In 2020 the Florida Supreme Court adopted a presumptive three-month parental leave rule for many court cases that would require judges to grant a lead attorney’s request for leave for the birth or adoption of a child. More recently, The Florida Bar’s YLD published an excellent resource entitled, A Practical Guide to Parental Leave for Employers: What to Expect When Your Employee is Expecting. In this episode, hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt speak with Iris Elijah and Anisha Patel about the YLD Guide and the shifting landscape of parental leave in the legal profession.  

Iris Elijah is the Associate General Counsel for FIU. Iris is the President-Elect Designate of the YLD and Chair of its Inclusion and Equality Committee. She serves on the Board of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Assoc., is a Miami-Dade FAWL Foundation Board member, and a member of the Miami Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. 

Anisha Patel is a commercial litigation attorney at Hill Ward Henderson in Tampa, where she represents individuals and firms in a variety of business-related disputes. Anisha currently serves an ex-officio board member of the HCBA YLD and as a governor on The Florida Bar YLD BoG, where she is the Vice Chair of the Inclusion and Equality committee. 

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit. Course #4800. 

REFERENCED RESOURCES: 

• YLD's A Practical Guide to Parental Leave for Employers 
• Florida Courthouse Lactation Room Inventory 
• FAWL Courthouse Lactation Room Handbook 
• Mamava Lactation Room Locator App 
• public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2018/1554/2018-1554_miscdoc_359801_e05.pdf">In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration – Parental Leave, SC18-1554 
• parental-leave-policy.aspx">Sample Parental Leave Policy 
• for-drafting-parental-leave-policies.aspx">Article: Drafting a Personal Leave Policy 
• paid-parental-leave-right-for-your-company.aspx">Article: Is a Parental Leave Policy Right for Your Business? 
• DoL – Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Guide 
• Toolkit.pdf">Congressional Research Service – Guide to Paid Family Leave in US