Yale Law Women Name Top 10 Family-Friendly Firms

By Pete Brush

Law360, New York (September 10, 2008) -- In an effort to raise awareness about the work-life issues that often plague attorneys and their families, student group Yale Law Women on Monday announced its 2008 Top Ten Family-Friendly Firms list of law firms with family-oriented workplace rules.

“This is a hugely important issue,” second-year Yale law student Lauren Gerber said on Wednesday. “It affects an enormous number of attorneys throughout the country.”

The list, in its third year, was chosen after law students surveyed 100 elite law firms named in the 2007 Vault Top 100 Law Firms list.

Firms on the Top Ten list said Wednesday they've incorporated flexible and generous policies over the years in an effort not only to make life easier for their lawyers, but also to retain talent. The named firms feature cutting edge workplace benefits such as on-site childcare, consulting for lawyers seeking more family time and a range of extended-leave policies, whether paid or unpaid.

“Don't make them have to make that choice” between career and family, said Bob Kleiber, spokesman for Dorsey & Whitney, which made the list. Ten of 16 new 2008 partners at Kleiber's firm are women, he said, and four of those have taken advantage of the firm's flexible work policies in the past. Moreover, the managing parter at the firm, Marianne Short, is a working mother, he said.

The top ten, in alphabetical order, are Arnold & Porter; Covington & Burling; Dorsey & Whitney; Debevoise & Plimpton; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Kirkland & Ellis; Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel; Mintz Levin Cohen Ferris Glovsky and Popeo; Perkins Coie and WilmerHale.

Categories of questions in the Yale survey included access to and use of maternity/paternity leave; emergency and on-site child care; part-time and flex-time work schedules; health and other benefits for domestic partners; ratios of women partners and associates; and billable hours.

Barbara Becker, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said her firm offers the “whole package” when it comes to family-friendly workplace rules.

“This is nothing new for us,” Becker said. “We've long been interested in retaining and promoting women.”

Of her firm's 1,000 lawyers, some 41 percent of associates are female, she said. New mothers at the firm get 18 weeks' maternity leave and can return to work on a “very flexible” basis starting at half-time on an annual basis.

The firm also offers emergency back-up child care and domestic partner benefits, said Becker, who is a mother of four children.

Theresa Cropper is part of a team at Perkins Coie that consults with attorneys seeking flexible working arrangements. She says the biggest part of the challenge is getting lawyers to understand changes that may result from taking more time for family.

She said employees frequently ask her, “Am I going to miss opportunities to work on cases?”

“There's no penalty attached to part-time status and that's the critical part,” Cropper said, adding her job is to help them manage expectations.

“If they're comfortable, they're going to give as much as they can,” Cropper said.