Ursula Furi-Perry
The Legal Intelligencer
August 11, 2006

General counsel are increasingly paying attention to work-life balance and implementing flexible work arrangements and other programs for their in-house counsel. Long work-weeks may still be the norm, but many legal departments are now offering flexible work arrangements. Other work-life initiatives such as in-house amenities, stress-management programs and help with child and elder care are also taking root.

"Creating flexibility is an imperative," said Ellen Ostrow, psychologist and principal of Lawyers' Life Coach, a personal and career coaching service for women lawyers in Silver Spring, Md. Ostrow said the reasons behind the change are two-fold: Attorneys increasingly strive to achieve better balance between work and family life, while legal employers generally face lower rates of retention among their attorneys. In an effort to keep their best employees and attract new talent, many corporate legal departments hope promises of flextime and other work-life balance tools will lead to more loyalty and better retention rates.

But while flexible work arrangements and other initiatives are becoming more and more common in corporate law departments, striking the right balance between the needs of their clients and those of their in-house counsel can still be quite challenging for GCs.

Though they're getting recent attention, flexible work arrangements are nothing new. "We've had flex-time for over 25 years," said Barbara McLemore, general counsel at Gannett Fleming, an engineering consulting firm headquartered in Pennsylvania. It was voted one of the best places to work in central Pennsylvania by the Best Places to Work in Pa. program, which is a survey, study and award program to identify the best places of employment in Pennsylvania. Gannett Fleming employees enjoy compressed workweeks, benefits for part-time employees, short- and long-term disability policies, and plenty of flexibility in beginning and ending their workdays.

McLemore said work-life balance initiatives are a particularly good fit at legal departments. "An in-house counsel position is a perfect situation for being able to balance your work and your life," explained McLemore, who contrasts the flexibility of in-house work from that of her husband, an attorney in the private sector. "[As in-house counsel,] you have more control over your schedule," she said.

Control and flexibility was one of the perks that attracted Michael Lee to his position as vice president and senior counsel at Pearson Inc., an educational publisher headquartered in Upper Saddle River, N.J. A reverse commuter from the New York City, Lee requested more flexibility and balance when his son was born. "[The company] set up an office in their building in Manhattan, even though the legal department had no presence there," Lee recounted. He now works out of his Manhattan office twice a week, saving him hours on his commute. Lee also took an enviable two weeks of paternity leave after the birth of both of his children.

Other Pearson attorneys enjoy telecommuting arrangements. "When I had my son three years ago, I requested and was given permission to work from home on Mondays," said Jerianne Mancini, vice president and senior counsel. Both Lee and Mancini also take advantage of the company's shortened summer hours program, which allows them to work half-days every summer Friday, or work full days and take every other Friday off.

They're not alone: Lee believes that most attorneys at Pearson enjoy some form of flexibility at work. "We've found that this means a lot to people," said Christine Pfeiffer, coordinator of Pearson's WorkLife and Diversity Program. "[Flexible work arrangements] don't cost the company any money to provide," Pfeiffer said, "as long as the employee is getting work done, what does it matter where they're doing it?"

And flextime isn't all: Legal departments are offering a variety of other work-life balance initiatives. Counsel and other employees have access to on-site banking and dry cleaning at Highmark Inc., a Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan in Camp Hill, Pa.

Many block out time during the day for on-site exercise and stress-busting activities. "Highmark has made real concerted efforts at living a healthy lifestyle," said Mary Jane Forbes, Highmark's assistant general counsel, who enjoys on-site yoga classes.

Forbes credits Gary Truitt, Highmark's senior vice president -- legal, general counsel and corporate secretary, with implementing the programs and sporting "the attitude that it's important to have a balance between work life and managing stress," Forbes said. Truitt's philosophy is that he hired professionals who are there to get the job done, Forbes said, and as long as they do so, flexibility is available and encouraged.

At Pearson, employees have access to backup child-care, lactation rooms, wellness seminars and confidential counseling. The company also instituted a successful elder care program, where geriatric care managers come on site to help employees. "Everybody benefits," said Pfeiffer, "when senior managers start to take advantage of these programs, people really feel grateful for the company doing these things." Mancini believes Pearson's programs make the legal department more productive in the long run.

ARE PROGRAMS WORKING?

But while many legal departments are making strides, there is still a lot to be done in terms of flexibility, according to a report by the Project for Attorney Retention, an initiative of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco, that "seeks to improve recruiting and retention of talented attorneys through the use of work schedules that allow attorneys to better balance the competing demands of their work and their lives outside the office." According to PAR, many in-house counsel still work hours comparable to their law firm colleagues, and some law departments are not at all supportive of flexible schedule initiatives. The report is over two years old, but its findings still hold true, said Cynthia Thomas Calvert, PAR's co-director.

One reason that flexible work arrangements may not succeed is lack of support and supervision by general counsel, Calvert said. "We've heard about superiors who become punitive when employees are trying to take advantage of these programs," Calvert recounted. "It really does not matter how good of a program you have if superior attorneys are going to sabotage their programs."
Flexible work schedules can also carry a heavy stigma, resulting in resentment from full-time attorneys who don't take advantage of them. PAR reports that some in-house counsel won't take advantage of flexible schedules for fear of being left out of decision-making, receiving unfavorable assignments, becoming less likely to be promoted and more likely to be fired, or losing their colleagues' respect.

Companies attempting to institute a flextime program may also encounter resistance and resentment -- the sentiment that formalized arrangements are unnecessary -- from counsel who already use flextime unofficially. Highmark is considering adopting further flexible work arrangements in its legal department, and assistant general counsel Forbes said resentment towards the formalization of these arrangements is a sentiment the department will have to address. "It's ironic, but one of the factors that will be on the table with our discussion is that some people may view [flex time] as a take-away," Forbes said. "They may already have it, so if we institutionalize it, there's the concern, 'How is that going to help me?'"

And then there's the practical question: Even with the most flexible clients, several kinks must be worked out when in-house attorneys are working less than full time. Attorneys will still have to serve their clients, Forbes said, and with people already working long days on the job, the prospect of cutting down on counsel and legal staff's time spent in the office may be a hard sell. Some members of the department may fear that when others take flextime, they won't be pulling their weight. There's also the fear that with less "face-time," the client's needs may not be met properly. "The logistics have to be worked out," said Forbes. "If an attorney's secretary won't be in, how will that work? What about the package that's supposed to go out?"

HOW CAN FLEXIBILITY WORK?

First, "be receptive to alternative work schedules," said PAR's Calvert. Job sharing, where two employees split a full work-week, is new to the legal field. But Calvert said it can work particularly well at legal departments. "When the attorney is not in the office, there is someone covering her job," Calvert explained. "The clients are happy and the attorney is happy, so it's a win-win for everyone." Telecommuting at least part-time is another good option, said Ostrow of Lawyer's Life Coach, since "most internal clients can be perfectly well served by someone who's working at another location."

Even if job sharing or part-time arrangements mean increased costs in employee benefits, Calvert said keeping a loyal workforce quickly offsets those costs. "It takes six to 18 months to get a new attorney up to speed," Calvert said. "A huge drain on the department, and the department will not function as efficiently." Cutting down on attrition costs will greatly benefit the department in the long run, Ostrow said.

Of course, not every position or employee is well suited for an alternative arrangement. "You have to think, for any given position, what are the requirements that have to be fulfilled?" Ostrow advised. With job sharing, the department will need two people who work well together and have seamless communication and coordination, said Ostrow. With telecommuting, the department will have to evaluate the extent and amount of face time that's still necessary to do the job right.

And when considering implementing any flexible arrangement, Calvert said it's imperative to offer the deal to everyone. "This isn't just something that affects women," she said. "It has to be available to men as well, and it has to be available for situations other than just child care." Making the program universal across the department will help rid of stigmas and resentment, Calvert said. Universal arrangements can help employees realize that they should not "look down" on co-workers that take advantage of flexible work schedules, since everyone is afforded the same opportunities.

Once implemented, supervision and support by general counsel are crucial to the program's success. "General counsel need to actively manage work loads, cross-training people who aren't highly utilized or bringing on another part-time or contract attorney if necessary," Calvert advised. Getting the message from general counsel that the department supports balanced lives will ultimately lead to happier in-house counsel and happier clients.

Attorneys' quest for more balance and happiness isn't likely to go away, predicted Ostrow. The pool of employees will only have increasing external demands to meet. Ostrow advised: "Rather than resisting that, a department will be much better able to respond if it has diversity that reflects the business's clients."

Ursula Furi-Perry is a nationally published writer on work-life balance, legal issues and topics of interest to women. Furi-Perry lives and works in Haverill, Mass. In December 2006 she will receive her J.D. from the Massachusetts School of Law.