Patricia K. Gillette

You are a bright, talented and ambitious woman, busy climbing the ladder at your law firm, trying to grab that brass ring. But then life happens — you get married, a child is born, a parent gets sick — and the pressure starts to build.

So, are you in or are you out?

In 2003, a New York Times Magazine article heralded “The Opt-Out Revolution,” the presumed trend of highly educated women entering the work force only to leave. Similarly themed stories followed in other national publications. Was this indeed a trend that was taking hold?

The international law firm of Heller Ehrman LLP wanted to find out, and, in May 2006, launched the Opt-In Project, tapping into a think tank of more than 900 representatives of various U.S. industries.

“We wanted to test the conclusion that women were being pulled out of the workplace voluntarily against the theory that they were being pushed out of the workplace by the lack of viable alternatives to a traditional workplace structure,” according to the report’s mission statement. “This structure, in conjunction with social forces that continue to put the primary responsibility for home and family on women, can make it difficult for women to feel successful and fulfilled.”

Spearheading the project was Patricia K. Gillette, a shareholder in the San Francisco office of Heller Ehrman, co-chair of the labor and employment practice group, and co-chair of its gender diversity committee.

In a recent interview with the San Diego Business Journal, Gillette observed that the business model of law firms has changed, and lawyers now are expected to make tradeoffs for that “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

“The new model is you work, work, work and become a partner, and then you work some more,” she said.

Under the older model, once you made partner, there wasn’t as much pressure to continue all those burdensome billable hours, said Gillette.

“You were expected to go out and develop business and mentor people, and become more of a senior statesperson,” she said.

For Your Consideration

The Opt-In Project, which recently concluded a yearlong series of roundtable discussions, didn’t come up with any magic bullets when it issued its findings this past May. It did pose — although didn’t formally endorse — ways that businesses could achieve a greater work-life balance, and retain top talent — especially women.

“What we have done is tried to be a catalyst for thought,” said Gillette. “The idea that it’s a woman’s issue, a woman’s problem, that discussion needs to stop. It is not a woman’s issue. There are far bigger problems. We said, ‘Let’s think as far out of the box as we can.’ ”