If it wasn’t already clear, Biglaw firms should now know they must offer excellent parental leave policies in order to stay competitive with their peer firms. We continue to see more and more firms offering their attorneys generous paid leave, and the programs are increasingly gender neutral and offered without a primary caregiver stipulation.
The latest Am Law 200 firm increasing its parental leave is Benesch. The firm’s plan had always been gender neutral, but today it announced its adoption of a reportedly industry-leading 20 weeks of fully paid leave for new parents, up from 12 weeks of paid leave, plus the ability to take an additional six weeks of leave without pay. (We believe a handful of firms may offer a few more weeks of fully paid, gender-neutral parental leave.)
Liz Gillmore, Benesch’s Chief Human Resources Officer, noted that the firm’s new policy is designed to support attorneys as they attempt to balance their career with parenthood:
We are thrilled to roll out our new parental leave policy. It is directly aligned with our unwavering commitment to support our team and their families. As Benesch’s exponential growth across the country continues, we need to be flexible and supportive for our attorneys. We believe this is the longest paid parental leave in the law firm world and we are proud to be leading the industry.
Kudos to Benesch on its new parental leave benefits. Firms stepping up their family-friendly policies is something we’ll continue to pay attention to — particularly as we head into recruiting season. Hopefully your firm is changing its ways when it comes to important policies like parental leave. Please let us know when it happens.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
