Typically there is more of a struggle for women balancing work and family than there is for men. The problem for women is they are typically the one who does majority of the caring for the children and family. Women generally have to make sure their children get to school every morning and make sure they have arrived safely at home or afterschool arrangements. Many women still do a majority of the house work and cooking so finding the balance between working as a lawyer and being a wife/ mother is difficult for many women. Often times a woman needs to be in two places at once because she will need to be at home making sure her children are getting off to school and at the same time she needs to be at the firm working the traditional hours.
There are common proposed solutions for these mothers such as more flexible work schedules, reduced hours, telecommuting, or job shares. Flexible schedules would be ideal for mothers because then they can make sure their children are off to school first and then they could come into the office after. Additionally telecommuting is ideal because women would be able to work sufficiently from home while also being available for her children. The down side to these solutions is many people feel that these solutions would make these women not be real lawyers. Having a flexible schedule can lead to high turnover rates, clients are receptive to alternative schedules. This can also be problematic because the firm can start giving tasks to other employees so the status of the attorney shrinks, the work eventually fizzles out and the woman is forced to make alternative decisions. Other lawyers may see schedule flexibility as unfair. Lawyers are supposed to work traditional schedules. However alternative schedules can reduce costs and increase productivity of those women attorneys.
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