Balancing Family and Career: A Journey to Work-Life Harmony with PrivyCounsel

Work ~ Life balance

Where are you in your journey…

In our recent Blog, New Generation of Legal Professionals women continue to outnumber men in law school, the upward trend of aging population, inflation, and the changing demographic of attorneys, as well as other other factors that have caused a paradigm shift of how work is done in the legal industry. Not only has there been a paradigm shift in the way work is done, but moreover, there has been a shift in our focus between career path and personal lives.

The legal industry is no different, experiencing a changing environment in how work is done and services are provided, with an influx of younger, more progressive attorneys, more women becoming attorneys and many attorneys reaching the end of their careers. The solo and freelance attorney trend in the US is also on the rise, due to factors such as the popularity of flexible and remote work, the rise of technology and online legal resources, the growing demand for affordable legal services, and the desire for more autonomy and control over one's career. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 also caused a dramatic increase in people having to Restart and Reboot, and working remotely, resulting in a surge of new businesses and a change in focus toward work-life balance. This has motivated many to shift away from traditional employment with large institutions to become freelancers and start their own practices, redefining the legal profession in the new 'Knowledge - Creator Economy.'


CASE STUDIES

In our last case study of Working Parents and Caregivers in the Legal Field, we shared Lorena’s story . Next we will meet Oscar, Stephanie, and Joe - successful paralegal, attorneys, and boutique law firm, who have navigated the art of balancing work and life. With a forward-thinking mindset, resilience, and the help of PrivyCounsel, a legal practice management portal, they've been able to streamline work processes, work from anywhere, and collaborate effectively with their colleagues and clients. Let's dive into Oscar’s story.

Work-LIFE BALANCE

Rise Above Circumstances: Embrace Change and Thrive

OSCAR

Meet Oscar, an attorney who specializes in Estate Planning and Conservatorship. Oscar's journey to becoming a successful attorney has been filled with challenges and personal struggles, but through it all, he has remained determined to succeed.

During his second year of law school, Oscar's father was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. Despite the looming possibility of his father's death, Oscar and his wife decided to plan a wedding so that his father could be his best man. Tragically, his father passed away just three months after the wedding.

Despite the loss of his father, Oscar chose to continue on with law school, knowing that it would be a difficult task to balance his grief and his studies. A year later, Oscar and his wife welcomed their first son while still in law school.

In addition to his role as an attorney, Oscar is also the primary care-giver for his mother, who is a six-time cancer survivor. He manages to take his son to practices and sporting events, while also making time to take his mother to all of her doctor's appointments and cancer treatments. Oscar works late hours and on weekends to balance his responsibilities as an attorney, husband, father, and care-giver. This is made possible with PrivyCounsel, a practice management portal for lawyers that allows him to leverage remote and mobile access anytime, any place. PrivyCounsel also enhances collaboration with office staff and the team approach to professional legal services.

Despite the challenges he faces, Oscar is determined to follow in his father's footsteps and put his family first. He is dedicated to spending quality time with his family through travel and hiking, and has a strong work ethic that allows him to balance his professional and personal responsibilities. Oscar's story illustrates the importance of perseverance, time management, and prioritization in balancing one's family and career. It also shows the valuable role that technology like PrivyCounsel can play in helping professionals achieve work-life balance by streamlining their workflow and allowing for remote access to work.

Here’s what Oscar favorite PrivyCounsel feature, that's tough, because quite honestly, I think PrivyCounsel as a whole is FANTASTIC, and I truly mean that. However, if I had to choose one, or two, I would have to say having the ability to internalize notes with the team, and/or self, on the "same" page as the client communications is great, especially when dealing with matters, e.g. Conservatorships, that involve a lot of back and forth between the client/attorney/staff, and a lot of internal notes ensuring that the proper documents are being prepared, deadlines are being met, information is being gathered, etc. This feature allows me to quickly cross reference between all relative information in a timely, and therefore, effective manner, because it's all located on the same page. Having said that, this feature works wonderfully with any type of matter, not just Conservatorships because it allows you to manage so many aspects of the matter you are working. The second feature I like, which could arguably be tied into this first feature, or be made part of, is having the appointments, tasks, and documents tab located on the same page, for the same reasons I indicate above. It allows me to cross reference and therefore manage all the "material" aspects of the matter, e.g. documents, client communications, internal notes, collectively, in real time, and if I have to upload a document to either share, or not, in the moment, the ease of doing so is awesome, and in the same respect, if the client needs to upload a document, the ease of uploading that document into ST and then back into PC to either share, or not, is again, just awesome.

Key TAKEAWAYS

Oscar, an attorney and primary caregiver, balances his responsibilities as a father, husband, attorney, and caregiver with the help of PrivyCounsel, a practice management portal for lawyers. The portal allows him to leverage remote and mobile access anytime, any place, and enhances collaboration with office staff. Despite the challenges he faces, Oscar is determined to follow in his father's footsteps and put his family first. He is dedicated to spending quality time with his family through travel and hiking, and has a strong work ethic that allows him to balance his professional and personal responsibilities. His story illustrates the importance of perseverance, time management, and prioritization in balancing one's family and career. And how technology like PrivyCounsel can play an important role in helping professionals achieve work-life balance by streamlining their workflow and allowing for remote access to work. Oscar's favorite feature of PrivyCounsel is the ability to internalize notes with the team, and/or self, on the "same" page as the client communications, and the documents tab located on the same page-having a unified matter management system. Communication, collaboration, and document management all in one location.

our next blog will dive into Stephanie’s story

The case study is about Stephanie, a successful solo law practitioner who had a thriving practice and affiliations with other law firms using PrivyCounsel. Due to family circumstances Stephanie moved out of state and took a job with a law firm but after having her second child, she found it difficult to continue working in an office setting. Recognizing the need for flexibility, Stephanie decided to restart her solo law practice and affiliations with PrivyCounsel as the unified communication portal for attorneys, paralegals and clients. This new solo practice is built on the principles of remote work and affiliation with other firms, which provides her with the flexibility to spend more time with her family while still generating income. The case study highlights the importance of resilience, adaptability and being open to change in building a successful law practice, as well as the power and simplicity of using PrivyCounsel as a communication tool.

CASE STUDIES

Share your journey as a legal entrepreneur. Tell us about the challenges you've faced and the lessons you've learned. Help us achieve our mission of inspiring entrepreneurship in the legal profession with your story. Join PrivyCounsel's mission and make a difference.

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