Fish & Richardson Enhances Parental Leave Benefits

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Oct 10, 2017, 10:56 ET

BOSTON, Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fish & Richardson has added several enhancements to its parental leave benefits to help legal staff manage the demands of work and home. The enhanced benefits – which include additional paid leave time – will be granted to legal staff currently on leave.

For attorneys and senior patent agents, paid parental leave for primary caregivers has been extended from 16 weeks to 18 weeks. Secondary caregivers will continue to receive eight weeks of paid parental leave. Fish also has established a Parental Leave Phased Hours Program (PL-PHP) to support primary caregivers as they transition between work and leave. PL-PHP provides the equivalent of an additional two weeks of compensated time in conjunction with parental leave (structured as a reduced billable goal). Primary caregivers may elect to take a 25% hours reduction for up to four weeks prior to and following parental leave.

Fish has also increased the amount of paid parental leave and reduced the length of service requirements for technology specialists and staff attorneys. After six months of employment, primary caregivers will receive 14 weeks of paid parental leave and secondary caregivers will receive six weeks of paid parental leave.

"Our people are our most valuable asset. Our thoughtfully designed programs for working parents help us to recruit and retain the best people. We want to support our legal staff before, during, and after they welcome a new child into their home," said Peter Devlin, President of Fish & Richardson.

Earlier this year, Fish launched a partnership with Milk Stork to provide a breast milk delivery service for nursing mothers employed by the firm who are traveling on business. Through a partnership with Life Meets Work, Fish is also piloting a 1:1 coaching program for legal staff who are returning to work following parental leave. The firm also provides an infant-care transition program and back-up childcare resources through the Bright Horizons network.

Fish & Richardson is a global patent prosecution, intellectual property litigation, and commercial litigation law firm with more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists in the U.S. and Europe. Our success is rooted in our creative and inclusive culture, which values the diversity of people, experiences, and perspectives. Fish is the No. 1 U.S. patent litigation firm, handling nearly three times as many cases as its nearest competitor; a powerhouse patent prosecution firm; a top-tier trademark and copyright firm; and the No. 1 firm at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, with more cases than any other firm. Since 1878, Fish attorneys have been winning cases worth billions in controversy – often by making new law – for the world's most innovative and influential technology leaders. For more information, visit https://www.fr.com or follow us at @FishRichardson.