Three years after a career model’s introduction, less than half of the lawyers in the program are women
A career track launched by a Magic Circle law firm aimed at encouraging better work-life balance has attracted more men than women.
Called YourLink, the program was first trialled by Linklaters Germany in 2017. The firm said then that they want to know how the program will work with the goal of expanding it to other markets.
However, of the 20 lawyers that have signed up for the program, seven are female and 13 are male, the Law Society Gazette reported.
Linklaters designed YourLink to offer associates the leeway to set their own schedule for a 40-day work week following precise clock-in times, albeit at a significant pay cut and at the cost of forfeiting eligibility for partnership.
Associates in the program were offered €80,000 in their first year, a steep cut from the €120,000 offer for first-year associates in the regular career path. Those under the scheme were allowed to withdraw and return to the standard, partnership-eligible track any time.
This is an interesting development given that Linklaters reported in its Gender Pay Report 2017 that the number of women who worked part-time for them was greater than that of the men—which suggests that YourLink could have matched the needs of female lawyers.
