The Bar: Great career for a working mum

It has been a while since I have posted anything on my blog.  Why? Well juggling the demands of life outside the Bar meant that I needed to cut back on some things and the blog wasn’t right up there on my list of priorities.  Family life has been particularly busy with children doing A’ levels and GCSE’s.  I have found I have been needed at home more.  I might once have naively thought that once the baby stage and the toddler years were over it would all be easy.  It isn’t!  Juggling with teenagers is different – easier at times, far harder at others.  The great thing about the Bar (or so I have found) is that there is some flexibility.  Being self-employed helped.  I didn’t have to formally negotiate reduced hours of flexible working arrangements. As long as I could make it work I could get on with it.  I am lucky to have supportive Chambers and a great clerk as well as a husband who understands shared responsibility.  I was able to adjust the balance between work and home yet still maintain my practice. So yes the Bar does involve long hours and tough working conditions, certainly at times, but I still believe it is a great career for a working mum.