Cleary: Leading law firm raises the bar on family benefits

About

Cleary Gottlieb is a preeminent global law firm known for representing the world’s leading corporations and financial institutions as well as sovereign governments. Cleary is a leader in the marketplace for sophisticated, global legal services, and is consistently recognized by publications and directories that cover the legal and financial industries for its success across practices.

Meet Danielle & Lauren

Maven spoke to two members of Cleary’s HR team about the selection, implementation and impact of Maven’s suite of benefits.

Danielle Caloia

Danielle Caloia, a Benefits Manager in Cleary’s New York office with a decade of experience in labor law, recruitment, employee relations and benefits administration.

Lauren Cortina

Lauren Cortina, PHR, SHRM-CP, a Human Resources Generalist in Cleary’s DC office with more than a decade of experience in employee benefits and compensation, recruitment and employee onboarding.

“Family benefits are a place where firms can really differentiate themselves from others.”

-Lauren Cortina

Challenge

As one of the nation’s preeminent law firms, Cleary is committed to offering employees an industry-leading benefits package, and was looking for a program to support expectant and new parents beyond their existing paid leave policy and child care options. Further, offering fertility and egg freezing benefits was important to Cleary to make sure employees had all options available relating to family planning. But any new benefit had to be easy to implement. And, because Cleary’s lawyers and professional staff are dedicated to responding to the needs of their prestigious clients, they required a user-friendly solution that was not limited to regular business hours.

‍

Solution

Maven differentiated itself from competitors in a number of key areas, making the end decision a “no-brainer” according to Danielle.

“With Maven, you have actual maternal and family health specialists who are answering your questions. When you're breastfeeding, you want an actual, certified lactation consultant. You don't want somebody who was just trained on something a month ago.”

-Danielle Caloia

First, the benefits themselves. Unlike any other solution, Maven is a one-stop-shop that covers everything a busy professional might need when they start a family, including IVF support, partner support, adoption, surrogacy, and pregnancy. Maven’s 15-month maternity program was standout, focusing on the entire maternity, postpartum, and return-to-work experience. Its unrivaled network of over 1,200 highly vetted health providers, including specialists like lactation consultants, career coaches, and sleep coaches, has a practitioner for every user.

Maven is also a perfect fit for Cleary’s busy employees. Its innovative mobile app allows for on-demand access to its practitioner network, extensive resource library, and a personal “concierge” or care coordinator, who serves as a guide and contact throughout the fertility and maternity journey.

Meanwhile, HR appreciated what Lauren called “the most seamless and simple implementation process that I’ve ever encountered.”

Internal buy-in came with remarkable ease. After seeing all Maven had to offer, a senior executive commented, “I wish I had this when I had my son.”

Results

In just six months, Cleary has received overwhelmingly positive feedback and significant Maven utilization without incentive—74% percent of pregnant employees are participating and have found Maven via the company intranet or through direct emails from Cleary’s HR team. Maven anticipates 95% participation in Year 1.

Danielle says “this was one of the first benefits to garner such an outpouring of praise, even from employees who were never planning on using it. The impact has been huge.”

After rolling out the maternity program, adding Maven’s fertility program a few months later was an “obvious” next step, according to Danielle. Egg freezing is now covered, as are treatments for LGBT employees seeking to become parents.

Danielle says, “Our instinct was that family benefits would have universal appeal, even if they were only used by a subset of employees. The positive response and goodwill generated has exceeded anything we’d imagined.”

Engagement & Utilization

In just six months, Maven has increased Cleary’s employee satisfaction and even aided recruitment efforts.

95%

Projected year one enrollment

> 50%

Users registered in first or second trimester

7+

Interactions with providers per quarter

Lauren has found that, “first-class family benefits are essential for attracting and retaining top talent. These benefits are imperative for our diverse community of employees. And with their regular reporting, Maven makes it easy to measure impact and engagement, and we know we are getting real value.”

Testimonials

“Maven is by far one of the best benefits within the benefits package. Again, a great offering!!!”

-Cleary Gottlieb employee

“My Maven Care Coordinator was great. She really understood my issues at this early phase of my pregnancy and helped me understand what resources are there to help. I'm looking forward to working with her for the next nine months.”

-Cleary Gottlieb employee

“I just wanted to give a great big “thumbs-up” for making accessible such important and vital information for the people who need it.”

-Cleary Gottlieb employee