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Article

4 Oct 2017

Author:
Staci Zaretsky, Above the Law (USA)

USA: Increasing number of law firms adopt gender-neutral parental leave policies

"Biglaw Firm Impresses Associates (And Staff) With Enhanced Parental Leave Policy", 28 Sep 2017

…Biglaw firms across the country have realized that in order to recruit and retain the best talent, they need to offer the best perks and policies for a progressive new generation of lawyers…

…Shearman & Sterling…recently announced that effective September 1, a new, gender-neutral leave policy would be implemented, ensuring that attorneys and staff members alike will receive additional time off following the birth, adoption, or fostering of their new child…

[It] joins several other Biglaw firms (like Fried Frank, Orrick, and Winston & Strawn, for example) that have recently adopted enhanced, gender-neutral parental leave plans, and a handful of other firms (like Orrick, Lowenstein Sandler, and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer) that treat their staff members somewhat equitably in terms of parental leave…

We’ve often wondered whether associates will choose to take full advantage of the parental leave policies that are being offered by their firms, and it’s now clear that Biglaw firms really want them to, without fearing for their safety of their jobs upon their return to work…