|
Washington, D.C., April 25, 2003 --
Attorneys who are seeking to balance their lives and work by
switching from law firms to corporate law departments had better do their
research, warns the Project for Attorney Retention (PAR) in its latest
report.
Both male and female
attorneys who have moved in-house cite a desire to have shorter hours or a
less stressful pace of work as among the reasons for making the move.
Some have found exactly what they were looking for, either by
working a full-time schedule that averages 45-50 hours per week, or by
taking advantage of alternative work arrangements such as part-time,
compressed time, telecommuting, or job sharing.
Others have found, however, that work hours, travel requirements,
and stress in-house are just as intense as in a law firm -- but with a
smaller paycheck and fewer advancement opportunities -- and that
alternative work arrangements are blatantly discouraged.
"One encouraging finding of our study is that you can find a good
in-house legal job at close to 40 hours a week if you look for it
carefully," said Joan Williams, Professor of Law at American University
Washington College of Law and Co-Director of PAR.
"In contrast, another major finding of our study is disturbing
-- part-time work in-house often is dramatically stigmatized, even more
so than in many law firms." PAR's
report cites examples of part-time stigma reported by in-house counsel,
including ineligibility for promotion, disproportionate reduction of
bonus, vulnerability to lay-offs, 'dog' work assignments, and loss of
colleagues' respect.
PAR's study also includes a finding that dispels a myth held by
many law firm partners, which is that their clients will not stand for
part-time work in law firms. Overwhelmingly,
the in-house counsel interviewed by PAR stated they would not object to
working with part-time outside counsel.
Many expressed support for part-time work at law firms as a way to
reduce turnover and stabilize relationships with their attorneys. Others said it would not change the way they work with their
outside counsel because even full-time law firm attorneys are rarely
available to one client all the time, so there is little practical
difference to them whether a law firm attorney works full-time or
part-time.
These findings are discussed in PAR's Interim Report on its
Corporate Counsel Project. PAR
previously studied part-time work in law firms, and issued a report that
contained best practices recommendations as well as its findings.
PAR is an initiative of the Program on Gender, Work & Family of
American University Washington College of Law, and is funded by the Alfred
P. Sloan Foundation. PAR
expects to issue a final report, which will discuss these and other
findings in depth and provide best practices recommendations and a model
policy. More information
about PAR, and its Interim Report, are available at www.pardc.org.
#
# #
|
