The Estrin Report

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

So, what do you do for this big day? Take your kids to work? Does your firm or company participate? 

"Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day has grown from a modest scope in its pilot year to include businesses large and small, unions, hospitals, manufacturing plants, arts groups, social agencies, schools and government offices. The latter list has included NASA, the CIA, the courts and legislative bodies.

"This year, the U.S. Senate expects 300 participants. That body now has 16 female senators. Fifteen years ago, it had two.

"Some workplaces simply invite employees to have their children, or someone else's, shadow them for the day. Others hold organized activities.

[snip]

"The law firm Cohen & Grigsby, which has held events on and off over the years, will introduce about 50 children to a range of careers, including paralegal, accountant and technology expert. They'll also visit the courtroom of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward."

"Quick naps do the job at this law firm"

Calling all workaholics! Be smart & take some time off for a rejuvenating nap..at work!

"The Power Room at one Raleigh law office isn't a place where high-profile deals get done or important meetings occur.

"It's for snoozing.

"As workers log in longer hours, there is increasing interest in the revitalizing power of naps. One company in New York sells 20- minute sessions in nap pods. A recent study in Greece showed that regular naps can reduce the risk of heart attacks.

"Honestly, who hasn't had stressful workdays when an afternoon siesta would have hit the spot?

"Put the partners at Kilpatrick Stockton in the pro-nap camp."

"Male Paralegals: Is There Really a Glass Elevator?"

Very interesting question raised on LawCrossing. Diversity in the workplace is good, right?

"It is not uncommon these days to see more men doing traditionally female jobs such as teaching preschool and kindergarten and working as librarians, legal assistants or paralegals, bank tellers, speech pathologists, secretaries, data-entry workers, nurses, or even maids. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005, 13.7% of paralegals were men. In 2004, the percentage was barely 11%.

"Experts who study the labor market have hypothesized that an unstable job market may lead more males to seek employment in alternative careers. And does that come as a surprise? Women who cross into traditionally male-dominated professions often do so for financial reasons and end up earning bigger paychecks than they would in traditionally female jobs.

"Men who do the reverse may not be rewarded with larger salaries, but they may find more job security. Additionally, men are frequently able to advance further and faster in traditionally female jobs than their female counterparts. This is what is sometimes known as the glass-elevator [or escalator] effect [PDF].

"Howard Lee is a legal assistant at law firm Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen in Richmond, VA. He said that he feels being a man in a traditionally female profession has its benefits.

"'I feel [male] paralegals have great chances of securing final interviews and, ultimately, job placement,' said Lee. 'Many HR departments are trying to get more diversity in the paralegal workforce.'"

"Give Women A Fair Pay Day"

Think your salary is fair & equitable? Responses might just depend on your gender:

"We’re coming up on Equal Pay Day again. That’s the day in April every year—this year the 24th—when women’s earnings finally catch up with what men made by December 31 of the previous year. Women’s groups, led by the National Committee on Pay Equity, will rally on Capitol Hill to call attention to the issue.

"The pay gap is still a stubborn problem, with women who work full time, year-round making 76 cents to a man’s dollar. Though it consistently polls number one with female voters in election years, politicians don’t seem motivated to do much about it.

"Some people say pay disparities between women and men are an illusion—women just like to choose jobs that pay less because they’re not as risky or have shorter hours. But the data don’t back up these claims [PDF]. Even when researchers take into account such factors as part-time work or time out of the work force to care for kids, the numbers show that men make more. Another problem that just won’t go away is that so-called 'men’s jobs' like plumbing, pay more than 'women’s jobs,' like nursing. That tells us something about what we value as a society, and it’s not women’s work."

Author Martha Burk is a political psychologist and director of the Corporate Acountability Project for the National Council of Women's Organizations.

Best Jobs for Part-Time Paralegals?

Inspired by this post to Legal Blog Watch by Robert J. Ambrogi [links below in original post]:

"If you know you want to work part time as a lawyer, which fields of law or types of jobs are best for you? At the blog Concurring Opinions, William & Mary law professor Nate Oman recounts that a student recently came to him with this question and, 'I am embarrassed to say I don't know the answer.' The student explained that she would like to work full time for a few years after law school, then pull back to fewer hours.

"Not knowing the answer, Oman turned to his blog and asked his readers for their suggestions. Among the responses so far, comments suggest licensing, trademarks, trusts and estates, tax and employee benefits as fields of law amenable to part-time work. As for jobs, in-house counsel jobs are sometimes part time, and government offices sometimes allow flexible schedules and job sharing."

So, what practice areas do you think might be good for part-time paralegals? Surely not litigation, right? Would the areas listed above also fit paralegals?

BTW, are you a part-time paralegal now? Are there any drawbacks?

"Does a Provocative Pose Help or Hurt a Job Search?"

Well, this is an interesting question. Legal blogger Carolyn Elefant pointed it out on Legal Blog Watch. [Links below from original post.]:

"Over at Counsel to Counsel, Stephen Sackler wonders whether a law firm will hire the photogenic female law student who posed for this photo that's now permanently cached on the Internet.

[snip]

"...Personally, I've always thought that a job applicant's good looks and sex appeal, (particularly, when the applicant is female) are an asset in getting hired.  Down the line, perhaps, good looks can prevent career advancement because purportedly, employees do not always take attractive people, particularly, women seriously...."

Do you agree with Carolyn?

"Survey: Admin. assistants important"

Okay, that's the good news. The bad? In this article, paralegals are equated with administrative assistants:

"Eighty-five percent of U.S. executives believe their administrative assistants are important to their success, a nationwide staffing-service survey says.

"Of 150 senior executives at the nation's 1,000 largest companies surveyed, 48 percent said their administrative assistant's role was very important to their success, the OfficeTeam survey said.

[snip]

"OfficeTeam noted Administrative Professionals Week would be observed in the United States April 22-28. Many executives that week recognize the work of clerical employees such as administrative assistants, receptionists, paralegals and others."

"Corporate Groups Enjoy the Boom but Plan for the Bust"

Corporate lawyer hiring directly affects corporate paralegal hiring. Tighten your seat belts; it's going to be a bumpy ride!

"It has been a bull market for corporate lawyers, with multimillion- and billion-dollar M&A deals galore. But the recent stock market plunge sent a little chill down the backs of some, a reminder that the high times won't last forever. A day after trouble in the China market dropped the Dow more than 400 points, Fenwick & West corporate group Chairman Daniel Winnike said he was relieved Wall Street had stabilized.

"'If it had dropped another 300 points,' he said, 'then some of the companies might have had second thoughts about some of the M&A deals we're working on.'

"Corporate law leaders like Winnike remember well the dot-com bust that forced layoffs at such star Silicon Valley firms as Fenwick & West, Cooley Godward, Venture Law Group (now with Heller Ehrman) and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper) five years ago. As they have built up their departments in this economic upturn, they're applying two key lessons: Diversify your practices [PDF] and hire smarter."

"Five ways to be nice to your eyes"

Important advice for people who work with computers & read lots of documents:

"Your eyes are the products of millions of years of evolution. Unfortunately, this means that they’re optimized for spotting prey across the savanna, not for peering at letters built up of little dots on tiny screens. In recent years, optometrists have come to recognize a complex of eye and vision problems they call Computer Vision Syndrome, or CVS for short.

"When you spend your day looking at computer screens (especially poorly-maintained screens, or the tiny ones on mobile devices), your eyes strain, you blink less, and your body gets generally unhappy. The result? Fatigue, headaches, blurry vision, dry eyes, neck and backaches, and even double vision."

"Firms Hire Nonpracticing Lawyers in Manager and Support Roles"

Well, this is interesting. Think it will hurt paralegal advancement into these positions?

"Ron Friedmann posts on a new trend at large firms: use of nonpracticing lawyers as managers. He writes that firms now hire nonpracticing lawyers for jobs such as marketing, e-discovery, knowledge management, professional development and practice support. There are some pitfalls, of course, as Friedmann points out:

"Either way, firms must exercise some caution. First, they must 'be careful of what they ask for, lest they get it.' For example, some churn in CMO and CIO positions in recent years likely stems from initial excitement followed by balking when the firm learns what’s really involved. Second, they need to consider how to integrate the non-practicing lawyer and any team reporting to him/her. Thinking this through requires a realistic assessment of a firm’s culture and the strength of its caste system. And third, they need to allocate risk fairly between the firm and the new role: negotiate a graceful exit strategy for both the firm and individual if things don’t work out."