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October 2015 Moms
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Lawyer Ladies checkin

MsdpgpMsdpgp member
in October 2015 Moms
I know from a GTKY poll waay back that there are some other lawyers on this board.  How are things going for you as we get closer?  My blood pressure has been high (a yoga practicing, running, vegetarian), and I've gotten some pressure from my doctor to back off at work.
In the meantime I'm prepping for a trial that starts in late September, and getting pressure to shorten my mat leave (we get 24 weeks total...in theory).  
How are you guys holding up with the stress of the job, work expectations and health stuff....I could use some sense that I am not alone.

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Re: Lawyer Ladies checkin

  • jennylynn103jennylynn103 member

    I'm not a litigation attorney so I don't have that pressure, but I work at a high volume transactional firm and sitting on my butt for as long as I do is making my feet swell like crazy. I want to start backing off and going home closer to 5 every day, but I also hate to use pregnancy as an excuse since I don't have any actual medical complications - just exhausted.

    24 weeks is great maternity leave, though! I hope you can take all of it. My firm doesn't offer any maternity leave so I'm just leaving and will come back/find another job if/when I'm ready.

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  • rparr1984rparr1984 member
    I'm supposed to be working on my "plan" for maternity leave & coming back, which I'll present to my managing partner & executive committee later this month.  I've been trying to work more to put me in a good bargaining position, but I'm tired and a bit stressed out about it.  I want to ask to bring my baby to work until she is mobile/crawling (which my team leader fully supports) or to work from home two days a week, and I'm nervous that the powers that be will laugh me out of the room.  We will see!

    Also, my due date is October 23 and a partner scheduled a trial to start on September 28 based on my due date because he figures there is just no way that my pregnancy will interfere with a week long trial at that point.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  Oh, and I will obviously have a doctor's appointment that week.  Hope he doesn't mind me waddling into trial a few minutes late that day, but it's not really something I can control. 
    Me 31; DH 30
    Married - April 25, 2014
    DD #1 Born October 18, 2015

       

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  • MrsM2015MrsM2015 member
    Things have been great! Thankfully, I work in a small firm and my boss is amazing. I get 12 weeks paid leave. I wish it were more, but it certainly isn't terrible. My stress level has been manageable, but that is probably because I have excellent support staff. I too have a trial scheduled for September. I'm not worried about the case. I'm more worried about fitting into decent looking clothes and being completely exhausted and unable to think!
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  • jennylynn103jennylynn103 member
    What fields do you ladies practice in? :)
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  • rparr1984rparr1984 member
    I'm on our firm's general litigation team.  I primarily do personal injury defense work, but I have a lot of other random litigation matters sprinkled in (for instance, the case I'll go to trial on in September deals with a dispute between a trust company & one of its clients). 
    Me 31; DH 30
    Married - April 25, 2014
    DD #1 Born October 18, 2015

       

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  • MsdpgpMsdpgp member
    I'm also general lit...trial in September is insurance recovery. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a September trial; we will all survive I'm sure :)
    @rparr1984 I'm fascinated to find out how your ask goes. Are you a partner?
    Thanks ladies!
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  • MrsM2015MrsM2015 member
    Most of my practice consists of business bankruptcies. Almost all of my current cases are reorganizations. I also do debt workouts and general litigation. Definitely keeps me busy!
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  • rparr1984rparr1984 member
    @Msdpgp - I am not a partner (I'm up for partnership in December 2016), but my firm is actively trying to be more family friendly with part time and flex time policies. We have a standard policy for what amount of maternity leave is paid for an associate, but from that point the individual associate designs her own plan, including how that plan should impact salary & partnership track. I don't want to extend my track or decrease my pay at all, so I want to be full time, but I want the flexibility to spend time with my baby when she is little. My team leader is really supportive and thinks there won't be a problem with working from home, but he wants me to ask to bring baby to work because he thinks it should be an option and he thinks I'm probably the person in the best position to bring it up for the very first time (but thinks they will ultimately say no).
    Me 31; DH 30
    Married - April 25, 2014
    DD #1 Born October 18, 2015

       

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  • MsdpgpMsdpgp member
    @rparr1984 - Wow that is awesome.  My firm is quite old school (like it even looks like it is still the mid-80s here) so we don't have any kind of approach like that.  You are really lucky!
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  • nmatheny14nmatheny14 member
    I try to spend as much time at my desk as possible. I keep a stability ball under it and try to keep my feet up. Due to swelling, my doctor has recommended that I lay on my right side as often as possible (swelling is worse on my left). Sometimes I close my door and take the laptop to the floor. When I have hearings or depositons I wear flats to wherever I'm going and keep professional shoes in my bag to switch into when I arrive. I'm 33 weeks with twins. Hoping I can keep working until they arrive. Our maternity policy allows for 11 weeks and I don't want to use too much of that before they get here. I'm very happy to be at a family friendly firm.
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  • AGMeeksAGMeeks member
    Hey Lawyers! I'm a public service lawyer and feel super lucky to work at a firm (Legal Aid in NYC) that actually has a really family friendly atmosphere. It doesn't hurt that we have a strong union that has fought to get/keep good policies. 12 weeks paid, but up to 1 year leave, and (at least in my office) no pressure at all to "hurry up and get back." Also I manage my own case load and almost always leave work at 5 when I am working. I do have some stressful trials/motions scheduled between now and baby, but I do my own calendaring, so no one to blame but myself (and pushy judges). This is baby #3 and almost certainly the last. I'm planning to take as close to the full year as we can manage. My husband is a securities litigator and his firm is great, but there's just so much pressure to work crazy hours and always be available (for example - he's going to miss a good chunk of our 1 week vacation that was planned ages ago around the firm's schedule - argh!). It really sucks that so many law firms do so poorly at accommodating people's lives outside of work.
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  • Lo9876Lo9876 member
    I'm in commercial real estate. Just had a couple of big closings scheduled for late September/early October and starting to freak out about it a little!

    Really interested in seeing how the bring-the-baby-to-the-office negotiation goes. Please keep us posted! The partner I do most of my work for has joked about that a lot - he tells all of my clients that we will be setting up a bassinet in the office so I can be back to work after a few days - but it actually sounds like a fabulous option. AFTER you take full maternity leave of course!

    Anyone find that you are putting more pressure on yourself than your firm/bosses are? I'm currently one of 2 female attorneys in my 20 person office and even though the men have truly been great and accommodating this pregnancy I keep feeling like I need to step it up and take on just as much (if not more) work than usual or else risk looking like I just can't hack it...
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  • nmatheny14nmatheny14 member
    I told our managing partner that if our babies don't get into daycare by the time my leave is up, I'll be bringing them with me. I think he thinks I was kidding... Definitely was not! Lol. We don't have family around and private sitters cost a fortune. Hopefully they'll get in somewhere soon :)
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  • MsdpgpMsdpgp member
    @Lo9876 I definitely get the more pressure on myself than others! I'm the most senior associate lady in my practice group and kind of feel like I have to prove I can handle it
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