Work-Life Balance Concerns Placed on Hold in Recession, Career Consultant Says
A legal career consultant says many lawyers are putting work-life balance concerns on hold because of the bad economy.
Kate Neville, a Harvard law grad and founder of Neville Career Consulting in Washington, D.C., told the Washington Post about changes she’s seeing because of the recession.
She says many lawyers are interested in work-life balance, but “the downturn in the economy has forced many of them to put that goal on hold as they feel they are lucky to have a job.”
Law firm layoffs have ramped up competition for federal government agency jobs, Neville says, particularly positions with the U.S. Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Treasury Department.
She notes law firms’ increasing focus on the bottom line. Law firms are hiring rainmakers, she says, sometimes for key positions. “Young turks who have substantial books of business sometimes join a firm to take over the leadership of a department, often displacing more senior lawyers with long histories at the firm,” she says.
