Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on motherhood in the legal profession, in partnership with our friends at MothersEsquire. Welcome Jaclyn S. Alcantara back to our pages. Click here if you’d like to donate to MothersEsquire.
The theme of the MothersEsquire National Conference, which will be held next month in Louisville, Kentucky, is “We Belong.”
“We Belong” is both a self-affirmation and a rallying cry for lawyer moms, as study after study has shown that women are much more likely than men to leave the profession due to childcare responsibilities.
More than half of law school students in the U.S. are now women, and approximately 80% of those women will have a child by age 44. This means that the vast majority of women lawyers are moms during their peak earning years. In some way, at some point, nearly every firm or other legal employer will need to address the risk that women will leave to retain their top talent.
Moms AND Their Employers Miss Out On Potential Earnings When Women Exit The Profession Early
So what can we do to increase retention of women lawyers in the profession during motherhood?
1. Provide adequate paid parental leave — for all parents regardless of their gender or whether they carried the child through pregnancy. When spouses start off the parent-child relationship as a team on equal footing (instead of making mom the default), fathers or spouses that did not carry the new child are also able to bond more deeply with their children, and mothers are more likely to have the support they need at home during the next few decades of their career as a result.
2. Increase flexibility. The most successful lawyer moms I know are given the autonomy to set their own schedules as long as they get their hours in and make their deadlines. Providing flexibility costs the firm nothing, and yet it is consistently one of the most valued benefits among all working moms during the child-rearing years.
3. Encourage their employee lawyer moms to attend events such as the upcoming Mothers Esquire 2025 “We Belong” Conference in May (register now), and cover their associated costs. By doing so, employers show they value retaining talented lawyer moms, and for lawyer moms to find other peers and mentors who have found success in the legal field despite the motherhood penalty. This benefits retention and also leads to referrals and business development opportunities. Motherhood becomes a time when lawyer moms not only survive in the industry but also thrive.
4. Sponsor the 2025 MothersEsquire Conference, as a presenting sponsor, exhibitor, and much more. This can help drive recruitment, attracting moms who seek out firms that demonstrate a commitment to supporting lawyer moms. It also create more good will with clients who see that the firm they hired values and supports women and mothers based on where they invest their resources.
Jaclyn S. Alcantara is a partner and patent attorney at Hovey Williams in Overland Park, Kansas, specializing in patent prosecution, IP due diligence, and client counseling. Her practice focuses on U.S. and foreign patent matters in the areas of electrical, mechanical, aerospace, manufacturing, and software technologies. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami. More about her legal practice can be found on her firm bio page and she can be reached by email at jalcantara@hoveywilliams.com.
The post Easy Steps For Keeping Moms In The Legal Profession appeared first on Above the Law.
Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on motherhood in the legal profession, in partnership with our friends at MothersEsquire. Welcome Jaclyn S. Alcantara back to our pages. Click here if you’d like to donate to MothersEsquire.
The theme of the MothersEsquire National Conference, which will be held next month in Louisville, Kentucky, is “We Belong.”
“We Belong” is both a self-affirmation and a rallying cry for lawyer moms, as study after study has shown that women are much more likely than men to leave the profession due to childcare responsibilities.
More than half of law school students in the U.S. are now women, and approximately 80% of those women will have a child by age 44. This means that the vast majority of women lawyers are moms during their peak earning years. In some way, at some point, nearly every firm or other legal employer will need to address the risk that women will leave to retain their top talent.
Moms AND Their Employers Miss Out On Potential Earnings When Women Exit The Profession Early
So what can we do to increase retention of women lawyers in the profession during motherhood?
1. Provide adequate paid parental leave — for all parents regardless of their gender or whether they carried the child through pregnancy. When spouses start off the parent-child relationship as a team on equal footing (instead of making mom the default), fathers or spouses that did not carry the new child are also able to bond more deeply with their children, and mothers are more likely to have the support they need at home during the next few decades of their career as a result.
2. Increase flexibility. The most successful lawyer moms I know are given the autonomy to set their own schedules as long as they get their hours in and make their deadlines. Providing flexibility costs the firm nothing, and yet it is consistently one of the most valued benefits among all working moms during the child-rearing years.
3. Encourage their employee lawyer moms to attend events such as the upcoming Mothers Esquire 2025 “We Belong” Conference in May (register now), and cover their associated costs. By doing so, employers show they value retaining talented lawyer moms, and for lawyer moms to find other peers and mentors who have found success in the legal field despite the motherhood penalty. This benefits retention and also leads to referrals and business development opportunities. Motherhood becomes a time when lawyer moms not only survive in the industry but also thrive.
4. Sponsor the 2025 MothersEsquire Conference, as a presenting sponsor, exhibitor, and much more. This can help drive recruitment, attracting moms who seek out firms that demonstrate a commitment to supporting lawyer moms. It also create more good will with clients who see that the firm they hired values and supports women and mothers based on where they invest their resources.
Jaclyn S. Alcantara is a partner and patent attorney at Hovey Williams in Overland Park, Kansas, specializing in patent prosecution, IP due diligence, and client counseling. Her practice focuses on U.S. and foreign patent matters in the areas of electrical, mechanical, aerospace, manufacturing, and software technologies. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami. More about her legal practice can be found on her firm bio page and she can be reached by email at jalcantara@hoveywilliams.com.
The post Easy Steps For Keeping Moms In The Legal Profession appeared first on Above the Law.
