Ensuring Digital Signature Legality for Pregnancy Leave Policy

How to eSign a document: digital signature legality for Pregnancy Leave Policy

hey Jamie we're here to talk policies what people need to know is that these are practice management resources which are important for all of us not just women lawyers or lawyers who might be planning a leave the policies were prepared as part of the gist ischia project which is a canada-wide initiative focused on the retention and advancement of women lawyers here in bc the justice year project is championed by the DC law society the project began in bc in 2012 when 17 of the largest regional and national firms signed a justitia commitment in which they pledged to work together to formulate policies and practice guides to support women lawyers though the pregnancy and parentally policies we're going to talk about originated with justice the reality is both men and women lawyers will take leaves throughout their careers for a variety of reasons such as medical educational leisure and yes for pregnancy and parental reasons and how we manage these leaves or in the absence of planning failed to manage them fundamentally affects both legal practice and client relationships so right off the top I Jeff need to say look at us optics are so important and the optics of the Justice year project being jointly cured by both a male and female lawyer is critical because diversity in the profession is a win-win for everyone and look at you this picture of you with your baby in lap and advocating for pregnancy and parental leave it's a good look Jaime thanks Lisa we're going to bait me into your busy professional life brings a whole new meaning to work life balance especially when the baby arrives six weeks early like Mauro did and parentally was by no means just a women's issue anymore guys want to be involved parents too and some actually look forward to taking time from work to care for the baby men being interested in parental leave is a bit of a generational change but it's a good thing sharing responsibilities both at home and at work can help with work-life balance for everyone and understanding expectations around and planning for contingencies it's just part of how we each best manage our practices and therefore not surprising that these issues need to be considered by both lawyers who might be planning a lease as well as law firm partners who have proved policies so to encourage broader participation in this discussion we'll need to make our discussion somewhat interactive by including some questions for listeners perfect which I want to ask all of those tough questions that law firm leaders may be thinking but don't always ask you know the ones that question the value of leave policies and why all of us should care about this stuff don't get me wrong I'm adventure I do understand the business case for diversity and why it benefits all of us but those benefits are not always obvious to everyone okay in this program let's talk about the practice management risks that leave policies can address how law firms in the gist Ischia project have addressed these issues and some best practices around managing file transitions and client expectations okay a good place to start might be a quick look at the business case for the retention and advancement of women lawyers which law society published in a 2009 report on the retention of women in law here it is in a nutshell increasing diversity in the legal profession is obviously important for a whole variety of reasons supporting the retention and advancement of our women lawyers in particular is important for all of us for three compelling reasons fighting for top talent law firms want the best and the brightest and was more than fifty percent of law school graduates being women women lawyers are among that number competing for clients are increasingly demanding diversity in the legal teams they hire and better decision-making and profitability research has shown that having a diversity of perspectives maximizes business performance increases profitability and is a risk management tool right but diversity and inclusion are affected by cultural biases and norms it's a big ship to turn around we can't change societal expectations overnight but what we can do is influence workplace related biases the pregnancy and parentally policies are just one of that these policies are supportive because they help lawyers and law firms manage practices before during and after elite okay so let's talk about the policies I want to start by crap from terminology which can be confusing I've heard of maternity paternity pregnancy and parental leave really which is that we're talking about well pregnancy leaves supply only two lawyers who are pregnant or a given birth basically to birth mothers parental leave applies to birth mothers and fathers and also to adopting parents a similar distinction between pregnancy and parental leaves is made in our Employment Standards legislation you know it's interesting maternity leaves were only introduced in Canada in 1971 and paternity leave was only added in 1990 so the concept of leaves is relatively new and still evolving it's important that we have parental leave policies and not just maternity leave policies because parental leave recognize that these are important to both men and women and to adopting parents I can definitely see why recognition that both men and women who become parents they want or need to take Parenthood leaves is good the whitey law firms need policy is all like at lawyers and their firms just negotiate we request on a case-by-case basis ing to what suits them because circumstances like that baby in your lap don't always arise when planned or on schedule leaves raised practice management risks for both the lawyers who take them and their firms anticipating those risks and providing a framework for dealing with them in advance of the leave reduces stress and can manage outcomes with greater certainty let's take this out to our listeners and have them consider this from both sides on the one hand we have lawyers who want or need to take a leave what was their concerns be would they have financial concerns where they be concerned about how a leave will affect their client relationships or the management of their files and how am i taking a leaf effect career progression financial concerns are likely forefront lawyers who want to take a leave will likely be concerned about their financial risks of being away from work they may also worry about job security and not getting files or clients back when they return to work and then of course with pregnancy and parental leaves they may also be concerned about the perception of others stigma still exists about taking these kind of leaves although negative opinions are now rarely expressed openly perceptions may still exist but because women can choose to have children lawyers who take these leaves like a commitment to practicing all the perception may actually be hardest for men who want to take a parental eat because taking these leaves and wanting to take these leaves is a generational change too and of course when women lawyers return from leave expectations may still exist about how the distractions of being a parent might affect a lawyer's ability to practice law curiously this is an expectation that apparently does not apply equally to male lawyers who become parents these concerns and perceptions are all the more reason where we need policies to set expectations and assist with practice management on the other hand risk and concern also rise or firms when these are taken these may need to be taken but they're definitely disruptive so for our listeners again the time to consider this to the perspective of the law firm what risks will your own firm you to address when a lawyer takes the lead what additional costs can you expect how you accomplish file transitions so that they are seamless as possible for clients ferma Billy concerned about costs and managing files who will do the work during the lawyers leave do they hire a short-term contract lawyer can even find one what about the disruption for clients getting to know someone new and worrying about paying for the duplication of time to bring someone else up to speed these complications arise whenever a lawyer leaves a law firm but agreed they multiply if a lawyer takes a scheduled leave because the client disruption happens all over again when the lawyer is reintegrated back into the practice to be clear there are no easy answers to any of this each lawyer each practice area and each law firm will be different there is no best way to transition a practice or reintegrate a lawyer back into practice other than as recommended in the policies to think about these issues in advance and have a written transition plan in place the policies include a useful list of issues that should be addressed in a transition plan the important piece here is that having policies can be personalized discussions they can circumvent unintended biases and address compensation issues in ways that are not personal to the lawyers directly affected let's take this out to our listeners again take a moment now to consider what the advantages might be of a law firm having written policies the advantages of having written policies might be these in the absence of a written policy a lawyer who needs or wants to take a leave may not know how to navigate the issues that will arise in their practice they may not know how to raise the issues and they may be uncertain as to how the law firm will respond to the request these are all practice issues which are potentially fraught with misunderstanding in sufficient consideration and unintended bias in their resolution law firms are encouraged to adopt written pregnancy and parental lead policies because they improve transparency objectivity fairness and consistency and decision making they will provide an internal procedure for dealing with requests for leaves and benefits they promote an acceptance firm-wide that pregnancy imprenta leaves are positive practices they will confirm the firm's commitment to advancing inclusiveness and diversity at the firm two lawyers at the firm but also to potential recruits and clients and they'll ensure that the firm complies with its legal obligations including those under our provincial Human Rights Code that all makes a lot of sense but there's a bottom-line cost of all these benefits isn't there our listener should take a moment now to think of their own firm and consider the costs that might be associated with having written policies particularly if some form of financial support is provided in those policies don't some law firms top up employment insurance benefit and provide for lengthy leaves what if I work in a small firm we just can't afford to find parentally benefit of course benefits only makes sense if there's a return on investment for funding leave as much as lawyers take pride in being professionals practicing law is still a business law firms that financially support lawyers on leave do so as an investment in lawyer retention the financial benefits included in a policy can be multiple or few from a practice perspective what is important here is that the law firm is considered and identified available benefits in fact the model policies are just a tool law firms come in all shapes and sizes and will have different needs and expectations the policies are designed simply to assist both lawyers who want to take a leave and the partners who are decision makers by providing a framework to discuss issues that typically arise with the pregnancy or parental leave the policies are just a guide but a tremendously useful guide financial benefits to lawyers on leave or only one consideration the practice concerns about managing client transitions and file transfer responsibilities are equally important okay let's consider the main component of the model policy to model policies are published on the Law Society website one for associates there are lawyers in an employment type relationship with the firm and one for partners are lawyers in ownership arrangements with the firm the policies encourage the inclusion of a commitment statement at the beginning to explain the purpose of the policy they then deal with pregnancy and parental leave in separate sections and consider issues such as eligibility that is do lawyers have to have worked at the firm for a period of time before they are eligible for the lead benefits how long relief can be whether the firm will pay the lawyer or top-up employment insurance benefits during the leaves whether benefits will be danger in the leaves and weather lawyers who choose not to return to practice after leave are required to reimburse the firm for compensation paid during the least the final sections in the policy deal with the consequences to a lawyer of taking a leave such as any expected extension of the years to partnership what kinds of notice and approval procedures can be put in place and transitional considerations for both the lawyer and the law firm what I find interesting is that the policy provide guidelines and commentary on sensitive issues such as the length of leaves when the leaves are paid or unpaid and in many cases that is whether the eye and benefits are topped up whether lawyers need to be employed for a period of time before being eligible for benefits and whether compensation should be reimbursed at the lawyer to does not return after a leaf yes the policies include information about how the 17 law firms which are involved with the Justice year project have dealt with these issues from looking at the law society's website I feel all the gist asiya law firms or larger firms and a majority but not all top up AI benefits during leaves provide between eight and twenty six weeks of pregnancy leads the firm's have worked out what makes sense for their practically half require compensation to be reimbursed if the lawyer does not return to work and half have no return to work in the couple requirement half also have an eligibility requirement for financial benefit in terms of years with the firm and half do not there can really be no single policy that will be right for all firms what was clear from the gist Ischia law firms was it views differ on many of these issues for example on the issue of whether a lawyer on lead should be eligible for a financial benefit only if they have been with the firm for a period of time before taking a leaf some firms think that an eligibility requirement emphasizes the value of the financial benefit because it rewards years of service to the firm others things in an eligibility requirement is punitive because pregnancy can be unexpected and in practice they are difficult to administer similar considerations play out with reimbursement requirements for lawyers who decide not to return to practice lawyers who don't return often find legal work as in-house counsel and can therefore become valued alumni therefore firms that wave top-up reimbursement may do so in part because they see the waiver as an investment in the goodwill of their alumni networks do the policies describe any best practices yes some but model policies recommend the recognition of both pregnancy and parental leave and that the primary care giver of a newly adopted child be eligible for the same benefits as a birth parent the policies also recommend that in determining whether a lawyer salary should increase after a leave firms should consider both the length of the lead and the impact believe on the lawyers professional development and growth during the period being considered but because law firms are all very different finding best practices is not the primary purpose of the policies the purpose was to encourage law firms to anticipate and manage leaves with a written policy which provides a framework and a transition toolkit for dealing with the issues arising from a leave from practice the creation of a written policy itself is the best practice I expect that for most lawyers and law firms the most important discussion will be around a leave transition plan from experience I know that baby can change everything and both the law firm and the lawyer will have real worries about moving the practice into someone else's hands let's go back to our listeners again to consider what a good transition plan should contain for your law firm where the main pain points that you need to address for both the transitioning lawyer and your law firm it's difficult to make plans in advance we all know that stuff happens at least having a discussion about and green upon expectations around issues like client management salary and career advancement should ease uncertainties for both lawyer on leave and the law firm I also like the acknowledgement that the lawyer in law firm have joint responsibility to ensure the lead and successful yes the key really is for both the individual lawyers and the law firms to recognize that they have joint responsibilities both the lawyer taking the leaf and the law firm play a part in making these leaves successful the transition plan should be in writing and should identify which lawyers will soon file responsibilities how often and by what means the lawyers on leave want to remain connected example by email telephone or meeting for coffee and the proposed length of leave understanding that this may change the takeaway then is that creating written policies for pregnancy and parental leave is no different from creating policies for any other type of leave from practice the same practice management issues arise and need to be addressed to the extent that the issues can be anticipated and thought through in advance file transition matters and client expectations can be managed another we can't anticipate everything who knew that Morrow would arrive when he did I can be Emily curious about who morale is and who we may become but I know this I don't need to be curious about how my law firm will react to my wanting to take a parental leave my law firm doesn't need to be curious about my expectations around such a leave that kind of curiosity is simply time badly spent by both a lawyer and the law firm having a policy provides a framework to raise the issues in a timely and effective manner as we all know decisions made in the absence of a framework can be made without a proper consideration of all applicable issues having a policy is also an unequivocal statement by a law firm that the firm recognizes the issues inherent in any leaves and will be supportive of its lawyers the optics of that statement alone cannot be underestimated on behalf of both Jamie and me thank you for participating in this program we hope that the model policies will be used as a guide for discussing the practice issues that arise with these sleeves