a powerhouse international law firm based in Chicago, Michelle Obama had what many would have considered a dream job for a lawyer. But she gave up the Sidley Austin job to pursue a public interest career. This "savvy sacrifice" has provided her husband, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama,…
Speaking Salary
By Janet Wallace • September 01, 2008 •Other Career Issues
In her recent New York Times article, Girl Power at School, but Not at the Office, Hannah Seligson discusses the "new arsenal of skills" that women need to succeed in the workforce. She suggests that letting go of perfectionist tendancies and creating professional networks are two critical skills to success. Additionally, to keep up with the old-boy's club, women need to start "speaking salary." Young women also need to learn how to speak salary, a language that many men already seem to know. Coming into the work force, I thought that, just as my professor had given me the grade…
Part-Time Partners
By Janet Wallace • August 30, 2008 •Firms and the Private Sector
According to Part-time Partners: How Women Lawyers are Reaching Greater Heights with Fewer Billable Hours, a feature in this month's edition of Working Mother Magazine, law firms are increasingly offering partnerships to reduced-hour lawyers. Pamela Miller, an equity partner at Arnold & Porter and mother of two, works a reduced hour schedule, making time for soccer games and school conferences. “I don’t believe in apologizing for the fact that I’m a working mother,” says the 38-year-old equity partner in Arnold & Porter’s litigation practice. “If I send out an email about things going on at home, people will get a…