I don’t have a great answer for that – I just studied when I had energy and didn’t do much non-essential work (like reading for Corporations, since the professor would review every last detail of every case). I think I would have been fine, actually, if I hadn’t been doing a clinical that required a decent amount of travel. But unlike you, I was going to school full-time, not working at the same time AND taking care of another child. My only suggestion is to try to take easy classes.
Sarah asks: “how much is the minimum amt of time you could have taken off? i am a 3L, going into a 2 yr clerkship that allegedly doesn't have maternity leave, and i want a baby. which makes me think maybe i could only take 2 weeks off, while having my kid? but then i think that is insane.”
Personally, I needed four weeks at minimum. That’s how long it took me to recover from my C-section enough that I could get around normally. If you have a vaginal birth with a quick recovery and you’re formula-feeding, you might be able to do two weeks, but you can’t really predict that. I hate to say this, but I wouldn’t suggest pushing yourself like that. Maybe you could try to time the baby for after you’re finished? You could still be pregnant during the last year of your clerkship.
Meg and Rayne bring up good points. First of all, the Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees you 12 weeks of unpaid leave (although, depending on your clerkship, you may not be working for a covered employer). Meg also points out that you might be able to use some sick leave. Second, if your kid has to go into day care immediately after your maternity leave ends, a two-week maternity leave would suck. Rayne brings up germs and there’s more discussion of day care and sick kids in the comments, but even if he doesn’t get sick, in my opinion it would be less than ideal to stick your just-born baby in day care.
Butterflyfish asks: “you're taking off a whole semester, right? so you're going to December graduate?”
Gabi adds: “Taking time off: Are you going to graduate a semester late (December) and then take the bar? Will that impact any job offers? I'm currently due to give birth during finals of my 2L fall semester. Is it worth it to try and make it back for the spring semester?”
Yes, I took off spring semester of my 2L year. So I’ll go back for a full year next year, and then do one more fall semester. I’ll be done at the end of December, but, as I’ve mentioned before, I actually won’t graduate until March or June because of an annoying HLS idiosyncrasy. But the non-annoying part of going to HLS is that I feel that I have a lot of leverage with employers. My summer firms know that I won’t graduate for a year and a half. I’m hoping that whichever firm I choose will hire me after I finish school and give me a leave of absence for a month or so to study for the bar. Gabi, I don’t know if you’re in the same position, but either way I would suggest two things. First, you could try talking to people at the places you want to work – maybe informally, through contacts or informational interviews – and ask them about their hiring policies. Second, unless you think it will have a huge impact on your job opportunities, consider prioritizing your family life now. If you want to stay home with your baby for a while, do it. You won’t get a second chance. Congratulations and good luck with your pregnancy!
Mel and Anonymous will both be in their second trimester of pregnancy when they show up to their summer jobs, and ask: how should they tell their employers?
Lag Liv replies from personal experience. Go read her comments in their entirety, but I agree: it’s not necessary to tell them before you show up unless you need them to know. For instance, she told because she wanted to shorten her summer. I didn’t tell my employer last summer, but I wasn’t visibly pregnant. If you’d like to tell, my instinct would be to call the recruiting coordinator because you’ve probably interacted with her the most. LL mentions that she called a partner with whom she had good rapport and who had given her the initial offer. Congratulations to you two, too!
And finally, “anon y. miss” has a whole series of questions:
- What was the extent of the administrative hassle with school? I go to a state law school, and even though the law school is separately managed from the main campus, I'm a little scared about this.
I would try to talk to other mothers at your school about this. For me, it was really easy. The Dean of Students office was wonderful and contacted me throughout the semester to check if I needed anything. The Registrar just asked me to write a letter saying why I was leaving and when I’d be back. I had to call the Department of Ed to cancel my spring semester loan, and that was it for administrative stuff. I was amazed at how supportive HLS is, especially given its reputation for being unfriendly – sadly, I doubt every school is the same. - Did you talk about being pregnant at your callbacks, given that you were showing by then? When do you really start to show? I've heard it can be pretty late for first time moms.
No, I didn’t mention it and neither did they, even though it was pretty obvious. (In fact, they can get into legal trouble if they mention anything like that because I could come back and claim that was why I didn’t get the job.) After I got offers, I told them that I was pregnant and would be taking the semester off.
I started showing around 5 months – it’s different for everybody. - Are you pumping this summer? Did you have to arrange with your firm to for an office or anything? Was the firm in any way upset re: the semester off (e.g. the fact that they'd be getting a 1.5L instead of a 2L?)?
Yes, I’m pumping this summer. I asked the firms about accommodations when I was evaluating offers, and I was pleasantly surprised that many of them have lactation rooms. Actually, that reminds me – I don’t remember whether I already talked to last summer’s firm about this. I need to call them back and ask. The Boston office is pretty small so I will probably have to arrange to use a spare office or conference room.
The only reaction I got from any firm that I told about my pregnancy, semester off, and late graduation was, “Congratulations.” - Do you worry that your grades will go down when you go back?
It never even occurred to me. No, I will do what I have to do to keep my grades up. I’m going to school full-time and my grades are important to me. I’m scaling back my extracurricular and non-family commitments, though. For instance, I’m not planning to do journal work or a clinical next year, and I’m not going to take on a new student for tutoring for a while. - Do you take the same approach to parenting as you do to law school? My husband tells me our kid might be in for a tough time if I do that.
I’m not sure what my approach is to either one. I guess I just do the best I can, avoid paying too much attention to what other people are doing, and try to maintain perspective, in both parenting and law school. - Are you able to keep in touch with law school friends? Being married, I already feel a bit out of touch. I guess it's a trade-off?
Since students have pretty flexible schedules and I do too, I’ve been able to keep in touch more than I expected. Friends have stopped by during the day, even though I live out in the suburbs, and I’ve been able to get out to campus several times over the past few weeks. At first I felt pretty isolated at home, but now that K is a little older, we’re able to get out more and law school friends are less hesitant about calling.
That’s it! But feel free to keep asking. Thanks for the great advice in the comments, too. Go team!
