Father Time: Flexible Work Arrangements and the Law Firm's Failure of the Family
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Stanford Law Review
Journal Abbreviation
Stan. L. Rev.
Abstract
Members of the latest generation of law firm associates state that their primary professional goal is attaining a work-family balance. Firms have responded to these demands by implementing superficial family-friendly policies such as paternity leave and part-time schedules, which male lawyers have failed to utilize. The article analyzes the structural and cultural barriers within the legal workplace that keep men from adopting part-time schedules. The male lawyer's double-bind is outlined, as are the gender effects suffered by women, who, in light of the male absence on the part-time front, have become the sole users of the firms' flexible work policies. Finally, the article makes an economic case for modified work schedules and describes how a model law firm could function. Elite firms must address all of these factors -- workplace structure, firm culture, and recruitment/retention economics -- if they are to move beyond gendered paradigms and genuinely support men in their roles as lawyers and fathers.
First Page
967
Last Page
1008
Publication Date
2001
Recommended Citation
Keith Cunningham-Parmeter,
Father Time: Flexible Work Arrangements and the Law Firm's Failure of the Family,
53
Stan. L. Rev.
967
(2001).
Available at:
https://lawcommons.lclark.edu/faculty_articles/205