Your voice. No Return

• Author: Sateesh Nori
• Pages: 32-33

YOUR VOICE

No

Return

How I learned to find work-life

balance during the COVID-19

pandemic

BY SATEESH NORI

I

am at the pinnacle of my profes-

sion. I lead a team of 80 people

who provide civil legal assistance

each year to more than 3,000

low-income and vulnerable residents of

Queens, the most diverse borough of

the largest city in America.

I direct a cadre of talented managers

who in turn supervise a dynamic, ded-

icated and determined team of lawyers

and paralegals. Our work is interesting,

highly relevant and intellectually chal-

lenging. I love my job, but in this cur-

rent phase of the pandemic, I’ve realized

that I can never go back to working the

way I did before.

From the time the pandemic hit in

March 2020, I’ve been fortunate to

have the ability to work from home in

Brooklyn. In September 2021, my kids

returned to school in person, and I’ve

since had an ideal work environment.

Each morning after getting the kids

to school, I get hot coffee and a pastry,

return to my apartment and typically

log in to a virtual court appearance or

Zoom meeting from a small desk in

my bedroom, wearing a wrinkled dress

shirt and tattered blazer over my sweat-

pants. After “court,” I go to the gym

in the basement of my building to get

some exercise. I return home, shower,

cook lunch, then it’s back to a series

of Zooms or calls from my couch for

the remainder of the day. I tinker with

a chapter of a nonction book I am

writing about working in housing court.

I also try to learn Spanish online. Mi

español esta mejorando—my Spanish is

getting better.

I am usually home when my kids

return from school around 4 p.m.

Sometimes I meet them at school at the

day’s end and we go to a bookstore,

or if the weather is nice, we go on an

outing somewhere, anywhere.

A few times a week, we have family

movie night; we microwave popcorn

and watch a Marvel movie on Disney+.

I’ve also been voraciously read-

ing novels.

edited by

BLAIR CHAVIS

blair.chavis@americanbar.org

Practice Matters

Photo by David Hills Photography/ABA Journal

ABA JOURNAL | APRIL–MAY 2022

32