Parents and partners

Being a working mother in the legal world has always been a difficult role to manage. Corporate lawyers typically put in 60- to 70-hour work weeks, and likely more if they’re busy drafting private fund documents or working out the kinks of a complicated transaction.

In Washington, DC, two lawyers (and mothers) are trying to improve this work/life balance. Rebecca Gellar and Maria Simon run the Gellar Law Group. The firm does not have a permanent office, but rather rents space daily or hourly for meetings as needed. All of its six female employees spend most of the week working remotely so they can spend time during the day with their young children.

The unconventional setup is working for Gellar and Simon, whose successful firm was recently featured in The New York Times. They’ve found a way to circumvent the traditional workaholic culture in a male-dominated field, not sacrificing the personal for the professional (or vice versa).

Private equity may just be following suit. In April, The Blackstone Group revealed that it would be extending its maternity leave policy to 16 weeks of paid leave, an effort to recruit and retain more women (most competitors offer 12 weeks). Who knows, maybe a women-led, telecommuting firm is on the horizon for private equity as well.