Why I chose a 25-hour workweek as a senior lawyer

Maddi Thimont spent years building a legal career with long hours in private practice and then as in-house counsel at a Big Tech firm. After having two children she began to question whether she could have both a high-level legal role and time with her family, and in 2024 she took a senior legal job designed around school hours.

Her previous employer had offered a phased return from maternity leave—two and a half days a week for eight weeks, followed by a four-day week—but a permanent four-day model felt untenable within her team. She applied for a head of legal role at data analytics company Sagacity advertised for 25 hours a week, started in March 2024 working 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m. five days a week, and was promoted to general counsel a year later. To make the arrangement work she set up clear processes: a ticket system that assigns deadlines and priority levels, templates and FAQs to reduce routine queries, and regular one-to-ones with senior leaders to triage work.