Women lawyers often have the added challenge of balancing significant responsibilities at home in addition to those at work. As the saying goes, “Law is a jealous mistress.” The profession is demanding of all of its participants, but the burden seems especially heavy for women lawyers. In 1989, for the first time, the plight of…
The traditional law firm pyramid model is under pressure. Historically, to support partner salaries at the top, firms continually added increasing number of associates at the bottom. Every year, big law firms hired troops of new associates and assigned them to high-volume but relatively low skilled projects to gain experience. Although contract lawyers, or, in…
Gender stereotypes and expectations play a role in negotiation, and can be used to your advantage. This is especially true in compensation negotiations where the parties on opposite sides of the table ultimately hope to end up on the same team. Stereotypically, women see negotiation as an opportunity to build relationships or community. Men, on the…
In the current economic environment, especially, General Counsel resist paying high fees for routine, repetitive functions. They realize that some tasks don’t require lawyers, or at least high priced lawyers in traditional law firms, to complete them. Therefore, in order to hang onto as much business as possible, smart law firms minimize the cost of…
