Should the Practice of Law be More Family Friendly?

Making workplaces more family friendly has been on the minds of people as different as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg  and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.  Last week Trump, with the help of his daughter, introduced child-care policies. According to the National Law Journal, last Wednesday Justice Ginsburg had a related issue on her mind when she “chided law firms for not taking more steps to improve the balance between home and work for lawyers with young children.”  Her remarks came in a conversation with former Solicitor General Ted Olson before the D.C. chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel.  

In fact, a recent Huffington Post blog post listed being a lawyer as the ten worst jobs for work-life balance.  On their top ten best list–hairstylist and data scientists–skills that probably don’t appeal to lots of attorneys (in fact the data scientist description mentioned the need for lots of math).  However, a 2014 Forbes list of best work-life balance jobs included being a law clerk, a career that can involve balance if your judge is on board with the idea.

While work-life balance is not specifically an appellate law topic, it is certainly an issue that appellate attorneys must consider.  Stringent briefing deadlines, preparatory moots, and traveling to courts across the country for arguments can make it difficult to live a balanced life.  What are the best appellate positions for work-life balance?  My guess would probably be government appellate work or, perhaps, some non-profits who engage in limited appellate litigation.  According to an article last year in The Atlantic, there is a new set of law firms cropping up that are striving to provide more flexible schedules for men and women.  Perhaps more big law firms will follow Justice Ginsburg’s advice and the model of these other firms and offer more work-life balance options for their attorneys.