Key Takeaways
Even as firms adopt more progressive parental leave policies, cultural expectations continue to influence how those policies are used in practice. Kate Reder Sheikh explores how this dynamic is playing out for fathers in Big Law.
- Many fathers want to take full leave and be more present at home, but face subtle resistance or career concerns.
- Cultural expectations, not formal policies, remain the biggest barrier to taking leave.
- Associates often feel less flexibility than partners in balancing work and parenting responsibilities.
- Compensation, workload and long-term career progression all factor into how lawyers navigate parenthood.
- Firms may need to rethink both expectations and evaluation models to better support working parents.
Much ink has been justifiably spilled in the name of explaining how hard it is to be a mom in Big Law. But when I recently asked Big Law moms for survival tips, many dads responded too. Plainly, they had stories to tell. Most dads want to take the full leave available under their firm’s policy. They want to be at prenatal appointments, and don't want their partner to become the default parent. The issue is often not the policy itself, but the negative reaction to taking leave. Many senior partners came of age in a different era, but the dynamics between senior partners and junior lawyers remains largely steadfast. It is the single biggest gating factor for younger Big Law dads. I interviewed current and former Big Law associates and partners who are fathers about their experiences. Here is what I learned.
