Steptoe & Johnson

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Infobit: Since 1985, law schools have been graduating classes of new lawyers that are 40% or more female. Yet in 1996, only 14.2% of law firm partners were women, and in 2005, only 17.2% were women. (Note: this figure is for all partners; the number of equity partners is lower.) Source: Catalyst. At this rate of increase, women should make up half of law firm partners by the year 2115.

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Steptoe & Johnson

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We have received comments about how well some firms' part-time programs are working. These comments are often anonymous and cannot be verified; therefore, they should be viewed as unreliable and given no more weight than gossip.

If you would like to comment on this firm's part-time policies or on the comments themselves, please click here.

Comments on the firm's part-time policy:

The fact that no men work part-time may indicated that the firm's part-time program is stigmatized and not usable.

In the past five years, the firm has not promoted to partner any attorneys who have worked or are currently working alternative schedules. However, the firm has promoted such attorneys in prior years. Part-time associates may stay on the partnership track but the length of their part-time status may affect partnership decisions.

The firm considers requests from lawyers for part-time work arrangements on an individual basis. Each request is reviewed based on the reasons for the request, the terms of the request, and the firm's needs. In general, the firm prefers part-time arrangements for at least 80% of full-time hours, which, by law firm standards, is hardly part-time. PAR does not consider limiting part-time schedules in this fashion to be a best practice.

Lawyers working part-time receive proportional pay for their work, but one associate reports that such lawyers may find themselves without enough work to complete their hours. This may also indicate stigma and lack of usability, as it seems to suggest bias on the part of partners against working with part-time attorneys.

There have been some reports of cases in which 80% hours quickly turned into 100% hours, if the lawyer was not strict about maintaining his/her boundaries. Although non-billable hours, such as time spent at CLE classes, are not credited towards the 80% schedule, the firm consciously tries not to overload part-time attorneys with non-billable work.

Many attorneys who want a more flexible work arrangement are turning to contract attorney positions with the firm. These positions are available to attorneys who have developed an area of expertise at the firm and are interested in pursuing that particular area of work. Contract attorneys negotiate their own employment contracts with Steptoe. Unlike associates in the firm, they do not receive a yearly salary and are not employees. These contract attorneys are paid hourly and may work at the firm as little as one or two days a week, but, due to insurance company requirements, they are not eligible for benefits if they work fewer than 55% time. Many of the attorneys who have chosen this route have children and receive benefits such as health insurance via their spouses. Generally, these contract attorneys have no commitment with the firm to return to full time work in the future.

One associate reports that most of her colleagues who have children don't talk about them openly at work. Still, she has noticed men at the firm starting to take more time off or leave early to spend time with their kids.

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