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Milestones
New lawyer recalls obstacles, sacrifice

Globe Staff Photo/David L. Ryan Cheryl Clarkin was 19 when she joined Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks as a legal secretary. A program sponsored by the firm helped her earn a law degree.

At a time when many Massachusetts residents are struggling to get ahead, Cheryl Clarkin has an upbeat story to tell.

Fourteen years after she started taking evening courses at Suffolk University, the 38-year-old Rhode Island woman and former legal secretary was sworn in as an attorney by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last Monday, joining 317 other law school graduates at the high court ceremony.

''For 10 years straight, I went to school at night for a bachelor of science degree in business administration,'' recalled Clarkin, who, by day, worked as a legal secretary at the Boston law firm, Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks. ''I commuted two hours each way. When I entered law school, I would leave at 6 a.m. and wouldn't get home until 10 or 11 p.m. My husband was my biggest supporter. He knew it was something I'd always wanted to do.''

Clarkin enrolled at Suffolk University School of Law in 1998, three years after she graduated from Suffolk University, and after Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks offered to send her to the law school's evening session free of charge. The cost: approximately $15,000 per year. During the day, Clarkin worked as a trademark law clerk and received hands-on training from lawyers at the firm.

She was 19 when she joined the law firm as a legal secretary. Four years later, the firm decided to increase its pool of intellectual lawyers by recruiting engineers, scientists, and technology professionals and sending them to law school.

Determined to be a lawyer, Clarkin asked the firm to consider her for the program after she graduated from college. Her employer's decision to admit her to the program marked the first time that a ''nontechie'' and a member of the law firm's support or secretarial staff had been selected to participate, noted Edward Perlman, a partner at the firm.

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''We made an exception for Cheryl because we knew her, and there was no question she would be able to do it,'' he said. ''She is extraordinarily reliable.''

Clarkin had to overcome numerous obstacles along the way.

''Becoming a lawyer was a longterm dream of Cheryl's, but it was also an ordeal because of a variety of personal circumstances,'' said Perlman. ''In the past year, she finished law school, graduated, took the bar exam and also had premature twins, with some complications. She had a long commute to work, and she actually wrote her last term paper from her hospital bed. After having a Caesarean section, she went home to study for finals and then discontinued the pain medication she was taking because she could not concentrate. She never complained about any of it. Many people would have caved under the pressure. She just did what needed to be done.''

DIANE E. LEWIS

Work force
Employers keep workers' good will

Towers Perrin, the management and human resource consulting firm, reports that most employees are motivated to see their employers succeed, particularly during the current economic downturn.

Seventy-eight percent of the 40,000 employees surveyed by the firm recently said they wanted their employers to succeed and they were willing to put in extra effort to help them. Seventy-seven percent cared about their employers' future, 70 percent were proud to work for their employers, and 61 percent described their workplaces as good places to work.

Don Lowman, managing director of Towers Perrin, was surprised by the responses.

''We were frankly surprised and heartened by the resiliency of the work force - and employees' continuing sense of commitment - especially given the events of the past two years,'' he said. ''We think the study's findings are welcome news for employees if they pay careful attention.

The study, ''Working Today: The Towers Perrin 2003 Talent Report,'' is a survey of workers at medium and large companies across the United States and Canada. It examined their attitudes about work, the corporate office, rewards, and what employers should do to improve employees' work experiences.

Lowman said the study suggests that employers still have employees' good will, even in an era of downsizing, restructuring, and pay cuts. ''This type of good will is critical for companies to nurture because it is the foundation of true engagement,'' he said, ''but make no mistake about it. Good will isn't an infinite or self-renewing resource. It depends on [how well] employers meet people's need for a number of workplace elements such as strong leadership, advancement, and development opportunities and a sense of control over work and the work environment.''

Nevertheless, some of the statistics seemed to contradict the above findings. When the firm asked employees to describe how engaged they were or how willing were they to contribute to their employers' success, only 17 percent described themselves as highly enaged. Perhaps more disturbing: Nineteen percent - about one out of five - were disengaged, ''meaning they have checked out in many respects and are likely just marking time on the job,'' said Towers Perrin. Sixty-four percent described themselves as only moderately engaged.

''Employers have to figure out who the disengaged are and whether they are in positions defined as 'mission critical,' '' said Charlie Watts, head of Towers Perrin's research practice. ''Then they have to determine whether they can reengage these individuals or begin the difficult task of managing out those who truly are marking time.''

The report noted that employees' continuing good will could be simply a ''wait and see'' attitude. ''They know they have fewer job options, so they're hunkering down to do what's necessary to help their company pull through this period,'' said the report.

The researchers added that employees don't give their companies a strong overall vote of confidence about many core workplace programs. ''Fewer than half of the respondents rated their companies favorably in such areas as open communication, vision and leadership of senior managers, quality of supervision, skill building, and career advancement.''

When the consulting firm looked at the nonprofit sector, it found that 42 percent of the employees in that sector described themselves as highly engaged - a factor Towers Perrin attributed to the sense of mission and passion that attracts people to the nonprofit or public sector. According to the company, this factor ''underscores the importance of a personal connection to work in building engagement.''

Not surprising, 52 percent of executives in the private sector described themselves as highly engaged. ''This, too, isn't surprising, given the level of challenge and influence executives have within organizations. It . . . confirms the impact of [those] elements in creating high engagement.''

DIANE E. LEWIS

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