Sharing the Pants: Essays on Work-Life Balance by Men Married to Lawyers

Work-life balance is not just a woman's issue. Both men and women struggle to balance work and personal lives. This book of essays focuses on work-life balance from the male perspective. We asked a group of husbands of women lawyers - all ages, all generations, various professions - to share their observations, insights, and thoughts about the pressures they've faced achieving work-life balance. Men wrote essays about prioritizing time as a spouse and parent, working arrangements, and being an effective team. They described efforts made to support the advancement of women in the law and, in particular, their spouse's career; professional and personal achievements and hardships; impossible challenges; changes in the legal profession for women observed and experienced; and workable solutions to balance competing demands. This collection of essays illustrates the pressures faced by men and their spouses; describes work-life balance issues and the satisfactions and difficulties of a dual career marriage; gives advice on how to do it; and explains the frustrations, disappointments, demands, and compromises - from the husband's perspective. About the editors:Jacquelyn Slotkin: B.A. University of Pittsburgh; M.A., West Virginia University; Ph.D., University of Arizona; J.D., University of San Diego.Professor Slotkin, former director of the Legal Skills program and legal skills professor, is currently director of the LL.M./M.C.L. program for foreign lawyers at California Western School of Law in San Diego, California. She and her daughter, Samantha Goodman, produced their first book, IT'S HARDER IN HEELS: ESSAYS BY WOMEN LAWYERS ACHIEVING WORK-LIFE BALANCE, in 2007.Samantha Slotkin Goodman: B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; J.D., Loyola Law School.Samantha Goodman concentrates her practice on commercial real estate leasing representing both landlords and tenants. Samantha was Senior Associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Senior Associate at DLA Piper US LLP, and Counsel with Bryan Cave LLP. She frequently lectures on landlord and tenant law, has been named a Southern California Rising Star every year since 2004 in a poll among Southern California Super Lawyers conducted by Law and Politics and Los Angeles magazines, and was named one of the Southland's Rising Young Stars Under 40 in 2005 by Real Estate Southern California.