Being a Parent Can Also Make You a Better Lawyer—Here’s Why

Parenthood changes everything. I expected parenthood would completely alter my life and relationships. I knew I’d never probably sleep again. If I’m being deeply honest, I also thought parenthood would change my career—and not for the better.

Despite examples of successful working parents around me, I pictured my own relationship with parenthood and career as a zero-sum game. As parenting responsibilities and exhaustion increased, my career performance and satisfaction would decrease.

Quite unexpectedly, parenthood taught me skills and provided perspective that improved my work and relationship with my legal career. As others before me discovered, parenthood, like other life experiences, ...