The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance’s Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
PAST SPOTLIGHTS
If you are a professional working a flexible schedule and would like to share your story in an upcoming Spotlight on Flex, please contact Jane Caldeira.
Spotlight on Flex – Laura Walther
The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
This month, we are pleased to share insights from Laura Walther, Counsel in the Washington, DC office of Crowell & Moring LLP.
Laura Walther: I lateraled to the Product Liability & Tort Group at Crowell & Moring in the Spring of 2007 and went on a flex schedule at 80 percent in the Fall/early Winter of 2010 after I came back from maternity leave. I was made Counsel while I was on leave. Currently, I am a Counsel in what is now the Advertising & Product Risk Management Group and continue to work closely with the product liability litigation team members. My flex time is a reduced hours yearly target – I’m in the office almost every day but have no hard start and end time. I’m practical with the realities of child-care; I’m usually in the office early so I can leave early but still maintain as much of the “full time experience” as possible. If I need to make time in my schedule for personal reasons, then I do it. I have the flexibility (and the firm has been fully supportive) to make my own schedule to meet my yearly hours.
When I proposed my schedule to the firm, there were already several other attorneys on a flex schedule. I did my homework and talked with them to see how their schedules were working – what they liked and what they didn’t.
Spotlight on Flex – Charise Naifeh
The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
This month, we are pleased to share insights from Charise Naifeh, Associate in the Washington, DC office of White & Case LLP.
Charise Naifeh: I’m a seventh year associate in the Competition Group in the DC Office of White & Case, and I started with the firm as summer associate. As an associate, there are three key factors to making my schedule work: flexibility, communication, and a supportive team.
I started on a flex schedule after my maternity leave and on-ramped back. I was at 60 percent, three days a week for the first two months, and then I went to 70 percent, four days a week and telecommuted on Fridays (this my current schedule). The firm gives us wide latitude to draft our own proposals for its review and approval; I proposed this schedule, and it made my return to work less overwhelming and much easier.
Spotlight on Flex – Laura O’Boyle
The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
This month, we are pleased to share insights from Laura O’Boyle, Associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Laura O’Boyle: I think it’s fair to say that working on a flexible schedule is the reason I’ve been able to sustain a career in “big law.” I transitioned to a 75% schedule as a sixth year associate just after my first son turned one. I had returned to work full-time after my maternity leave, but I quickly found myself struggling to find the right balance between a demanding career and my growing family. I was also coping with the recent death of my mother and was spending a lot of time thinking about the type of parent I wanted to be. Shifting to a flexible schedule seemed like a solution that would allow me to be a more present and engaged parent while continuing to sustain a career that I loved – and it very much has been.
Although I had concerns about shifting to a flex-time schedule at that point in my career, the partners with whom I work and firm management have all been incredibly supportive of my decision. With their support, I have never once second-guessed the transition.
For others considering a flex-time schedule, I always remind them that this job is still incredibly demanding, even on a flexible schedule. Having a supportive husband and a wonderful caretaker for our two boys have both been critical to the success of my career.