From the Editor

By Martin Lasden
     
      Few of the features we publish ever generate as many letters from readers as did our February cover story ("We're Outta Here: Why Women Are Leaving Big Firms"). The article chronicled the thoughts and experiences of women-particularly younger women?who while working for some of the state's largest law firms found that the tyranny of the billable hour made it virtually impossible for them to strike a reasonable balance between their personal and professional lives.
      The letters we got in response (published in the May issue) tended to fall into one of three categories: First there were the women who told us they could readily relate to the women we quoted, and who had their own sobering stories to tell. Then there were the men who wrote in?overworked and sarcastic, for the most part?who conveyed a love it-or-leave-it attitude. But we also heard from some women?many with small children?who suggested there is another story to be told, about mothers who have not abandoned their law careers.
      These are the women our associate editor, Laura McClure, decided to focus on for this month's cover story ("Mothers in Law," page 20). "One of the things that surprised me was the sheer number of women I found who were both [law] partners and mothers," says McClure, who herself recently returned from maternity leave after giving birth to her first child. "When I started working on this project, I thought it would be hard to find moms in big firms who had good experiences. But that turned out not to be the case. In fact, I ended up using only half the material that I had collected."
      McClure gives much of the credit for these success stories to the law firms involved?early adopters that, in light of the bar's changing demographics, strive to keep talented attorneys by promoting a range of options, from flextime to on-site child care.
      Why should these firms bother to do so? The short answer is that it makes economic sense. Just a little flexibility on the front end, McClure notes, can effectively preempt a very costly brain drain down the road.
      The implications should not be lost on men. After all, though long overdue, the day may actually come when the main burden of child rearing won't automatically fall on women.
      "For me," says McClure, "having a child has made me a better writer. I'm more focused and efficient because I can't afford to be disorganized. It's also made me more creative. I'm looking at the world now from a different perspective."
     

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