Too Little Time? One Ohio Law Firm Pays Delivery Charges
Busy professionals can have difficulty finding even a few minutes during the day to drop off dry cleaning or buy groceries for a family dinner.
But that’s no problem if they work at Calfee, Halter & Griswold. The Cleveland-based law firm pays delivery charges for services from certain vendors in order to help its 330 lawyers and staff members in their Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, offices balance their work and personal lives, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. It also offers concierge services to connect those seeking services with reliable providers.
Among the available offerings are groceries and take-out food; dry cleaning and alterations; and referrals to after-hours in-home computer technical support and emergency child care.
Those benefitting include partner Chris Williams, a father of three children, ages 2, 4 and 6, whose wife, Cynthia Mog, also works full-time as a senior associate at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. Being able to order food from the office not only saves time but means he doesn’t have to make another stop at the end of the day, with three kids in the car, when everyone just wants to go home, he says.
Attorney Barbara Danforth, who is president and chief executive of the YWCA of Greater Cleveland, says such programs are helpful, but wonders whether the extra time gained is being spent to work harder or on vacations and other relaxing activities.
“She says lawyers often ask her to keep her early childhood programs open until 9 p.m. to accommodate their late hours, but she has always refused because she doesn’t want children spending 10 hours in day care,” the newspaper reports.
