Law firms. Pet Project

• Author: Danielle Braff
• Pages: 24-25

Business of Law | LAW FIRMS

chologist on staff to assist clients with

the emotions generated by engaging in

litigation.

But as a former litigator, Powers

says she can envision how such an

approach would be helpful for both the

clients and lawyers because emotions

are often the elephant in the room that

can prevent cases from being resolved.

“For attorneys to understand their

clients and what their motivations are

certainly will help in crafting a reso-

lution that the clients would be more

willing to accept,” says Powers, who

chairs the ABA Law Practice Division’s

Attorney Well-Being Committee.

Delgado, who Harris St. Laurent

& Wechsler leaders emphasize does

not perform any legal work, also

has helped the rm’s attorneys work

through emotional issues that have

arisen during litigation or have been

brought on by the new normal sparked

by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dubatowka says Delgado helped her

settle her nerves before appearing in

her rst arbitration.

One way she helped was sharing

with Dubatowka that when people are

in the ocean and their feet are not rm-

ly planted, the waves can easily knock

them over. Delgado encouraged Duba-

towka at some key moments in the

litigation to plant her feet and dig in.

“I think that was something that,

particularly because I love the ocean

so much, was both calming but also

gave you that sense of reminder of

the strengths that you have within

you,” Dubatowka says. She adds that

it doesn’t hurt that Delgado has a

calming voice that Dubatowka likes to

joke should be featured on a medita-

tion podcast.

Meanwhile, Aronoff says he has

heard from colleagues at other rms

who have inquired about his rm’s hir-

ing of Delgado and expressed interest

in doing something similar.

Both he and Harris say they would

provide positive feedback to law rms

considering following suit. “I would

tell them it’s of enormous value to your

clients and to your lawyers,” Har-

ris says. Q

LAW FIRMS

Pet

Project

Some lawyers are reluctant

to return to the office because

they don’t want to leave their pets

BY DANIELLE BRAFF

One side effect of the ongo-

ing COVID-19 pandemic

is that lots of people have

adopted pets.

According to a May 2021 report

from the American Society for the Pre-

vention of Cruelty to Animals, one in

ve households—about 23 million U.S.

homes—adopted a cat or dog since the

beginning of the pandemic. Call it the

puppy/pussycat pandemic.

Turns out, a lot of these pet parents

enjoyed spending time at home with

their furry friends—some so much so

that they refused to be separated from

their best buddies. In fact, 75% of U.S.-

based remote workers surveyed in July

by Digital.com, a site that helps small

business owners make buying choices,

said they wanted to stay remote so they

could take care of their pets.

Attorneys are no different. In-

dia-based Bhagyashree Pancholy, the

general counsel at Lano and founder

of All Remotely, adopted Rinchin, a

1-month-old Tibetan mastiff, six years

ago. She considers him to be a family

member. Her rm allows its attorneys

to work from home, but if it didn’t,

Pancholy says she would take a lower

salary or consider switching rms.

Pancholy’s dog has already negative-

ly affected her career because Tibetan

mastiffs aren’t good with strangers.

When her rm asked if she could travel

for work, she declined, citing her dog.

“I’ve had to forgo several foreign

assignments to be with him and missed

out on many family and ofcial events

because I couldn’t board him or get a

sitter,” Pancholy says.

But she has no regrets. “Rinchin is

my stress buster, my gym and my com-

fort,” she says.

David Reischer, an attorney and

CEO with LegalAdvice.com, says he

always planned on being self-employed,

specically because he wanted to be

with his dog at all times. He’s had six

dogs since childhood, and now he can’t

Kris Parker and

his Boston terrier,

Dunkin, enjoy some

downtime. Parker

says his dog boosts

morale at his law

f‌irm.

Photos courtesy of Kris Parker

ABA JOURNAL | FEBRUARY–MARCH 2022

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