Partner Says Law Firms Should Take a Cue from Obama, Who Works at Home
President Obama’s home and office—the White House—are one and the same.
Of course, the president has plenty of staffers and a place big enough to accommodate them, law firm partner Patricia Gillette writes for the Am Law Daily. Those differences aside, his ability to take a break for family time is a model that should be emulated, she says.
Traditionally, lawyers who opted to do part of their work at home to make time for family were considered part-timers or workers on an alternative schedule. Both situations can carry the stigma of not being committed, and, in most law firms, they can bump lawyers off the partnership track, she says.
“However, in our new world where technology enables nearly everything, it is time for law firm leaders to acknowledge and embrace the fact that employees can access information and provide good counsel from almost anywhere,” she writes.
“It is time to eliminate ‘face time’ as the measurement of dedication and commitment. Big corner offices with senior partners in them are status symbols of the past. (And it is costly real estate, to boot, that smart firms would be wise to give up.) Hours devoted to a commute are no longer signs of commitment, but the tipping point in attempts at work-life balance. And the new reality is this: Clients don’t care where the work gets done. They just want it done as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.”
Gillette is an employment partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. She and another lawyer founded the Opt-In Project to find out how firms can do a better job retaining women lawyers.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Too Many Women Lawyers are Like Oz’s Dorothy, Partner Says”
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ABAJournal.com: “Orrick Partner Says Law Firms Must Change Promotion and Billing Structures”
