Lawyers- best job for home/work balance?

jcrising · September 2014

I am pregnant with my second and while I love my law firm and it affords a lot of flexibility for leaving to go to doctor appts or working from home when necessary, I am anticipating that as LO2 gets older, I will want to spend more time at home and less time at the office. Any law grads out there have a dream job to aspire to? (good pay, flexibility, no billable hours, etc.)

Mustardseed2007 · September 2014

I work in house. It's normally 8-5 and usually low stress except for a few times a year when we take on certain complicated projects.

ETA: My benefits are, relatively speaking, horrible. But if I worked in house in a different industry they would be better.

itsmevkb · September 2014

Career law clerk!

legalbeagle1 · September 2014

In-house counsel in the financial services industry. Work is 9am-6pm. I send some emails at night and on weekends and very rarely need to log on during those times. Some of it is my bosses: their own families are a priority and they trust me to work from anywhere. I work from home one day a week. Pay and benefits are great. I am never leaving my job.

MommyAtty · September 2014

I have an in-house job at a Fortune 200 company. If I wasn't trying to climb the corporate ladder, this could be a dream job. A lot of the attorneys at lower career rungs who aren't supervisory attorneys work an 8-5 job with not a ton of overtime or weekends required. I had a federal government attorney job and it was fantastic as far as hours went. No flexibility, though. I have a ton more flexibility where I am now. I'm working from home today because my kids' had their well baby visits this morning. I couldn't have done that at my government job without jumping through a thousand hoops first.

xcjump · September 2014

I work for a University and love it. Flexible, great hours, not billable hours, great benefits and vacation time. Plus the pay is pretty good.

Jills83 · September 2014

I am piecing together an OK salary as a contract attorney. I work two days a week in-house with a medical equipment manufacturer and 2 or 3 days a week out of my home doing title work independently for one client.

I receive no benefits, but H's job provides health insurance and I have an IRA with my bank to save for retirement. The drawbacks are that (1) I do not have paid time off and (2) I feel like I am not doing what is best for my resume. The drawbacks are outweighed by being home with my kids when they are sick, only sending them to DC for 4-5 hours three days a week, and not having the weight of stress I was under at my previous job.

operaghost · September 2014

I'd love an in-house job. Billable hours suck ass.

mexicolombiana · September 2014

I work as a consumer bankruptcy lawyer. Generally the hours are great but I did have to work many Saturday mornings for a few years to accommodate clients.

The pay isn't great but the hours are very much 9-5 and the work is easy.

Now I work part time only Monday and Wednesdays and my life is awesome. I feel like working part time is such a great compromise, if you can afford it.

MirandaHobbes · September 2014

Government attorney here- and I love it. Great benefits and hours.

My husband did contract work for several years. He didn't love it, but it was very strictly 8-5, ok money. No benefits though. Some of his peers went on to be "staff attorneys" at some big law firms where they oversee the temp attorneys on projects. They are busy, but don't have billable requirements and aren't partner-tracked.

My husband currently is working in Compliance at a financial company. It's pseudo-legal, and he's very happy. He probably works 36 hours a week and makes good money considering it doesn't require a JD. He had to get a bunch of his Series licenses.

ETA: I also clerked for a judge out of law school and there were several career law clerks there. All moms, and all very, very happy!

KonaCoffeeBean · September 2014

I contract with the state doing child welfare representation. Good work, very flexible. Pay is crap.

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Lawyers- best job for home/work balance?

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