THE LAWYERS WEEKLY October 16, 2009 | 25 BUSINESS CAREERS Working as virtual associate brings work/life balance It sounds like a lawyer joke. are exceptions, this dichotomy is the throne as Queen of France taneous identities and to move What is at once like Eleanor of REBECCA more fact than fiction, a point and Queen of England and moth- between binary stereotypical cat- Aquitaine, Superman and Strip- that was noted by CBA Equity ered 11 children. Eleanor was egories to which we have tradi- perella? JAREMKO Chair Beth Bilson in a recent unusual as she engaged actively tionally been relegated. It According to Mitch Kowalski, BROMWICH Lawyers Weekly article when she in leadership, crafting laws affords one a dual existence: like writing in the Canadian Bar noted that many woman lawyers while simultaneously engaging Canadian superheroes from Association’s (CBA) National have chosen not to have children actively in not just bearing chil- Superman to Stripperella and magazine recently, the “law firm to pursue their careers. The con- dren but in nurturing those chil- also like Queen Eleanor. pyramid” will be replaced by a tributions of these women to dren as citizens and leaders: in In contemplating the shapes “diamond.” He predicts a Canadian law and legal culture motherwork. She, as biographer to be taken by the legal profes- coming “end of the associate.” Doing‘‘ agency work are notable and their achieve- Robert Fripp notes in Power of a sion of the future, it is important Or at least of the actual asso- ments are great. So are those of Woman (2006), “lived both to consider equality. Women ciate. More firms will contract as a virtual women who, like my mother, lives.” Her life was turbulent but must not be ghettoized into a out agency work and more stayed home to raise (four) chil- she lived out to the edges of it. part-time sphere where all we do lawyers, in his view, will practise associate... I have dren. Both stay-at-home mothers By doing agency work as a is boys’ homework. Women must like I do. This gives many asso- worked remotely and lawyers can lead lives well virtual associate contracting be able to climb to senior man- ciates cause for concern. But it lived. Looking forward from my with Taran Virtual Associates, I agement positions in firms. may have benefits not just for from Illinois, Ohio, call to my career, shortly after have been able to live the truth Nonetheless, agency work is a firms but for young lawyers. marriage, I just couldn’t choose that the choice between the space within the legal profession Doing agency work as a vir- Florida, Alberta, between them. mommy track and the law can be of which women and men can tual associate since my call, I As the LSUC Justicia Report avoided as a false dichotomy. take possession and the services have assisted other lawyers with England, Ireland, has identified, conflict between While working as a virtual asso- of which lawyers can benefit a wide variety of appellate, trial, Mexico and Ontario. young women lawyers’ child- ciate, I have been able to “live from contracting. Agency work motion and other proceedings. I bearing and caregiving roles and both lives.” I have done legal can afford both agent lawyers have appeared on litigation mat- time-related demands of a law work while spending the bulk of and lawyer clients a good life ters, and I have run trials. My practice is at the core of a crisis my children’s waking hours with within the law, of that I am cer- virtual career has allowed me to in retention of women in the legal them. Taran is one of a growing tain. Well, virtually.  revolve my legal career around profession as over half of the body of companies through the rest of my life. I have worked Plato: What is a good life? people called are now women. It which lawyers can balance their Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich remotely from Illinois, Ohio, Elizabeth I swore off marriage should be no surprise in these cir- work/life demands by receiving practises civil litigation in Florida, Alberta, England, Ire- and embraced mythic celibacy, cumstances that there is a crisis piecemeal assistance from other Ottawa. She has taught youth land, Mexico and Ontario. marrying herself, as she said, “to in public access to justice. lawyers. criminal justice at the University My favorite course at Queen’s England.” Although there are Being a lawyer is being com- Working as a “virtual” asso- of Western Ontario, as well as University’s law school was Pro- many women who are successful mitted to serving justice; it is ciate is not perfect. There is classes on women’s issues at the fessor Mark Weisberg’s ethics lawyers and mothers, in pop cul- like being married to the law. some financial uncertainty. The University of Cincinnati. She is class. The central ethical ques- ture’s dichotomized “mommy Consider another great day job of raising four small incoming chair of the Young tion he asked students to look at wars,” women, at some point in stateswoman, Eleanor of children also has its challenges. Lawyers’ Conference of the did not concern the Law Society our professional lives, are asked Aquitaine, married in her own However, to think somewhat Canadian Bar Association. She of Upper Canada (LSUC) Code to choose between playing the way to the law, to Henry II, self-aggrandizingly and only is also pursuing her LL.D. at the of Conduct directly but was this character of lawyer and taking the known as the “Lawgiver.” Before slightly facetiously, this type of University of Ottawa’s faculty of question asked by Aristotle and role of mother. Although there she died at 82 in 1204, she held work enables one to have simul- law.

Making law office Microsoft-free can be a long, complex process Microsoft native Mac desktop for the Black- iWork, and found it lacking. want to be the guinea pig to see if the praises of their operating sys- Continued From Page 22 berry. (Note: Research in Motion “Lawyers would lose too many the software works on a Mac or tems, in particular their freedom is reportedly releasing that Mac features that they use on a day-to- not,” Gabriel says. from virus worries. programs we use.” desktop later this year.) day basis,” she says. Finding support options for “Our machines have proven Follow-up consists largely of Glover mentions rare problems During their last hardware Windows is also far easier than for reliable,” Gabriel says. “We don’t “how do I do this?” questions and with peripherals. “Not all hard- upgrade three years ago, the firm other operating systems. “You have problems that result in “five-minute fixes. “Since the ware manufacturers design for abandoned can’t just call up the Geek Squad having to reinstall software. We temps aren’t here every day, they ,” he explains. (Author’s (an approximate Mac equivalent to fix your Linux computers,” usually find fairly easy solutions.” need the occasional refresher,” she note: I check product specifica- to Outlook) and replaced it with Glover says. “It never crashes,” says Glover says. tions for Mac compatibility before Apple , Address Book and a Glover, ever self-sufficient, of Linux. “I have far fewer prob- Glover, a self-avowed “geek,” I buy products to use with my third-party and task man- buys a four-year on-site service lems with Linux. Linux updates puts Linux in the same camp as Mac.) ager called Meeting Maker. when he buys a computer. In everything on the computer — it’s the Mac, going so far as to call it Another Microsoft advantage: Outside of common software his view, “if you do the basics, you more tightly integrated with the “surprisingly easy,” but he admits, Office productivity documents categories like word processing shouldn’t need support.” software.” “I don’t think Linux is for every- must usually conform to and , options for non- While Linux support has not “In some ways, Linux is ideal body. It’s different. For example, Microsoft file formats, particu- Microsoft systems can be limited. yet gone mainstream, companies for the less knowledgeable com- there’s no C: drive.” larly when shared among different Citing examples like QuickBooks, like Dell sell computers loaded puter user.” “It freaks people out when they people. “The .doc, .xls and .ppt “You have to find other things that with Linux, and private companies Mac, Linux and Windows all can’t do things in the same way.” formats are de facto standards in do the trick,” Glover says. offer Ubuntu support. But Glover face competition from the Hardware and software com- North America,” Glover explains. Or run Windows to use the is more likely to simply google Internet. Glover, for one, finds patibility can prove troublesome That doesn’t mean lawyers software. The e-registry system “Ubuntu” and the problem he’s web-based applications com- outside the world of Windows. must use Microsoft Office. Glover Terraview, for instance, ties the having. “The answers just pop pelling. Google Apps handles his Two lawyers at Williams, has used the free OpenOffice.org real estate portion of Williams, up,” he claims. calendar and makes it accessible McEnery use Blackberrys, which “nearly exclusively” for more than McEnery to Windows. Gabriel’s firm uses an external from his website. Freshbooks.com the firm has supported for years, three years. “Now, tracked Although both Mac and Linux Apple-authorized consulting meets Glover’s timekeeping and even though integration with the changes works properly,” he says, can run Windows as though it outfit to maintain servers and billing needs. Mac isn’t straightforward. adding “the only people who have were another piece of software handle questions that Gabriel “When I went on vacation in But Gabriel makes it work. compatibility problems are those (and thus Windows software), can’t. “They also provide support Europe,” Glover says, “I didn’t “There are workarounds,” she who use really advanced features.” software developers don’t always if I’m away from the office,” she bring my laptop with me. I can says, “they’re just not pretty Microsoft Office lives on all support their products if cus- adds. access all my documents from any workarounds.” Local syncing is Williams, McEnery Macs. Gabriel tomers run them using such “vir- On the flip side of the support computer — the Internet is plat- the main issue, due to a lack of a tested Apple’s competing product, tual” setups. “Our firm doesn’t coin, both Gabriel and Glover sing form agnostic.”