Women Who Take Law Practice Breaks Get More Help Getting Re-Connected
Women lawyers who take time off from their practices to raise children or take care of family have long struggled to return to their careers. They’ve reported that they don’t feel confident or need refreshers to get back into the game.
It’s looking more an more like the legal industry is responding, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
“There’s really a buzz going on abut how to use this untapped talent,” the paper quotes Deborah Epstein Henry, founder and president of Flex-Time Lawyers.
Henry is set to participate in a Pennsylvania Bar event, “Just a Detour: Tips on How to Off- and On-Ramp Successfully” (PDF).
The Post-Gazette notes that “42 percent of female lawyers nationwide take time off from their careers apart from their maternity leave during the course of their careers.” They stay out-of-pocket for some three years. And when they return, they lack confidence in their skill and have concerns about job flexibility.
Two law schools—Pace Law School in New York and the University of California Hastings College of the Law—have specific programs for women lawyers returning to work. Henry also told the paper that law firms are developing re-entry policies and that bar groups, including the ABA, have launched related initiatives.
