Pluses/Challenges of Practice Area:
A chief plus is that I'm promoting proper implementation of a business strategy that can work both for businesses and employees. Telework can enhance productivity and reduce costs. It also has significant public policy benefits, including its ability to help businesses and governments continue to operate in the event of a flu pandemic, terror attack or other emergency; help conserve energy; protect the environment; help disabled Americans join the workforce; help older Americans extend their working years; and improve employees' work/life balance. I enjoy educating employers and workers about specific ways they can maximize the advantages of telework and minimize potential risks.
Core Skills/Key Knowledge Needed in Your Practice Area:
I need to be on top of legal developments concerning telework in many different legal areas: labor law, tax law, and intellectual property law, for example. I also need to be an effective advocate both in my writing and speaking on telework
Advice to Lawyers and Law Students Interested in Your Practice Area:
Gain first-hand experience of your subject matter: Telecommute before you counsel others on how to do it.
However, don't rely on your experience alone: Consult others in your own field and in other fields with telework experience.
Career Path to Current Position:
I was a litigator with Kronish, Lieb, Weiner & Hellman in NYC. I later negotiated a part-time telecommuting work arrangement with Kostelanetz & Fink, also in NYC, for whom I had not previously worked. I published an article about my experience as a telecommuter and began writing about telecommuting as a law firm management strategy. I later began writing on the legal consequences of telework. I have also served as a panelist in on-line, telephonic, and live seminars concerning telework.
Influences and Mentors:
Law firm partners I have worked with, telework industry leaders, and my parents, both of whom performed professional work from home before the term "telework" was in us.
Suggested Reading About Your Practice Area:
My books, The Law of Telecommuting (ALI-ABA 2001, with 2004 Supplement) and Telecommuting for Lawyers (ABA 1998). For general information on telecommuting, consult the web page of The Telework Coalition (www.TelCoa.org), a telework advocacy group headquartered in Washington, DC, of which I am an Advisory Board member.
Bar Affiliations and Activities:
I am a member of the NYS Bar Association and former chair of the subcommittee on telecommuting of the ABA Young Lawyers Division Women in the Profession Committee. I have participated in telework seminars produced by the ABA, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York County Lawyers Association, the Westchester Women's Bar Association, and the Ohio State Bar Association. I have also written articles for publications of the ABA and New York State Bar Association.
Recent Professional Publications:
The Law of Telecommuting (ALI-ABA 2001, with 2004 Supplement); “New York Makes It Official: Double Taxing of Telecommuters Will Continue,” State Tax Notes, Jun. 12, 2006; “New York’s Proposed Telework Tax Policy: State Won’t Shift Gears,” State Tax Notes, May 22, 2006; “The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act Is Gaining Traction,” State Tax Notes, Apr. 3, 2006; “State Taxation of Interstate Telecommuters: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Silence Puts Congress in the Driver’s Seat,” State Tax Notes, Nov. 21, 2005; “The ‘Convenience of the Employer’ Rule and The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act,” The Practical Tax Lawyer, fall 2005; “The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act Needs to Pass,” New York Law Journal, May 19, 2005.
Recent Professional Presentations:
Presentation concerning The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act and New York’s “convenience of the employer” rule during a nationwide teleconference sponsored by The Tax Foundation (Jan. 18, 2005); Presentation concerning laws and regulations affecting telework at ITAC’s 11th Anniversary Conference, “Mainstreaming Telework for Organizational Excellence” (Silver Spring, MD, Sept. 20, 2004).
Memorable Career Moment:
The publication of my first book; Participating in the press conferences held by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and U.S. House Representative Christopher Shays (R-CT) concerning their introduction of The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act.
Intriguing Interests:
My children and husband.
Career Profiles of the Profession