New big firm lateral hire, wife entering third trimester. What’s the play? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I’m feeling extremely lucky because I was just offered a dream job at a biglaw firm that I really like.

Need to pass conflicts and then give notice to my current job and probably start in 1-2 months; probably closer to one.

My wife is due with our first in about four months from now.

What do I do with respect to timing of disclosure of that, any time off requested, etc. my wife was heads upped that I might be going back to work immediately (although this isn’t ideal).

I suppose my main concern is not what I “could” do, but what I could do while remaining on the right foot in the beginning of my time at this firm.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

I would disclose it within the first week at the firm in a normal way—sharing the good news.

[Anonymous User]

I would disclose it within the first week at the firm in a normal way—sharing the good news.

How much time should I be semi asking for in these circumstances? I was considering something like “I’ll probably need a few days off around then”

[Anonymous User]

At my firm associates out on maternity/paternity are treated as being out in terms of how many associates we have but hours they bill are included in the numerator for total hours. So the effect is to make your group seem more productive if you have people who are out on but billing at least some.

Point being, your boss may prefer (or view it neutrally) to have you out on paternity as you ramp up, even as you start getting staffed and billing on matters. You could try to feel this out with other associates before you offer up your specific plan (I still agree that announcing your wife's pregnant is normal and would do that soon after starting).

[Anonymous User]

At my firm associates out on maternity/paternity are treated as being out in terms of how many associates we have but hours they bill are included in the numerator for total hours. So the effect is to make your group seem more productive if you have people who are out on but billing at least some.

Point being, your boss may prefer (or view it neutrally) to have you out on paternity as you ramp up, even as you start getting staffed and billing on matters. You could try to feel this out with other associates before you offer up your specific plan (I still agree that announcing your wife's pregnant is normal and would do that soon after starting).

I didn’t really understand the first paragraph. Can you explain that again? FWIW, I have not previously worked in the private sector.

[Anonymous User]

At my firm associates out on maternity/paternity are treated as being out in terms of how many associates we have but hours they bill are included in the numerator for total hours. So the effect is to make your group seem more productive if you have people who are out on but billing at least some.

Point being, your boss may prefer (or view it neutrally) to have you out on paternity as you ramp up, even as you start getting staffed and billing on matters. You could try to feel this out with other associates before you offer up your specific plan (I still agree that announcing your wife's pregnant is normal and would do that soon after starting).

I didn’t really understand the first paragraph. Can you explain that again? FWIW, I have not previously worked in the private sector.

Sure, say you're in the litigation practice group and it has 11 associates including you. Litigation will report to the firm leadership the number of billable hours per associate for a given month. The 10 associates other than you each bill 150 each month. The month you start you only bill 50. Without you, reported billable hours per associate for that month would be 150, but once they add you it drops to ~141.

The next month you're out on paternity and don't bill at all. The group is treated like it has 10 associates (since you're out on paternity) and therefore has 1500 hours / divided by 10 associates or 150 billable per associate.

This is the point I'm making though -- the next month, you're still "out" on paternity but bill 100 hours for the month. Now the litigation practice group reports billable hours per associate of 1600 (because it includes your hours) but only 10 associates (because you're out on paternity), or 1600/10 = 160. So it can make your practice group look better to management. Obviously, it's better for them and the firm if you just billed 200 or whatever, but sometimes your practice group leader doesn't have an incentive to limit your paternity if you aren't going to bill a significant number of hours right off the bat. I suspect this varies widely from firm to firm and person to person though.