Blog #31

There is a huge problem of balancing work/home life in the legal profession. The legal profession is very demanding and time-consuming, and this negatively affects the relationships that lawyers have with their families. Many people feel that this issue is impossible to solve because it is so difficult to balance to two aspects. People who are the sole breadwinner of their families do not stress the issues that bother their children because they are too busy stressing about the financial issues. Many attorneys believe that having a family life negatively affects their work success. Women attorneys face these issues with much more force than male attorneys because they are traditionally viewed as the nurturing parent and homemaker. Women attorneys must make many sacrifices to balance their work/family lives and both suffer because of the struggle to stay on top of it all. Part-time schedules are one suggested solution that assists women in being attorneys and mothers. With a part-time schedule they can do their work on their own time and still fill the needs of their children. Women also need to be more upfront about their motherhood so that it is not seen as a negative in the law office. Younger attorneys are also more proudly announcing that they will take time off to be mothers and return to work as soon as they are ready and willing. Stereotypes that suggest that the man is the career parent while the woman is the homemaker should not be encouraged. Males get far less leeway to parent and men are typically less inclined to move to part-time positions to care for their families because of the stereotypes and the responsibilities of being the breadwinner. Reduced hours schedules should be available to both men and women who want to spend more time with their families. In the law career parenting is negative for both men and women which makes it extremely difficult for solutions geared toward balancing work/family life a possibility.