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EXPERT OPINIONS DECEMBER 7, 2020 ¦ 41

But here’s what Acritas really ness of women lawyers is
focuses on: coaching programs never the problem.” It sug-
for new parents returning to gests that the firm take a
work. (I know it’s technically long, hard look at its “own
for all parents, but let’s ad- long-established culture and
mit we’re really talking about values; the attitudes of cur-
moms.) Though championed rent leadership; the structure
by “well-intended women’s of prevailing work practices;
networks and management,” its approaches to reward,
those types of initiatives often remuneration and advance-
reinforce “the erroneous per- ment.” And, of course, clients
ception that female lawyers are need to keep up the pressure
fundamentally different than on firms to promote gender
male lawyers and therefore re- equality.
quire special treatment,” reports Acritas. In other words, the whole kit and caboodle!
What? Taking aim at a program that helps moms It’s a tall order, but Shepherd says she’s hopeful
reenter law firm life? You might as well tell them because there’s already a major cultural shift afoot.
they shouldn’t be entitled to paid maternity leave ei- Which brings us back again to the changes brought
ther. Indeed, those let’s-help-mommy-get-back-on- on by the pandemic. Acritas says there is now a
track programs are the latest must-haves at some “new normal” to how all of us work and that wom-
firms. en should use it as leverage to advance into leader-
“Yes, it’s controversial to criticize them, but this is ship roles.
based on statistical findings,” says Lisa Hart Shep- “Suddenly, there’s acceptance of agile working ar-
herd, one of the study’s authors. “At some firms, the rangements, and there’s no geographic limitation,”
programs might be working, but that’s not what we says Shepherd. Flexibility and the demise of physi-
find in the [overall] statistics.” (The study looked at cal presence at the office—what Acritas calls “pre-
45 measures to help advance senior women at 84 senteeism”—are game-changers, adds Shepherd
law firms in Asia, Europe and North America, in- because that’s what women, particularly moms,
cluding Allen & Overy, Arent Fox, Baker & McK- have long argued for.
enzie, DLA, Dorsey & Whitney, Freshfields, Hogan Though Shepherd says both men and women have
& Lovells, Linklaters, McDermott, Norton Rose benefited from agile working arrangements, she
Fulbright and Reed Smith.) adds, “remote working, on the whole, has been more
I get what Shepherd is saying. While it sounds positive for women, and they’re thriving more.”
great to pair new moms with a coach or mentor to And why’s that? She pauses, then says: “I know
prepare them for reentry into law firm life, I’ve al- this sounds sexist but women are more organized
ways felt a bit uneasy about these programs. They and collaborate better.”
heighten the notion that it’s daunting, maybe trau- Hey, whatever works.
matic, for women to go back to work—as if the ex- ¦

perience of being a new mom is akin to being run Email: [email protected]. On Twitter: @lawcareerist
over by a truck that requires massive physical and
mental intervention before she can walk again. Vivia Chen is a senior columnist at The Ameri-
Instead, the study advocates that we start with can Lawyer and the creator of The Careerist
“the non-negotiable insistence that the female- blog.

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