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PERSPECTIVES MARCH 23, 2020 ¦ 43

can work from a treehouse—and there’s not a
damn thing anyone can do about it.

You no longer have to hide your kids or per-
sonal life. Now that everyone is trapped at home,
lawyers—particularly women—can be more open
about their parental duties and not fear being
judged as unprofessional. Before you know it, the
sounds of domestic life (babies crying, children
throwing temper tantrums, dogs barking) will be
considered normal work noise—like the clickety
clack of typewriters in the old days.

You are saving a lot of money. Consider what
you’ve saved just in the last week or two: Canceled
vacations to Europe, theater tickets and reserva-
tions at Jean Georges. And that’s not counting all
the ongoing vanity expenses you have, like make-
up (news alert: Sephora is closed for the sake of
public health), haircuts, highlights, Botox, facials,
mani-pedis and personal trainers. Now, there’s
nothing to spend money on except toilet paper matters, so you can let your work speak for itself
and Purell. and dispense with the superficialities. You don’t
have to worry about whether you look the part,
Yes, you can be a super parent. All that self- have sufficient executive presence or other such
grooming you’ve abandoned entailed not just nonsense. Except for some fleeting cameos on
expenditure of money but also time. (Hey, it’s not Zoom, you’re basically invisible to the world. So
easy to look the part of a spiffy Big Law mover and why not work away and set loose your inner slob?
shaker.) These days, you have a simplified, purer No one will care how awful you look or smell.
lifestyle, so the whole work-life balance should be True, maybe your spouse will complain, but do
a much more achievable goal. You can finally have you care?
it all—be that high-power lawyer and a hands-on Contact Vivia Chen at [email protected]. On
parent.
Twitter: @lawcareerist. ¦

You can be totally authentic. This gets back Vivia Chen is a senior columnist at The Ameri-
to my original point: Your appearance no longer can Lawyer and the creator of The Careerist blog.

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