Biglaw, Rankings

The Best Biglaw Firm For Paternity Leave

The babies of Biglaw attorneys appreciate firms that allow both parents to take time off for bonding.

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lawyer holding babyThanks to the rise of the Millennial lawyer, many Biglaw firms have started offering shiny new benefits packages to their associates, including generous parental leave policies. Thanks to our own research on family leave and related policies, we know that on average, female lawyers at these firms receive 16.33 weeks of paid maternity leave, while male lawyers receive 6.46 weeks of paid paternity leave, less than half of that their female counterparts receive. In fact, it seems like men are generally stigmatized by their firms when they become new fathers and opt to take parental leave. But according to Fatherly, a parenting resource for men, one Biglaw firm is the best place place for new dads to work.

For the past two years, Fatherly has ranked the 50 best places for new dads to work, and in its 2017 ranking, only one Biglaw firm made the list. Which one could it be?

According to Fatherly, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer is the 38th best place for new dads to work in 2017. Because it’s still assumed that women are the primary caregivers in their families, Fatherly ranked the firm by its secondary offerings. Ranked among companies like Netflix (which offers 52 weeks of paid paternity leave) and Etsy (which offers 26 weeks of gender-neutral paid parental leave), Arnold & Porter gives its lawyers and its support staff the same parental benefits, which seems to be a rarity in the world of Biglaw. That having been said, APKS offers 18 weeks of paid leave for primary caregivers and 6 weeks of paid leave for secondary caregivers.

With respect to Fatherly, we beg to differ with its assessment. For its 2018 rankings, we suggest that the website take a look at offerings from both Orrick and Winston & Strawn.

Orrick offers associates 22 weeks of paid primary caregiver leave, with the option of taking up to nine months of total leave before returning to work full-time. When we asked Orrick’s Chairman Mitchell Zuklie about the policy, he said that it was “crafted to make sure that people are not stigmatized regardless of their gender. We’re not living in the days of Leave It to Beaver — families have different constructs as to who is in charge of taking care of the children.” A woman or a man can be a primary caregiver at Orrick.

Winston & Strawn, on the other hand, has a completely gender-neutral parental leave policy. The firm offers associates and of counsel attorneys up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave for child care and parent-child bonding, which may be taken in one or two increments within the first year after a new child arrives. The firm also has a Parental Leave Transition Support Program to assist attorneys who take a parental leave.

There are slews of other Biglaw firms that offer generous leave times for presumable new fathers. Firms like Baker Botts (12 weeks), Cravath (12 weeks), Debevoise & Plimpton (10 weeks), DLA Piper (16 weeks), K&L Gates (12 weeks), Kirkland & Ellis (10 weeks), Morgan Lewis (12 weeks), Munger Tolles (12 weeks), Nixon Peabody (10 weeks), Reed Smith (10 weeks), Vinson & Elkins (9 or 4 weeks), Weil Gotshal (10 weeks), and WilmerHale (14 weeks) are all ahead of the game when it comes to paid secondary caregiver leave.

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Congratulations to Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer for its inclusion as the lone Biglaw firm on the Fatherly ranking, even if there were many additional firms that deserved to be so honored. Perhaps such credit will be given where it’s due next year?

The babies of Biglaw attorneys appreciate firms that allow both parents to take time off for bonding. What is your law firm doing to promote gender equity in its parental leave policies? Please let us know so we can update our database. You can email us, text us at (646) 820-8477, or tweet us @atlblog. Thank you for your assistance!

The 50 Best Places to Work for New Dads in 2017, Ranked [Fatherly]

Earlier: Family Leave and Related Policies by Firm
Which Biglaw Firm Has The Best Parental Leave Policy?
Biglaw Firm Makes Big Waves With Gender-Neutral Parental Leave Policy

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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