by Carol MacKinnon
Once upon a time . . . that is no longer a phrase I say almost daily. At first, I employed it only when reading aloud to my children. Then it crept into use in conversation with adults, particularly when someone asked about my employment status:
Once upon a time, I was a litigator; then I became a parent and found that, for me,
litigation was incompatible with being the mom I wanted to be, so now I just do transactional work.
Time passed. More changed.
Once upon a time, I was a full-time attorney, but now I just practice law part-time. I’ve
had to scale back because I underestimated how much time and attention my children
would need from me as they grew older.
My clients were very supportive, granting me the freedom to juggle their work and
the demands of daughters seven years apart. I remained close to the litigation world
by providing ADR services in my subject matter fields. Mediation customers reported
increased confidence in my abilities to solve their disputes because I was a parent of
more than one child and therefore, constantly engaged in dispute resolution. With
feedback like that, I became very com-
fortable concentrating on being the best
mom I could be and continuing to serve
my handful of long-standing clients.
Somewhere along the way, I had become
seduced by the “mommy track” and was
content with the way things were. Once
upon a time rolled off my tongue as a
matter of second nature.
As more time passed, I saw things
from new perspectives. Having distanced myself from working as a full-time
litigator, I could better see litigation’s destructive aspects (as a process for resolving disputes, it is only slightly superior
to a duel). Having become employed as a
parent, I better appreciated that a prompt
negotiated compromise yields greater
client satisfaction than does a drawn-out
battle. I developed an affinity for facilitative mediation because I enjoyed being
engaged in a constructive process.
Fast forward to 2014: switching back
to the litigation track. Of course, some
things will be different (and some things
won’t) from the way they were once upon
a time. What do I most notice after a 20-
year hiatus? In no particular order:
1. In the larger counties, local lawyers no longer know all the judges. As
population grows, the number of judges
required to serve it grows. Once upon a
time, the local lawyers knew the judges,
because there just weren’t so many of
them. For example, King County has 52
judges ( 38 at Superior Court) plus 12
commissioners. The sheer size of the legal community does seem to have something to do with what lawyers describe as
a “loss of collegiality.”
2. Litigators are now more likely to
cross county lines (at least in counties
with Puget Sound shorelines). Once upon
a time, if you weren’t a member of the local
bar, your motion got heard last unless you
associated with local counsel. As court
websites develop, judicial assistants and
local forms are more readily accessible,
making it easier to have a multi-county
practice. Over the past few years, more
than 50 percent of the attorneys appearing before me venture places I would never have thought to go without co-counsel
to see that my working copies actually got
to the judge in a timely fashion.
3. 24/7 availability of counsel. Thanks
Reflections on Returning from the Parent Track
Coming Back
to Litigation
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