‘The Wave of the Future’: Part-Time Work is Gaining Traction, and Partnership Is on the Table

Morrison & Foerster was featured in The American Lawyer’s story about firms that have found success, and partners, on the reduced-hour track as lawyers are increasingly seeking these opportunities since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Anecdotally, as I am sure has been the case at most firms, we saw in increase in the number of conversations we had with attorneys around the program, especially at the very start of the pandemic,” said Carrie Cohen, co-chairwoman of the Women’s Strategy Committee at MoFo.

In the past five years, MoFo has promoted 10 women to partner who worked on a reduced schedule before promotion, including Natalie Fleming Nolen in 2013.

“It was critical during the years when my children were small – and after two maternity leaves – to have additional flexibility to adjust to my growing family and still be able to work on exciting cases and develop my skills as a lawyer,” Natalie said.

MoFo also reinforced its commitment to working parents amid the pandemic by enhancing its backup child care provider benefit. It previously allowed for up to 20 days of backup care through the firm’s network of providers, but now it has no maximum number of days, and allows coverage even if users pull from their own network of caregivers.

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