Lawyers Who Take Time Off Face Tough Return

Legal Times
September 22, 2006
By Alexia Garamfalvi

Law firms are not know known for innovative thinking when it comes to hiring practices...

So what happens to attorneys who step off the 70-hour-per-week fast track, as many professional women (and a few men) do at some point...?

Attorneys who take time off are often viewed as not being committed to their careers. "If you develop an identity, as Mom or anything else, if you've been willing to compromise your identity as a lawyer, then are not [considered] serious. You are a dilettante," says Dr. Ellen Ostrow, a Silver Spring, MD-based psychologist who has developed a nationwide career-coaching practice for female lawyers.