Repeat Performance: Four Law Firms Make Working Mother’s Top 100 List
Four law firms are once again on Working Mother magazine’s list of the 100 best companies for work-life balance.
Law firms on the list are:
• Arnold & Porter, which also made Working Mother’s “best in class” list of the best companies for parental leave. New moms at the firm can take up to 24 weeks of job-guaranteed leave, with 18 weeks fully paid. The law firm has a child-care facility at its headquarters that serves 55 kids, and it gives priority access to day care for moms in other locations. “Attorneys becoming parents for the first time can join the New Parent Mentor program, which pairs them with colleagues who have more experience,” the story says. “Growing support for part-time and compressed schedules means moms can avoid burnout while raising kids.”
• Covington & Burling. The firm offers nearby day care that serves 85 kids. “When you’re knee-deep in legal briefs, it helps to know that your children are being cared for just a block away,” the story says. “Mothers form tight bonds with one another in the Women’s Forum, which sponsors get-togethers, professional training and volunteering projects; luncheons held by the Work-Family Balance Group give parents a place to trade tips on child care, benefits and working part time (as 40 lawyers do).” Fifty-nine percent of the firm’s employees are women. New moms get 18 paid weeks off.
• Katten Muchin Rosenman. The law firm offers paid monthlong sabbaticals to associates with five years of tenure. “The leaves are part of a culture of flexibility that allowed 55 percent of the workforce to telecommute and 46 percent to compress their hours at some point last year,” the story says. New moms get 13 paid weeks of maternity leave and may phase back into work for three months.
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. The firm gives new parents six weeks of paid leave and allows lawyers to phase back in to full-time practice at the end of their leave. During the transition, parents get 10 free days of baby-sitting at an approved center. “To make sure moms know their options, the Women Attorneys Network just led a conference on flexible schedules,” the story says. “In each office, a reduced-hours partner coaches leaders on facilitating flex arrangements and helps broker similar discussions between attorneys and management. In a new program, women partners mentor female associates on the importance of maintaining work-life balance.”
The same four law firms were on the list last year.
