Attorney Moms Negotiate Work Options

Her Magazine
By Maureen O’Halloran Clark
May/June 2006

Attorney Shelly Stratman remembers having two young children and working full-time. “I had reached a point where something had to give in my life.”

Four other attorneys, all with young children, had faced the same dilemma. They were juggling the demands of families and high-powered jobs. They had invested years in their career education and wanted to maintain their profession. However, they also wanted to invest more of themselves in their children’s lives. They loved their families, but also enjoyed their careers. And they needed some time to sleep.

These five negotiated similar life-changing solutions.

Deputy Prosecutors Stratman and Pankonin
Stratman and Kimberly Pankonin each had nine years of experience as deputy prosecutors before they proposed a job-share. By allowing it, Douglas County was able to keep these two experienced prosecutors.

They specialize in Felony Domestic Violence cases and oversee all domestic violence arrests and warrants. Alternating, they work two weeks and are off two weeks. They share all their cases. Either one can prepare a case and either one can take it to trial. They document all activity or contacts for each case. On average, they confer by phone 15 or 20 minutes every other day.

Both women each have three young children. Pankonin comments, “With my first child I worked all the time, so she was in day care all the time. I felt like I missed a lot, first steps, things like that.” Now that she job-shares, Pankonin is experiencing “the milestones of those vital years” for her 2nd and 3rd child.

She adds, “Job-sharing lets you stimulate your mother instinct and stimulate your career. It makes me a better mom and a better prosecutor.” They are less stressed and are happier. In addition, they rarely miss days at work and schedule vacations on days off.

Sometimes, to be adequately prepared for trial, they review cases at home. But for the most part, during their two weeks off they don’t think about work, except during their phone conferences.

Stratman comments, “I think it has fluctuated from women being stay-at-home moms, to their being career women, to now they can have it all.” By job-sharing, she says women can be both.

Assistant Public Defenders Cavanaugh and Wharton
Nicole Cavanaugh and Martha Wharton each have two young children. They also are Douglas County Assistant Public Defenders, each representing 70 juveniles on the delinquency docket. They split a position but have separate clients.

Wharton works half of the week; Cavanaugh works the other half. Each represents her own clients anytime those juveniles have contact with the court, including reviews which are at least every six months. Bailiffs schedule their respective clients’ hearings only on their work days. However, in emergency situations they will cover for each other.

Due to moves connected with her husband’s job, Wharton worked full-time both in a Public Defender’s office and in a law firm. In a law firm, attorneys must meet a certain billable-hours requirement. Billable hours are those that an attorney actually spends working on a project for a client which can be charged to that client. Typically, attorneys work many more hours than what they can actually bill.

Wharton remembers that she made “significantly more money” at the law firm. There, however, she often worked 10 to 12 hours a day, working at home at night and on weekends.

In the Public Defender’s office, attorneys’ hours are regular business hours. With that and their part-time schedules, Wharton comments, “We can think about work when we are at work and home when we are at home.” Working part-time, both describe their lives as being “more balanced.”

Cavanaugh also notes that they continue to practice law and maintain their skills. Wharton says that is a benefit to the Douglas County Public Defender’s Office. “It keeps two lawyers there in hopes that they will go back to full-time.”

Scioli in a Private Practice Law Firm
In 1999, Andrea Friedlander Scioli joined the Law firm of Fraser, Stryker, Meusey, Olson, Boyer, & Bloch, P.C. She worked full-time, didn’t mind putting in long hours, and exceeded her billable-hours requirement.

After her son’s birth two years ago, she became the firm's first female attorney to work on the firm's part-time policy. In Scioli's opinion, both parties to the part-time policy need to be flexible for it to work.

Now she works at the office three days a week and is required to generate 60% of the full-time billable hours. Since going part-time, Scioli compliments her litigation practice with business law and estate planning work.

She typically eats lunch in and manages to be very productive at work. She also often works from home on her days off while her son is sleeping.

When asked if she can walk away from work, she said that she usually can. She enjoys outings to the park, the zoo, play dates with her son and time to herself. Still, she laughs and admits, “I definitely have dreams about the cases and contracts I am working on.”

Scioli says of her son, “Every day he says and does cute things. I love my days at home with him." Her heart melts when he wakes from a nap, smiles and exclaims, “It’s Mommy!”

“Working part-time lets me maintain my career and still be a stay-at-home mom for four days.” She is grateful to Fraser, Stryker for making that possible. She thinks there are many talented women who would join the workforce if other places offered more attractive work options.

All five attorneys say it helps to do a good job full-time before requesting a job-share or part-time arrangement. Several also note that part-time child care may still require paying full-time child-care fees, especially for infants in a day care center. They also mention that some employers offer part-time employees health insurance and some do not.

These attorneys enjoy having more time with their families and enjoy the challenge of their careers. They say they have the best of both worlds.

Article text © copyright 2006 Maureen O'Halloran Clark. All rights reserved.