The realities for working lawyers
Pinsent Masons Vario Modern Families survey reveals the realities for working lawyers
A survey from Vario Pinsent Masons which questioned the firm’s freelance lawyers has revealed that 96 per cent don’t think a traditional working week is fit for purpose for a modern lawyer. Respondents cited the need for flexibility to accommodate childcare, health issues, hobbies and downtime, and mirroring the clients’ own working patterns.
Speaking about the unsuitability of a traditional working week for modern lawyers, respondents commented:
Anonymous
Vario Freelancer
Productivity isn't linked to fixed or full-time hours and without flexibility, you remove a large portion of highly experienced and talented lawyers from the market place. At different times in your life, especially as a working parent or carer for others, you can need more flexibility than a traditional working week provides. You can still do a great job and make a significant contribution outside of this amount and pattern of hours.
The survey has also laid bare how the pandemic has changed the perception of working parents and carers, with 82 per cent believing the pandemic has positively impacted how those with family responsibilities are viewed by the legal profession in general.
Anonymous
Vario Freelancer
Even my most traditional clients came to see that working from home does not adversely affect productivity.
Another one said:
Anonymous
Vario Freelancer
This forced the flexible homeworking and working hours arrangements and children could be seen or heard on video calls which made the home-life more visible. Prior to this, at the office, home-life and family was not visible, did not feature, and was not taken account of.
The generational differences were also acknowledged:
Anonymous
Vario Freelancer
Working from home was forced many senior lawyers to confront the realities faced by junior colleagues and their female colleagues. Previously, they could more persuasively argue that insane law firm hours and a culture of presentism was simply how things ought to be done. The pandemic has reduced the power balance between partnership practice lawyers; somewhat (and for now).
A drive for greater flexibility and autonomy over the day-to-day have influenced Varios’ choice to go freelance, with 84 per cent of respondents citing their home life as a driving factor in their decision to work as a freelance lawyer.
Caring commitments (both for children and elderly parents) and the desire to spend more quality time with small children featured heavily in the responses, as did the need to have more autonomy to work remotely, manage physical and mental health, support busy working spouses and simply create more ‘me time’ for hobbies and to wind down. For example, one respondent said:
Anonymous
Vario Freelancer
Practising law is demanding and the most highly regulated profession. The legal profession needs to allow practitioners statutory sabbaticals along the career path and locked in return dates so that lawyers can rest up and return energised for client work. That's why I do my freelancing work. I am in control of my recovery from excessively demanding projects with tight turnaround times.
Despite a majority believing the pandemic has changed perceptions of working parents and carers positively, it was clear from the survey that more needs to be done. 88 per cent of respondents believe more needs to be done to support working parents in the legal profession, and 95 per cent think more should be done to support those with other caring responsibilities.
The majority of those surveyed also believed that more should be done in the legal profession to support non-traditional families, those going through miscarriage, infertility issues and IVF, post-natal depression, menopause and parenting children with additional needs.
The question on childlessness (by choice or otherwise) was praised by some respondents as an important issue which was not given the attention it deserved. 83 per cent of those questioned believed that those lawyers who are childless are not properly supported. For instance, one respondent said:
Anonymous
Vario Freelancer
I was one of those child-free people and therefore I was the one selected to provide support to corporate teams on deals. It was perceived that I could work all through the night and at weekends because I don't have kids.
Commenting on the survey results, Matthew Kay, Partner and Managing Director of Vario from Pinsent Masons, said:
“What’s clear from the results of our survey is that, in the same way that there’s no ‘typical’ family structure nowadays, there equally isn’t a one-size-fits all solution to support.
The most important thing now is to continue this conversation to not just increase awareness of the myriad of different issues which can impact a lawyer’s day-to-day life, but also ensure the most appropriate solutions are being made available. That can be everything from different career paths, such as freelancing, or firmwide policies which promote diversity and inclusivity. For example the Mindful Business Charter, flexible & agile working, carer’s leave, career breaks and regular inclusive social events designed to cater to as many employees and personal circumstances as possible.”
Kirstie Anderson, Senior Group HR Business Partner at Pinsent Masons, added:
"Family dynamics have evolved over time, particularly since the pandemic, and one of our key aims is to ensure that we continue to support all workers, regardless of their family situation, as best as we can.
Vario has adopted an agile working policy which assists both our full-time employees and freelancers to work in a hybrid manner, be it working from home, from one of our PM or Client offices, or on the move.
We recognise the value of hybrid working and the benefits this may bring to a worker who may be a single parent or has significant care responsibilities, and we encourage our clients to operate similar policies with our freelancers where possible. Furthermore, the benefits of hybrid working also help those without children or dependents, meaning that it is an inclusive policy and does not discriminate against anyone's family circumstances."
Vario launched in 2013 and is part of the law firm Pinsent Masons. It provides a range of professional services to clients including freelance lawyer provision, legal project management, legal technology consultancy and managed legal services.