Lawyer-centered coaching network BlueSky found that most mothers wanted to get back up to speed ASAP
Many lawyers who are returning from maternity leave aren’t looking to be “eased back,” according to a survey conducted by UK-based lawyer coaching network BlueSky.
For more than half of the respondents, ongoing matters were not reverted to them in the first three months of their return to work. Only 37 percent felt like they had come back to the quality of work they had anticipated, reported the Law Society Gazette.
Only 10 percent of maternity leave returnees felt optimistic about their career progression in the first three months of their return. After six months, 15 percent were confident, and the percentage skyrocketed to 44 percent after nine months.
“Most of the women we coach want to be partners and want to come back to work that’s going to help them progress and get back up to speed as quickly as possible,” said BlueSky co-founder Hannah Bradshaw in a statement published by the Gazette. “‘I don’t think that’s the assumption that most firm partners are making.”
Bradshaw acknowledged that there were women who weren’t looking to make partner, as well as women who needed more time to settle back into work. However, she noted a “clear link between getting back to doing good quality work and feeling confident and motivated for partnership.”
The survey revealed that 83 percent of respondents wanted to make partner. Among lawyers on maternity leave, only 25 percent were confident about being elevated to the role. Three months after returning to work, this percentage increased to 32 percent. After nine months, 77 percent were confident.
“We’d like to see firms have a plan with post-return work allocation, and doing more to get women back up to speed,” said Bradshaw, who is also a qualified lawyer who had practised with a US law firm.
BlueSky obtained feedback from over 250 fee earners for the survey. The results also indicated that for 62 percent of respondents, their firms required them to return to the office more often. Seventy-two percent reported that hybrid work policies had had a negative impact.
