PITTSBURGH Lawyer's part-time status worked for her

A growing number of law firms let attorneys work part time.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Litigator Alice Johnston is a frequent speaker on how to craft a part-time legal career after childbirth. And she often gets calls from lawyers seeking her message but fearing their firm may learn they want to cut back.
"Sadly, they're afraid to come to the meeting so they ask me to meet them somewhere to talk," said Johnston, 40, who worked full time for 10 years at two other firms before she joined the Pittsburgh law firm Buchanan Ingersoll in 1996 on a part-time schedule. Four years after she launched her part-time job, Johnston became a shareholder, or partner, at Buchanan. With both of her daughters now in school all day, she's recently resumed full-time status.
A rarity
Johnston is somewhat of a rarity in legal circles, and not just because she's among a few part-timers to achieve partner status but because she's one of a few attorneys who pursue part-time careers, period. A recent study of 1,305 law offices nationwide by the National Association of Law Placement found that while 96 percent of those firms offered part-time positions, only 4.1 percent of attorneys took advantage of reduced schedules.
As other professionals seek ways to achieve balance between work and life, lawyers are largely bucking the trend. Legal and economic experts say that's because so many law firms still support cultures where long, grueling hours are accepted as the only way to advance. Many lawyers fear they won't earn partner status or be taken seriously if they don't conform to that standard -- even if it means sacrificing a lot of personal time.
Looking like a slacker
"There's a social stigma ... many lawyers don't want to [work part time] because they don't want to look like a slacker," said Linda Babcock, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University's H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. "If it became more of a social norm, they would."
When Johnston was considering a part-time job, "what I heard from the conventional wisdom of the Pittsburgh legal community is that part time would be suicide for your career if you want a rewarding, long-term career."
Johnston gave birth to her daughters in 1993 and 1996 while working as an associate at the Pittsburgh firm Klett Lieber, now called Klett Rooney Lieber & amp; Schorling. After having children, she continued a full-time schedule that required her to bill more than 2,000 hours a year. After her second maternity leave, Johnston realized the long hours were taking too much of a toll on her personal and family life. "I just didn't want to work like that."
So following "a lot of soul searching" and long discussions with her husband, who also is an attorney with his own practice, she decided to approach some other firms that might be receptive to a part-timer.
The first place Johnston pitched her part-time proposal was Buchanan, the city's third-largest firm, which already had an alternative work schedule policy in place. Within weeks of her interview, Johnston was offered a job.
She continued to work five days a week as a part-timer and even traveled when her case load required it.
Cut back drastically
With fewer hours to bill, Johnston cut back drastically on the number of evenings and weekends she had to work and for the first time in years, was able to take vacation days.
"I told them I loved the workplace and wanted to be in the office 9 to 5 every day and that I would never walk out in an emergency. But I wanted a lower billable hour requirement."
The issue of billable hours is a big reason law firms aren't a hotbed of flexible work schedules. Lawyers are expected to bill a certain number of hours annually to generate revenue and profits for the firm. Once they earn partner or shareholder status, they get a piece of those profits.
"The struggle that law firms have is that they make money based on people's time," said Karl Schieneman, managing director of Legal Network, a Pittsburgh legal staffing and consulting business. "And it's very important for firms to make money."
Most firms expect a full-time attorney to bill between 1,800 and 2,000 hours per year, he said.
A part-timer might be expected to bill between 1,100 and 1,200 hours, said David Blaner, executive director of the Allegheny County Bar Association.
"So the traditional sense of part time where someone works 20 hours a week doesn't necessarily equate itself to that in the law," said Blaner. "Part time could result in someone working 30 to 35 hours a week to hit their hourly billable mark."