Duane Morris partner Joseph Machi found out he'd made partner in a car as he was heading to the hospital for the birth of his first child.

Machi was able to tap into his law firm's gender-neutral caregiver leave policy, which provides new mothers and fathers eight weeks of paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child, to care for his new daughter alongside his wife in the midst of a pandemic that prevented other close family members from stopping by to lend a hand during those first few crucial weeks of the baby's life.

His career was not hindered, and he says both his fellow partners and his clients were incredibly supportive of his decision.

"It was wonderful that I could spend that time away from work to bond with my daughter," Machi said. "It's time I could never get back." [...]

Why It Should Matter to Law Firms

Aside from the perks for the individual attorneys who take the leave, experts say the advantage to law firms of having inclusive policies around parental leave is simple: talent retention.

Duane Morris vice chair Tom Servodidio said that was top of mind when his law firm recently developed a ramp up, ramp down policy, in addition to its gender neutral parental leave policy, which Machi took advantage of.

Under the policy, attorneys who take parental leave can take an additional month before and a month after the leave where their billable hour expectations are reduced 30% while their pay remains the same, and after that period ends they can take an additional two months with hours expectations reduced by 20% and 10%, respectively, at full pay.

"We've spent a lot of time and effort and resources to recruit and train the best of the best lawyers," Servodidio said. "What you don't want to do is have inflexible policies that may cause them to leave the workforce or find a firm that's more family friendly." [...]

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