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Rowena Wisniewska Sethi and Ilana Hirschberg, Barristers at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square talk to Legal Women UK about “Keeping the Flex in Flexible Working.”
Plato: 'Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.'
This beautiful quote from Plato demonstrates the compelling intersection between creativity and law – not only at the level of critical thinking but also in the sense of instilling better morality, positivity and overall well-being. In the modern age, this idea may in turn translate into the notion that having a creative strand to your life, or a life outside of work, will nourish you and mentally sustain you. However, it does not stop there, for those with health challenges, a work life balance is absolutely critical as part of recovery and being able to perform at optimum potential. You can only grow professionally when you look after your health and well-being, be it via rest and recuperation, or by exercise and hobbies such as playing an instrument. Health is a vital springboard that enables us to work hard and go about our daily lives with renewed vigour and professional and creative energy.
This is where flexible working and working from home have a vital part to play, not only for working parents and those with health challenges, but for everyone. By losing the daily commute a couple of days a week, there is not only extra time to do more work and catch up on emails, projects and meetings, but there is time to go for a run before a stressful meeting or to be able to do the school drop off. More critically, for those with health challenges, the lack of a commute allows time to recharge, and working from home requires less physical energy simply because there is less movement. There are also the economic benefits of working from home at a time when the cost of living is sky rocketing: no travel costs and being able to eat lunch at home make a big saving for many people.
However, flexible working does not only encompass working from home, it also includes working patterns designed to accommodate childcare or health challenges, such as compressed hours or working part time. These are all critical to retention of talent in the legal profession (and any other career). Flexible working is a mechanism by which we can level the playing field, especially for working parents and those with health challenges. It provides an otherwise out of reach opportunity to succeed and thrive at work.
Rowena:
“In a high-octane career at the Bar, it is critical to be able to work flexibly, not only to accommodate childcare and health challenges, but also to safeguard as far as possible against burn out, stress and depression. When I do online hearings from home for example, I sometimes take a quick 15 minutes to play the piano in the lunch break to keep a sense of calm and perspective. It enables me to step outside of myself, so that I am able to step back into the online hearing refreshed and focused. It is like being in another world.”
Ilana:
“If I had to commute for work, I would barely be able to work part time. Commuting with a disability can be like running a marathon before the real work has even begun. In addition, there are regular accessibility challenges at train stations, bus stops and at court. At home I can attend remote hearings and build a thriving papers practice because I am able to rest in between, and I have easy access to everything that I need to manage my condition.”
The key take away from all of this is that the focus should be on output and outcomes and not on presenteeism. It is far better to have a healthy and well-balanced workforce delivering their best, than burnt out individuals who are simply trying to cope from day to day. The overall theme is to keep flexible working alive and to bring some of Plato’s music into your life, so that its moral law inflects and transforms daily work life from a 9-5 grind to a healthy balance of working hard with flexibility that allows for better creativity and above all hope and positivity.
Written by,
Rowena Wisniewska Sethi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rowena-wisniewska-b1713271
Ilana Hirschberg,
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilana-hirschberg-0392b3221/
Barristers at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square.
March 2025