Baby loss is frighteningly common. According to the latest statistics available from Tommy’s, an estimated one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage. However, if you are a black woman, the statistics are far worse. In 2021, The Lancet, working with Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, published a paper showing that black women had a […]
I’m convinced that adopting the newborn parenting mindset will make me a better, more productive, and happier, lawyer. Here’s how.
Pinsent Masons is giving all employees Friday afternoons off this August as part of a new flexible working trial. Subject to client demand, employees in offices across the UK, Europe and Middle East can work a compressed week and leave by lunchtime on Fridays without a pay cut. The compressed hours trial is nearing the […]
It’s that time of year again when we enjoy a string of four-day work weeks thanks to Easter and the May bank holidays. With the last one behind us, many of you are likely daydreaming about making this a permanent perk. Sure, pitching the idea of maintaining the same salary for a 20 per cent […]
Wanting to be in a relationship is an entirely natural desire for most 20- to 30-somethings, yet the process of finding and maintaining a partner is ever-difficult for time-poor lawyers.
We’ve just launched Partnerless, a new email specifically for associates. Sign up here for weekly career intelligence and market chatter. I snapped a picture last week, my little girl Sophie, decided she was now bored of me working, comes to sit on my knee and starts typing on my keyboard. She’s got her baby doll […]
Firms, such as Clifford Chance and Simmons & Simmons, are gradually lining up to appoint dedicated heads of wellbeing, once perceived as a gimmicky role by some and now an integral part of a law firm’s business strategy. Last year, Clifford Chance hired Charles Alberts from Aon as its first global head of wellbeing and […]
It’s ironic, because you might think they would have logged off and be enjoying a sunny long weekend, but this Easter bank holiday has been rife with commentators on LinkedIn outraged about “always on” work culture. Specifically, a slide from a Paul Hastings presentation given to junior associates. In case you are one of the […]
We are all familiar with the so-called ‘January Blues’. A seemingly unavoidable low mood that hangs over the first month of every year. The days are too short and the to-do lists are too long. For those of us who have to take extra steps to protect our mental health (and I don’t know many […]
It’s almost time to take a deep breath, climb off the work horse and take a well deserved break for a few days to enjoy the Christmas break. All that stands in our way is tying up all those loose ends and surviving a month of Christmas parties. The strange thing is, that as I […]
Let’s do some maths. If you take away weekends, bank holidays and a 25-day holiday allowance, full-time employees are likely to work 227 days a year. Given that a usual working day lasts 7.5 hours, you should be putting in at least 1,702 hours in total. Any lawyer with a billable hours target of over […]
We often hear the phrase ‘think like a lawyer’ but what does it really mean? Most would say it means paying attention to detail, skill at making an argument, a drive for perfection, an obsession for detail, analysing risk and all possible outcomes, preparing for the worst. All these skills make an excellent lawyer but […]
Linklaters is among the 32 firms that have committed to a major new data collection project aimed at increasing transparency and accountability around diversity, inclusion and culture in the profession. Launched by the InterLaw Diversity Forum, the UK Model Diversity Survey (UK MDS) aims to become the industry standard for how all UK firms provide […]
Athletes understand that proper rest, alongside training and competing, is vital in ensuring peak performance. Lawyers, by and large, do not yet understand or implement this concept. Rather, we drive ourselves and our teams very hard, and we are rarely intentional about downtime. Perhaps we fear the uncertainty of disconnection. The perceived wisdom is that […]
Six weeks ago, I stood in the shower, watching the water drain at my feet, wondering what it would mean if being a lawyer wasn’t for me. A training contract is so often sold as the golden ticket, and somehow four years ago, I had managed to get my hands on it. A solid, covetable […]
“Your HCG levels aren’t rising”. A phrase reserved for parents whose unborn baby is (literally, if you repeat home pregnancy tests) fading before their eyes. Words spoken to me in February 2018 while sat in my open-plan office. An hour later, I walked into a presentation. Broken, helpless, confused, shaky and sad, I couldn’t articulate […]
Brands with Values devised a cultural decoder system based on a framework proposed by social psychologist Professor Shalom Schwartz, through which The Lawyer can analyse the values of individuals in tandem with the values of the organisation they represent. For our inaugural Legal Industry Culture Study, lawyers and law firm employees were presented with a […]
The 2002 HSF class is an example of why some women choose not to progress to partnership
A Chief Happiness Officer is a Californian import that London partners may resist