When Chicago lawyer Lee Muench was planning his paternity leave for his first baby, an offhanded comment by an old-school partner got under his skin.

Muench had asked around about how long other partners and associates took off for paternity leave. The firm as a whole was receptive to leave, but one partner told Muench that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself after a couple of days, and his wife would want him out of the house.

The meaning was clear to Muench: Come back to work soon. Although the firm’s policy allowed 10 weeks, he decided to take four weeks off, feeling he was pushing the boundaries.

(This story published on law.com on May 30, 2017. You can read it online with a subscription or download a PDF.)