Unit D - Blog #31

The legal profession has as many difficulties as any other profession when it comes to child care. In their cases though they always have long extended hours. Many childcare options are not available for this kind of time. Childcare centers are generally open nine to five and do not offer later hours. If relatives are helping out, many times they will have other family obligations, part time jobs, errands, etc and will not be able to help on a twelve hour day. Some solutions proposed are allowing lawyers to work from home. This is difficult however even with all the technology available because working from home does not provide immediate access to people within the law firm or files that are stored there. It also risks compromising a case if a lawyer is a mother and she is being distracted from her real job. This may lead to prolonged cases because it will take longer to research and prepare. Another solution is to offer daycare at the firm but there is just no institution out there like that. Their hours would have to be long as well and spending that much time in a daycare can be harmful to a young child. Plus any daycare working in a law firm would have to be super worried about the liabilities. That is the last place any caretaker would want to work. Even when children enter school, there are few after school programs that last very long. This all effects the dynamic family structure because either dads or relatives or babysitters start to take a larger role in the children's lives.