Biglaw, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Pregnancy / Paternity

Which Biglaw Firm Has The Best Parental Leave Policy?

It may be difficult at times, but it is possible to be an attorney with a family while working at a large law firm.

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When Biglaw firms purport to care about their attorneys’ work-life balance, it’s sometimes best to take their sentiments with a shaker of salt. It may be difficult at times, but it is possible to be an attorney with a family while working at a large law firm — especially when a law firm’s paid parental leave policies are generous enough to allow new parents to actually be parents.

As we noted a few weeks ago, the last time we updated our parental leave database was way back in 2008. At the time, roughly three-fifths of our survey respondents reported that their firms offered 12 weeks of paid leave, and 17 percent of firms had adopted an 18-week leave policy. What’s the status quo now that it’s 2015?

Here at Above the Law, we heard from lawyers with families who are down in the trenches, and we now know which firms truly care about the members of their workforce. One firm in particular stands out far, far above all the rest, but before we congratulate that innovative firm, we’ll share some of our findings with you.

We received feedback from 157 attorneys at 60 law firms in response to our recent survey on parental leave policies. We now know that, on average, women lawyers receive 14.33 weeks of paid maternity leave, while male lawyers receive 6.3 weeks of paid paternity leave, less than half of that their female counterparts receive.

Based on some of the written responses we received, we noticed there’s a large discrepancy between how women and men are treated when they opt to take parental leave. It seems that men are being seriously stigmatized. Here are some selected quotes from our survey:

• The firm offers the same amount of paid parental leave for mothers and fathers, which in theory is nice. However, there is an unspoken rule that men shouldn’t take the leave.

• I became a father in 2013. There is no official firm policy anywhere in writing regarding paternity leave. There is an “unofficial” policy that I heard of through word of mouth from a couple of other new fathers that associates can get up to 4 weeks paid paternity leave with the approval of their practice group chair. I asked for two weeks paid paternity leave and was told that I had to use my five remaining vacation days for the year and would not get any paid paternity leave and that I should be grateful I have a job. I then was subsequently criticized and reprimanded for having low billable hours in the month in which my son was born.

• The vast majority of fathers work over paternity leave, and the most that I’ve ever seen any guy take is 2 weeks.

• The policy’s great – and people tend to take advantage of the full maternity leave. However there is still a lot of stigma about paternity/non-primary caregiver leave. While we have a fantastic policy of 10 paid weeks for new dads/non-primary caregivers, hardly anyone takes it, and those who do are looked down upon.

Sheesh, and here we thought that women attorneys had it bad. Hey Biglaw, believe it or not, men have families too, and some of them are interested in being present in their children’s lives. Give these guys some credit for taking an active role as parents.

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Here are some additional parental perks and benefits our respondents told us about:

Perk/Benefit Percentage of Respondents With Firms Offering These Perks/Benefits
Flexible Hours 81 percent
Reduced Hours 72 percent
Sabbaticals 20 percent
Tech Stipends 24 percent
Subsidized Backup Care/Emergency Dependent Care 68 percent
Telecommuting Options 60 percent
Mentoring Circles/Affinity Groups 55 percent

Finally, when it came to adoption and surrogacy aid, 37 percent of our respondents offered positive news, while 64 percent said firms hadn’t offered any such assistance. At firms that did offer this benefit, the average amount of support was $4,542.17.

Let’s get to the groundbreaking news we mentioned earlier. One Biglaw firm is now offering 22 weeks of paid primary caregiver leave to its attorneys in the United States, and the option of taking up to nine months of total leave before returning to work full-time. We believe that it is the only law firm in the nation that is willing to offer such generous leave to new mothers and fathers. The law firm in question is Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, and we’d like to extend our congratulations to Orrick for offering its attorneys such unprecedented benefits. Here’s more information from the firm’s press release:

In addition to providing 9 months of job protection, the firm will enhance the support it provides to parents upon returning to practice, including: building on its industry-leading onramping program that allows parents to increase the intensity of their practice at their own pace, strengthening its Flexible Work Arrangement program, creating the role of “Leave Liaison” who will coach parents in transitioning back to practice, and providing training for leaders and sponsors in how to support working parents.

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We had the chance to speak to Orrick’s Chairman Mitchell Zuklie this morning, and he told us that the firm’s new parental leave policy was just one of the components in trying to make Orrick one of the best places to work. “We’re making investments in things that will substantively improve the lives of people who work at a very high level and who are very dedicated to client service,” Zuklie noted. “It’s only fair to help them achieve some amount of balance in their lives. We want to invest in and retain the best possible attorneys, and this new policy will further that goal.”

When we asked Zuklie whether he thought male attorneys at Orrick would take full advantage of the firm’s generous parental leave policy, he said he had high hopes. “It’s meant to be a primary care giver policy, and it’s crafted to make sure that people are not stigmatized regardless of their gender. We’re not living in the days of Leave It to Beaver — families have different constructs as to who is in charge of taking care of the children.”

Zuklie further stated that an increasing number of men were taking parental leave each year, and that men had even started asking about the firm’s parental leave policies during on-campus recruiting at law schools. “We invest a lot in finding attorneys and training them, and our clients invest in relationships with our associates, so we want these people to be able to stay at Orrick and balance their law firm life with a rich family life. Programs like these will lead to happier and more productive lawyers.”

In a separate interview with Julie Triedman of the Am Law Daily, Zuklie said: “I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the legal profession is facing a crisis if it doesn’t deal with the problems of the retention of women lawyers.” If only more people in charge at Biglaw firms thought like him, women might be in a better place in their careers.

There’s a reason Orrick has been ranked on the Yale Law Women’s Top 10 Most Family Friendly Firms list for three years running. All eyes are now officially on Orrick as the industry leader in terms of work-life balance for attorneys with children — and that’s a wonderful thing. Will other law firms make the move to match Orrick’s amazing parental leave policy? We certainly hope so. In fact, we wouldn’t mind if this played out like Biglaw’s 2014 bonus season. Is there a Biglaw firm out there with the chutzpah to quickly meet or beat Orrick on this important parental perk? We suppose we’ll find out soon.

If you’re a woman dreaming of having it all, Orrick seems to be a firm where you’ll be able to do it. Congratulations once again to Orrick for being a firm that’s taking its commitment to furthering women attorneys’ advancement in the legal profession seriously, and for being a firm that realizes men shouldn’t be discouraged from taking part in their children’s lives. We’d wish Orrick the best of luck in becoming one of the best law firms to work for, but we’re not sure that the firm needs it — Orrick seems to be doing a great job already.

Click here for a full look at our survey of firm parental leave policies and related benefits.

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