Legal News

Biz Trip? Take the Kids ?.

By Jamie Heller

Having trouble getting away from work to be with your kids? Here’s a solution: Take them to work with you!

That’s what Greg Jordan, chair of Reed Smith, has done in a couple of instances while he’s on the road. And he’s been on the road a lot – 197 days last year, including 13 trips to Europe and Asia – thanks in part to the firm’s aggressive global expansion strategy.

Jordan took his older daughter, Emma, 16, to California for a week. Thirteen-year-old Audrey got a trip to London and Paris. (Yes, sometimes wife Ellen travels with Greg, too.)

“It’s a way for them to see where I go and what I do,” he says.

What is that, exactly? The girls attended dad’s town-hall meetings with staff lawyers. When he has lunch meetings, he arranges for them to have lunch with, say, young associates or daughters of partners in the office.

As for the rest of the day, some time gets spent on the computer, an always-happy pursuit for teenagers. The together time comes in the evenings and also traveling, for instance on the train from London to Paris. “That’s where the one and one comes in,” says Jordan. “I’m really able to focus on them.”

Law Blog readers: What do you make of this strategy? Is it too little to make up for billable hours lost? Is it a great way to bring parent/child closer? Or is it just too hard to juggle work and family on the road?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 31, 2008 (boomark / email).