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Using Family Time to Change Course
Say what you will about all of the obstacles that women in the law face -- the glass ceilings, the gender discrimination and the problems finding work-life balance. Yes, women have it tough -- but on the other side of the coin, many are also able to take these impediments and use them to find greater career satisfaction.
Agreed, many women who leave the law entirely to raise children have a tough time coming back. But as described in this ABA Journal article, "Preparing for Re-Entry," having left the work world, many women find that they don't want to return to the same position. Instead, many women are exploring other opportunities while home with their children and developing a strategy to pursue them once they decide to return to the work world.
The article describes the experience of Tammy Von Buck, an L.A. mom who left a job as special education for public schools consultant to stay home. Von Buck, however, may be interested in a more traditional legal job when she re-enters. And Von Buck has gotten exposure to different practice areas such as zoning law through fighting for a permit with a local municipality for a home that she and her husband seek to build and corporate and regulatory law by helping her husband expand his business.
The ABA article offers tips to Von Buck on how she can decide what to do -- and the steps to get there, such as networking, volunteering and CLE. The article proves that stopping a job to stay home with your kids doesn't have to be the end of your working life but, instead, can be the start of something new and even more exciting. And whether by choice or just because of the way law firms operate right now, it's women who can take advantage of these opportunities more so than men.
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on July 23, 2007 at 04:30 PM | Permalink
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