A few weeks ago I moderated a panel on Women and the Legal Profession for the Connecticut Bar Association and was reminded that how many mom lawyers have war stories about labor and delivery. 1/n

Something like . . . . I went into labor but I was in the middle of a negotiation so I didn't go to the hospital until the negotiation was over. 2/n

I've heard these stories not just from lawyers but from paralegals, often undervalued and undercompensated in the profession, but nevertheless, apparently, under pressure to put work before all else all the time, including while birthing babies. 3/n

I told the panel and our audience, and I'll say it again now, that these are not examples of our fortitude and strength as women or our commitment to our trade as lawyers. They are examples of a fucked up world. And so is this: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/bar-exam-labor.html 4/n

I want to stop telling these stories. A few years ago a student lauded my work-life balance because I was bringing a nursing baby to work and I realized that one reason I needed to get actual work-life balance was because I was modeling for my students the opposite. 5/n

Anyway, let's stop normalizing the breakdown of a functioning society, shall we? 6/end