Rainmakers Press Release
For Immediate Release: February 18, 2008
Contact: Jennifer Ruby
Phone: 317-332-3757   

INDIANAPOLIS, IN: February 18, 2008 – Solo Jennifer Ruby had a vision in law school that her future would hold a crib in her law office along with her mother helping at her firm. Flash forward several years and Ruby’s vision has become reality. She is one of many female solos who have had children while running their own firm.

Starting a family affects everyone’s personal and professional lives, but for female solos, the challenges can be greater. Female solos must work during pregnancy and often aren’t able to take the kind of maternity leave working in a firm or other business would make possible. Female solos in Indianapolis who are starting or already have children say it takes some extra work and planning to prepare for life as a working mother, but no one should put off having a child because they run their own practice.

Ruby has been a solo in Indianapolis since late 2005 and runs her estate planning practice out of a home office. Being a solo allowed her to control her workflow and clients and to prepare for having a baby.

Ruby didn’t talk to other female solos about what to expect when balancing a new baby and law firm, but L. Leona Frank did. A lot of advice she heard over and over again was to accept help when people offer.

“A lot of female attorneys seem to be headstrong and motivated, so it’s hard to accept when they need help,” she said.

Frank is seven months pregnant and planning for the time when her first child is born. She has heeded the advice of other female attorneys and hired additional support staff in her office. In addition to the paralegal and assistant already working, she has added a receptionist and a parttime bookkeeper. She has also enlisted the help of family and friends once the baby arrives. Her husband has a more flexible schedule and will be able to handle more of the “mommy” duties, she said.

Frank plans on being back in her north side office less than two weeks after giving birth. She cites her physical fitness and relatively easy pregnancy as reasons she’ll be able to get back to work so quickly.

“I will have a quicker recovery than I would with a firm,” she said. “There’s no such thing as six to 12 weeks off when it comes to the development of clients.”

Frank said new client development is the only area of her business law, commercial real estate, and banking practice that has been impacted by her pregnancy.

She also chooses to not tell clients about her pregnancy. Most of her work with clients is done by phone and e-mail, so many will never know she’s pregnant.

When Christine Douglas was a solo, she was afraid to tell her clients she was on maternity leave with her firstborn. Douglas worked as a solo from 1999 until last July when she merged her family law practice with Indianapolis law firm Riley Bennett & Egloff and became of counsel at the firm.

“I was so worried people would assume because I was having a child, I was staying home and ending my legal career,” Douglas said.

Some female solos are concerned about what perceptions and notions clients may form because they become pregnant.

“There is a misconception pregnancy is a liability or disability,” Frank said. “I want people to know it is not a disability.”

Ruby told her clients she was pregnant and even tried to plan her pregnancy to time out with the typically slower summer months.

“I told (clients) even though I’m having a baby and will work slower in July and August, I was going to keep my door open and keep being an attorney and build my practice,” Ruby said.

She said solos should be open and clear in their communication with family, staff, and clients. It’s important to keep in touch with clients and let them know you are working on their case, even if you may not have been in contact for a few days.

Douglas said it’s best to just be up-front and honest with people and explain when you may be working at home because your child is sick or you can’t get to their issue until tomorrow because of a family matter. She said she’s never had a client that hasn’t been understanding, both when she was a solo and now working in the law firm.

Douglas was able to balance family and work because she made it work, she said. She enjoyed having her own firm and decided to join Riley Bennett & Egloff because of a change in her husband’s job. He is also an attorney, but he must travel more for his job, leaving more child duties for Douglas to handle while her husband was away.

Along with her husband’s new schedule, having her second child posed more challenges in balancing work and family life, she said.

Frank has heard that the more children a female solo has, the more difficult it can be to maintain the same level of practice you had before children or even with just one child.

“The general consensus is one child is doable, two young children – it becomes difficult,” she said, referring to advice she heard from other female attorneys. “I’ve seen a lot of female solos with two children merge into other firms or go into corporate practice or become stay-at-home moms.”

The key to having your own practice and starting or raising a family is planning and preparation. Frank has a list of contract attorneys she can contact to help with larger projects she might not be able to take on right after having her baby.

Ruby said she tries to get a lot of her document work done while her daughter, Gillian, is sleeping or when her husband is home and is able to take care of her. She gauges how alert she is during the day to determine what type of work she can handle at that time. Ruby will stack appointments on certain days and knows that her mother can come to her house or she can take the baby to her mother’s house if she is unable to take her daughter with her to the appointments. Sometimes she is able to take her daughter with her to meetings, and some clients even get mad if she doesn’t bring Gillian along.

The female solos interviewed all agreed other solos thinking of starting a family should do it.

“I never want anyone to delay having a family because of their career,” Douglas said.

She advised female solos to have an emergency back up plan that can account for finances in case you can’t work while pregnant or want to take a maternity leave, and also to have other attorneys to contact that can help with cases if needed.

“It’s nice to prepare your business and plan your family, but don’t make those things an excuse,” Ruby said. “If you found a way to start and build a business, you will find your own way of juggling the business and your newborn.”