Editor's note: Your ProbateShark believes "Family-Friendly" in this article relates to employees of these law firms. This Shark would appreciate the term "Family-Friendly" to also extend the definition to the kindly treatment of families in the Family and Probate Courts.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster,  ProbateSharks.com

23 Apr 2014 at 2:07 PM

Biglaw, Gender, Kids, Pregnancy / Paternity, Rankings, Women's Issues

The Top Ten Family-Friendly Law Firms (2014)

By Staci Zaretsky

Women continue to have a hard time in the law. Whether they’re being told not to show cleavage, dress like “ignorant sluts,” or wear hooker heels, they just can’t the respect they deserve. In an environment like this, where women are perceived as lesser beings and one is expected to bring baked goods to the office just because she happens to have breasts, achieving a sense of work/life balance seems like an incredibly lofty goal.
The Yale Law Women just came out with their annual list of the top ten family friendly firms. We cover this list every year (see our posts from 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008). This year’s list changed very dramatically from last year’s: only three of the firms have returned.
Which firms made the cut? Which firms had the best options available to both women and men? Let’s take a look at the latest ranking for the most family-friendly firms…

Here’s the list of the most family-friendly firms according to Yale Law Women (in alphabetical order):

Arnold & Porter
Baker Botts
Hogan Lovells (U.S.)
Hunton & Williams
Kirkland & Ellis
Morrison & Foerster
Munger Tolles & Olson
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Vinson & Elkins

In 2014, the following firms were booted from the list: Fulbright & Jaworski, Goodwin Procter, Perkins Coie (previously honored for four years in a row; so much for the diaper-changing table in the men’s bathroom), Reed Smith (previously honored for two years in a row), Sherman & Sterling, Sidley Austin, and Squire Sanders. Curiously missing in action yet again was WilmerHale. The Boston-based firm used to be a staple on the YLW list (from 2009 to 2012). Does anyone have any specific info on what happened here?
The three returning firms are Arnold & Porter (an institution on this list; it’s been recognized every year since we began our coverage), Hunton & Williams, and Orrick (both honored for the third year in a row). These three are now joined by Baker Botts, HoLove, K&E, MoFo, Munger Tolles, Paul Weiss, and V&E. Congratulations to all of these firms for their many accomplishments in “developing and implementing family friendly practices and policies.”
Perhaps an even greater accomplishment, however, is being named in not one but two rankings lists for the best firms in terms of flex-time opportunities. In 2013, Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers released the list of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women, which included the U.S. outpost of Hogan Lovells, Hunton & Williams, Kirkland & Ellis, Orrick, and Vinson & Elkins. Very nice work.
Vivia Chen of The Careerist has a round-up of useful information about some of the YLW study’s findings:

• Work/life balance is a hot subject at firms. The report finds that an astonishing 83 percent have committees devoted to the issue.
• Part-time and flex-time work are allowed in most firms. But part-time is definitely a women’s thing: They make up 80.5 percent of those who take advantage of the program.
• Firms offer generous paid leaves. Sixteen weeks to primary caregivers, and 5.6 weeks to secondary caregivers. But only about 50 percent of men take the maximum parental leave, while 90 percent of women do so.

That’s really good and well that all of these Biglaw firms are paying greater attention to the family needs of their employees, but we’d love to know what taking advantage of these opportunities does to one’s professional career track. Considering the YLW report says that “[a]lumni expressed skepticism about the likelihood of remaining partner-eligible after taking advantage of alternative schedules,” we obviously have our doubts as to the firms’ sincere intent to offer genuine work/life balance opportunities.
According to the surveys taken by the Yale Law Women, things are supposedly getting better. “[A]bout 40 percent of attorneys perceived their firms to be more family friendly now compared to last year,” says Luci Yang, the group’s chair. We’ll buy into that when legal professionals — women especially — aren’t being penalized for attempting to attain a sense of work/life balance.
P.S. Take this with a shaker of salt: the workaholic cult of Wachtell Lipton somehow has one of the highest percentages of associates working on part-time schedules.
2014 Top Ten Family Friendly Firms List [Yale Law Women]
Wachtell Lipton Is Family Friendly? [The Careerist]
Only Women and Wimps Work Part-Time [The Careerist]
Earlier: The Top Ten Family-Friendly Law Firms (2013)

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Biglaw, Family, Family Friendly Law Firms, Gender, Kids, Pregnancy / Paternity, Rankings, Women's Issues, Yale Law School, Yale Law Women

07 Dec 2012 at 12:17 PM

Law Schools, listserv, Ridiculousness, Yale Law School

How Many Yale Law Students Does It Take To Figure Out How To Pee?

By Elie Mystal

Did anybody else around my age first learn about bidets from Crocodile Dundee?

The Yale Law School Wall is consistently one of the best listservs in all of law school. Only the Michigan Law listserv can compete.
Today, the Yale Wall brings us a fun story of Yalies intellectualizing the etiquette of… picking a urinal to pee in.
In fairness, urinal etiquette is an important issue. It’s just that most guys kind of figure it out on their own.
But at Yale Law, there are no stupid questions. And it’s a very liberal, gender-neutral place. We know that because not only are urinal questions being asked on the listserv, the guy asking the question is seeking advice from a girl….

In fairness, peeing at Yale Law School is a pretty big issue. In the past, students haven’t been able to figure out precisely where to do it. Since Yale Law women have had problems peeing properly in the past, maybe it’s not weird for a Yale Law man to ask a woman on proper bathroom procedure. From the Wall:

Dear [Person With Lady Parts],
I was just getting comfortable in my new surroundings at Yale Law School, starting to find my way around, forcing myself to volunteer in Guido’s Torts, but then I ran into a problem that I feel inadequate to address. Please help: Yesterday, I walked into the second-floor men’s bathroom. Another dude was using the far-left urinal, leaving either the uncomfortably close middle urinal or the far-right urinal. The far-right urinal is tiny-sized. I am normal-sized. I hate that there are only three urinals in there, but that’s the way it is. What should I have done when I went Number One?
– To pee or not to pee

I’m not sure how this guy is old enough to go to law school, yet doesn’t know the answer to this question. I blame his father. But let’s see what the girl has to say:

Dear To Pee,
I asked around, and apparently part of the problem is that the men’s room has eight stalls but only three badly positioned urinals. (Seriously?) And part of the problem with the “tiny-sized” urinal is that if you are tall-ish and you use it there can be “sprayage.” Anyway, what’s done is done and now you have this problem. I’m with you, it sounds really awkward.
I think the answer to your question depends on how comfortable you are with your fellow bathroom users. If I were you–granted, not understanding all the nuance–I would just use the middle urinal. Life’s too short to fret about inches.
I do, however, think it would be totally fine to use one of the stalls. Surely there are almost always several free. Just be sure to always lift the seat.
Are you ready to man up?
–[Person with Lady Parts]

Look, the right answer is never to use the closest urinal to somebody already peeing if there is any other option. I’m not saying that out of the reflexive homophobia that was undoubtedly the basis of this social norm. I’m saying that because it’s a social norm. Different cultures have different norms when it comes to public bathrooms, and in ours, it’s standard to leave a urinal in between.
Unless everything else is full, and then you slot in there and do your business like an adult, because who cares. It’s like holding the door open for a lady: it’s social norm that starts from a place of patronizing sexism, but now it’s just a nice thing to do. So you do it if you can, you don’t if it would require a big production, and you move on with your life.
And I shouldn’t have to explain this to a Yale Law student. You know, if we’re dealing with a [I think we all know what school I'm thinking of] student, maybe you have to tell them which basin is for peeing and which basin is for washing your hands — since we know not everybody can tell the difference between pee and rain.
But at Yale? I mean, this isn’t the only bathroom problem they’re having there. Click ahead to the next page to see the problems in the women’s bathroom….

http://abovethelaw.com/2012/12/how-many-yale-law-students-does-it-take-to-figure-out-how-to-pee/