Law is a demanding profession. Often, it requires extra hours in the office. For women, especially working mothers, this is something that has always been an issue. Allotting 2,000 to 2,400 hours a year for office work can become frustrating since balancing work and tending to the children and the home is a difficult thing to do.
Deane Brown, a Boston University Law School graduate, was one of these mothers. When her daughter was born in 1996, she had to work in the evening and on weekends to be able to catch up with the law firm’s billing requirements. Then she discovered Beermann Swerdlove, a law firm established in 1958 by Law graduates of DePaul University.
At Beermann Swedlove, Deane Brown discovered the joys of mixing parenthood and work. According to Miles Beermann, a partner in the firm, Beermann Swerdlove adopts a different work attitude. The firm realizes that attorneys, no matter how in demand they are, also have lives outside the office. This is why the firm sticks to its philosophy of requiring associates to bill only a minimum of 1,800 hours a year. Lawyers also have the option to adopt a flexible schedule or work from home. As long as the work is finished on time and they make their clients happy, Beermann Swerdlove does not object to their attorneys’ working preference. Although these lawyers do not get salaries that can rival those of others from the bigger firms, there are incentives that help bridge the gap.
Beermann Swerdlove is a Chicago-based law firm that offers excellent trial and appellate practice concentrating on personal injury representation, insurance coverage matters, real estate and construction litigation, business disputes and complicated marital dissolution. The firm has 30 attorneys, half of them women and 19 of whom are partners.
- Law Practice Today asks “Where Have the Women Attorneys Gone?”
- National Association of Women Lawyers
- About.com article entitled Law Firms and Women Attorneys of Color – Obstacles and Successes
Tags: women attorneys, women in the legal profession, women lawyers