By Aebra Coe

Law360 (August 19, 2020, 8:52 PM EDT) -- A number of law firms are ramping up their efforts to support attorney parents who are facing a new school year and the need to again navigate remote schooling and work, with Reed Smith LLP and Blank Rome LLP among those highlighting new programs on Wednesday.

Some of the programs and offerings firms are turning to in order to support parents as the school year approaches — and in some cases has already begun — include child care and tutoring resources, mental wellness classes tailored to working parents, forums and affinity groups to communicate and share knowledge with other parents, and even a parent resource app.

Although many law firms have had programs to support parents in place for a long time and many already strengthened them soon after the start of the pandemic, now is a vital time to reassess and make sure that attorneys navigating parenting and school are getting all the support they need, according to Stephanie Biderman, a managing director for attorney recruiting firm Major Lindsey & Africa.

"I think the coronavirus has been challenging on so many levels for everyone, but in particular for working parents it presents so many additional challenges," Biderman said. "Both in terms of the logistics of how you are going to run your day when you have to be a teacher, a cook, doing 15 jobs on top of your full-time job as a lawyer, and making sure your kids are OK during this time."

There are many benefits to firms making sure they're doing everything they can do to help, she added.

"By a firm going above and beyond and being at the forefront of these unique offerings to parents, it helps retain people you want to retain, but it also is a really strong potential differentiator for future laterals who are considering a firm holistically in terms of both the work and the different benefits they can offer," she said.

Reed Smith on Wednesday launched what it calls its Family Support Initiative. The program is a mixture of existing and new resources that are all compiled in one place — a regularly updated website — to make them easily accessible to parents and to ensure that parents are aware of the support available to them, the firm's global head of legal personnel, Casey Ryan, said.

One of the new elements of the program is office-based electronic message boards that allow attorneys and staff who are parents to communicate with one another, sharing advice, concerns, best practices, local resources and personal stories.

The firm is also making additional mental health resources available to parents, including a 6-week remote program that is tailored specifically to attorney parents who are dealing with the mental health strain of working at home and homeschooling, Ryan said.

Lastly, the firm is working to provide back up childcare and tutoring support to parents through an existing program that has been expanded, she said. The firm works with a third party to offer parents 15 days of emergency backup childcare when their usual childcare falls through. The number of options through that program have increased, Ryan said.

Additionally, the firm is compiling tutoring resources and putting them in one place so that parents in need of a tutor have options at their fingertips, she said.

"You can't solve for all of the problems parents are going to face, but I do think firms would be well served in investing in their people, which is any firm's greatest asset, by helping to make every resource you can available to them," Ryan said.

Blank Rome released an announcement as well on Wednesday saying that it has created a firmwide affinity group for parents, called the BR Parents Forum, which was originally launched in March.

"We are excited to provide an important platform to exchange ideas, network among colleagues, and share valuable information pertinent to working parents," said partner Ariel Glasner, co-chair of the BR Parents Forum. "As we enter the new school year, we are dedicated to highlighting the particular challenges that parents confront and to implementing an environment in which parents in any position at the firm have the opportunity to succeed."

This spring, the forum conducted a survey to gain an understanding of the particular concerns of parents at the firm during the pandemic and then it held a round of virtual community sessions addressing the issue in early April. It then held another round of community sessions in June to share and understand the new challenges parents were facing with the transition to summer.

"With a return to school on the horizon, we are planning to conduct another survey and then will hold another round of community sessions to discuss return to school concerns," Glasner's forum co-chair Lauren Wilgus said.

Other firms shared some novel ways they are supporting parents as they go back to school with Law360 on Wednesday.

Littler Mendelson PC's parenting initiative has created an internal Parenting Resources App that assembles all information related to parenting at Littler in one place, including firm policies and benefits and a comprehensive list of resources for their families recommended by other Littler parents.

Foley & Lardner LLP said that next week it will host a virtual Working Parents Program, with an expert offering advice and a discussion on topics such as time-blocking, communication, self-care, efficiency and remote school strategies.

Additionally, the firm said it has an internal Yammer-like group dedicated to providing support for working parents.

At Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, the emphasis is on making sure firm leaders are communicating to attorneys and staff that "it's okay to be human," said managing partner Al Dotson.

"Now that students are returning to school and remote learning will continue for the foreseeable future, we remain committed to embracing a flexible work environment for our attorneys and staff," Dotson said. "As we continue to adapt, we are forgoing the mindset of a 9-to-5 workday and encouraging our attorneys and other professionals to design work around their environment and in collaboration with clients, which we believe will allow our firm to continue to offer the caliber of services to which our clients are accustomed."

Major Lindsey's Biderman said that aside from any programming, a recognition of the challenges and understanding from management can go a long way as attorneys approach a new school year and the responsibilities that it entails.

"Having the law firm leaders communicate that 'We recognize this is an important issue and this is a challenge' — that in and of itself feels good," she said.

--Editing by Emily Kokoll and Kelly Duncan.

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