Leader In Biglaw Parental Leave Further Expands Its Already Unprecedented Benefits
This firm is making it possible for attorneys to practice law while balancing their family lives.
Father’s Day was yesterday, and one law firm decided to mark the occasion by expanding its celebrated parental leave policy, which has long been hailed as one of the best parental leave policies in all of Biglaw.
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, the law firm that in 2015 began offering the unprecedented benefits of 22 weeks of primary caregiver leave to U.S. attorneys with the option of taking up to nine months of total leave before returning to work full-time, is increasing its non-primary caregiver leave benefits for both attorneys and staff members. Lawyers at the firm in non-primary caregiver roles will now be able to take six weeks of paid leave, while staff will be able to take three weeks of paid leave. The firm is also adjusting its onramping program for both primary and non-primary caregivers who are returning from leave with the introduction of the “Guardrails” program. Here’s more information from the firm’s press release:
The first weeks after returning from leave are an adjustment period – and long, unpredictable work hours can be overwhelming. Through onramping, Orrick already provides a 50% workload expectation during the first month back from primary caregiver leave (which lawyers may choose to extend through the firm’s Flexible Work Arrangement program). Through Guardrails, the firm is adding the important element of predictability. Guardrails give new parents the option of working predictable hours up to a maximum of six hours daily during the first month after returning from primary caregiver leave and the first two weeks after non-primary caregiver leave.
Last, but certainly not least, Orrick will be making a $250 contribution to a 529 college fund for all new babies of lawyers and staff at the firm.
Because Orrick’s parental leave policy is completely gender-neutral, attorneys and staff at the firm have been able to take advantage of both primary and non-primary caregiver leave as their roles change within their families. There are 22 total weeks of leave time available, and one type of leave offsets the other.
Orrick’s chief talent officer Siobhan Handley, who also serves as the firm’s parental leave liaison, said that the firm chose to prioritize greater predictability of work hours for new parents and support for non-primary caregivers who are interested in equally sharing parenting responsibilities as a way to further innovate parental leave at major law firms. “I want our attorneys and staff to feel supported, and that Orrick is invested in them in the long haul,” she said. “The best talent want to be the best parents and we need to have policies that support that, because they’re overachievers in every way, including parenting.”
Firm leaders at Orrick are fully invested in the parental leave program, which has been so successful that there has been an uptick in the number of people who have chosen to take advantage of its generous offerings. Last year, 33 associates — including five men — took primary caregiver leave. According to Handley, up to nine men may take primary caregiver leave this year. “Orrick is the best place to work for parents, and we really put our policies where our mouth is,” she said. Mitch Zuklie, Orrick’s chairman, noted that “[t]hese programs are focused on retaining, advancing, and, hopefully, inspiring the best rising talent at our firm. … [W]e believe this makes a meaningful difference in our ability to field teams of unique quality, continuity, and diversity.”
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Senior associate Shaila Rahman Diwan, a litigator in Orrick’s New York office, will be taking her second parental leave in a few weeks. While she was able to take advantage of the firm’s generous leave policy during her last pregnancy, she thinks that the updated policies will be more helpful to her with this pregnancy. “I think my next onramping period will be even smoother and easier to navigate with the new ‘Onramping Guardrails’ policy,” Diwan said. “It makes it possible for associates to set maximum daily hours during their first month back from leave. This provides us with more predictability in our schedules, which is always valuable, but even more so in the first month back from parental leave.”
“My impression is that Orrick is really trying to come up with new ways to help parents and I believe these efforts are making a huge impact, particularly in helping primary caregivers continue to practice law at an amazing firm while balancing their family lives,” Diwan said.
Aaron Scherzer, a senior associate in Orrick’s Supreme Court and appellate litigation group in New York, is a father of twins who were born 18 months ago. He took four weeks of secondary caregiver leave his children were born, and 12 weeks of primary caregiver leave when his wife returned to work. “This leave policy was critically important to my wife and me as we started our family. The bonding that I did with my sons during my leave is irreplaceable. I’ve seen how quickly they grow up, and I cherish the photos of the time we spent together while I was on leave,” he said. “The primary caregiver leave also helped to shape me as a father. Today, I am a much more active participant in thinking through what our boys will do each day and the million other little decisions that go into their daily lives than I might otherwise have been.”
Scherzer elaborated that when he was on leave, whether it was as a primary or non-primary caregiver, the firm respected it, in that he wasn’t treated like he was working from home full-time: “I was only contacted on cases when it was truly necessary, and when I was, everyone always gave me plenty of time to respond (which was good because I certainly had my hands full taking care of our twins).”
“Orrick’s generous parental leave policy and the commitment that the leadership of the firm and my practice group showed to that policy was one of the primary reasons I chose Orrick,”
Scherzer said.
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Congratulations once again to Orrick for being a firm that’s taking its commitment to furthering women’s advancement in the legal profession seriously, and for being a firm that realizes men shouldn’t be discouraged from taking part in their children’s lives. We’d wish Orrick the best of luck in becoming one of the best law firms to work for, but we’re not sure that the firm needs it — Orrick seems to be doing an absolutely fantastic job already.
Orrick Again Takes the Lead in Supporting Parents [Orrick]
Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
