National Jurist - February 2008 - (Page 6) DISTURBINGTHEPEACE Work-life balance deserves to be taken seriously By Jon Peters Student Editor I’ve got a few things on my mind. is entirely without merit, especially if you would talk with my Since we published the feature story in October that addressed parents, but laziness simply isn’t the issue. Anyone who passed work-life balance in the legal profession, I’ve received a number of the logic section of the LSAT could appreciate that it’s possible e-mails from fellow law students, many questioning the propriety to work hard and yet to feel unfairly overworked, demanding a of law-firm perks designed to make associates’ lives less stressful. healthier balance. No laziness there, just sensibility. The issue to them is whether some So, what is the issue? of the perks are frivolous and, in turn, Reasonableness. BES T VAL UE LAW SCH whether they disserve clients by increasAccording to a recent study by OO LS TOP 5 NC Central U. Alabama Georgia State Florida State U. Memp ing firm operating costs. Fair concern, and the National Association for Law his the popular press tends to beat that drum Placement, more than 70 percent of every few years, as market conditions ebb law-firm attorneys experience moderand flow. The New York Times cataloged ate to major problems in balancing life in November some of the more luxuriwith work; and as if this surprises anyous perks provided to big-firm associates, one, they say there’s lots of work, little such as… life, even when considering their work •Limousine service to your home if you in a continuum of weeks or months, work late. rather than isolated days, any one of •Company-sponsored childcare or, which could be more chaotic than the alternatively, “emergency nanny services.” ordinary day. Law students are spea king out — they want law firms to deliver a With the latter, the firm is responsible Which returns me to reasonableness. higher quality of life. We look at what makes a law firm a great place to for finding and sending a nanny to your To design perks that enable an overwork, offer interview advic e to help you find great firms, and we profile the home if work interferes with parenting worked attorney to work more, and to law student who is leadi ng the charge and challenging the statu s quo. obligations. dress up those perks as medicine for the Guide to LL.M. •Dining service or delivery, with some overworked, is altogether unreasonable, where another degree can take you qualifications, if you work through dinner. no matter how well intended. •Concierge services. The firm will Essentially, it’s a matter of message Check out the story on work-life balarrange to pick up your dry cleaning, take and, more importantly, a matter of your car to the repair shop, and choose respect — for attorneys, for firms and ance in the legal profession in our your Halloween costume. for the profession. An overemphasis on October issue of The National Jurist Whether those perks are frivolous and, billing hours, sans any meaningful proby going to www.NJPLonline.com/ in turn, disserve clients is reasonably debatvisions to preserve work-life balance, digitalarchive.html to view the digital able. Perhaps the extras boost productivity, disrespects the attorney because it can magazine. but perhaps they do so at the expense of deprive him or her of professional and firm-wide efficiency. I’m happy to leave personal contentment; the firm because that question to other commentators, because I frame and evalu- discontented attorneys are likely to leave; and the profession ate the issue from a different perspective. because high attrition rates create instability. Naturally, any one of When I critique attorney perks (and believe me, it’s a fantasti- these, if not all of them together, could affect clients unfavorably, cally fun hobby, nearly as much fun as restoring old garden tools), but again I leave that to other commentators. I tend to focus more on the attorney, firm and profession, and I’m convinced that legal work and life — much like the human here I see a tragedy of critical thinking with respect to the under- being and fish, as President Bush once said — can coexist peacelying message and consequences of some perks. fully. But to impel set-in-their-ways firms to join the work-life We’ll drive you home if you work late. We’ll take care of your discussion won’t be easy ice to break, although the bottom line, kids if work interferes. And we’ll provide dinner if you work pun intended, is as simple as Stanford law student Andrew Bruck through it. Oh, one more thing: we’ll also choose your Halloween explained to the Legal Times: “Just because something always has costume so you can keep working! been doesn’t mean that it always must be.” Translated: The benefit of your benefits is more work, and your Jon Peters, student editor of The National Jurist, is a Phi Kappa Phi Fellow and life is as balanced as Mischa Barton trying to walk a straight line. Of course, I suppose I should mention that I already know Leadership Scholar at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. E-mail what’s going to happen once this column prints. A reader will ask him at peters.401@osu.edu if I’m averse to hard work or, more pointedly, if I’m lazy. Neither THE MAGAZINE F O R L AW S T U D E N TS BEST Law rms to work for OCTOBER 2007 V O L . 1 7 , NO. 2 + 6 THE NATIONAL JURIST February 2008 http://www.NJPLonline.com/digitalarchive.html http://www.NJPLonline.com/digitalarchive.html
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