The Conversation Big Law Needs: Success, Silence, and Postpartum Depression in the Law
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“The motivation that got me going was thinking about the moms behind me, and not wanting them to have that same experience if we could do something to avoid it.” - Lindsay Aggarwal
What happens when a successful Big Law partner does everything “right” and still finds herself struggling?
In this episode of So Much To Say: A Legal Podcast for People, Megan Senese and Jennifer Ramsey speak with financial services litigator and partner Lindsay Aggarwal about the realities of returning to practice after parental leave, the risks of mental health invisibility in high-performance environments, and how one person’s experience became a catalyst for institutional change.
After returning from her second parental leave, Lindsay found herself facing a reality she hadn’t experienced the first time around. What began as anxiety and overwhelm eventually led to a diagnosis of postpartum depression: a moment that forced her to step back, seek help, and rethink what support for working parents in Big Law could look like.
Instead of navigating the experience quietly, Lindsay helped lead the development of a structured parental leave coaching initiative at her law firm that was designed to support lawyers before, during, and after leave — an effort that reflects evolving expectations around leadership sustainability, talent retention, and modern career trajectories in Big Law.
You’ll hear about:
How to navigate postpartum depression while sustaining the visibility and performance demands of Big Law partnership
The inflection point that led Lindsay to translate personal experience into firm-level support
How she helped launch a structured parental leave coaching initiative within a global law firm
What the BCLP program signals about retention, leadership pipelines, and culture evolution
How peer groups and individualized support models strengthen working parent outcomes in law
How caregiving realities intersect with client relationships, business development, and differentiation
Why the traditional Big Law model may no longer fit modern working families — and what offers hope for the future
By Jennifer Ramsey and Megan Senese