Biglaw

Biglaw Coronavirus Policy Tracker: Which Firms Will Let Lawyers Work From Home?

Law firms must come to their senses and offer work-from-home solutions to protect their employees.

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The rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic across the globe has impacted virtually every facet of life. The times we live in are now uncertain, and nothing is normal anymore. The stock market has tanked, sports seasons have been canceled outright, the lights have gone out on Broadway, school districts have closed, entire countries have been put on lockdown, states of emergency have been declared, and people are waging wars over toilet paper in supermarket aisles.

In order to contain the community spread of COVID-19, many law schools have shuttered for semesters at a time, moving to online learning platforms to spare their students from potentially contracting the virus. Some Biglaw firms have decided to do the same, offering their employees opportunities to work from home in an effort to protect the health and wellness of their most valuable assets.

Just as we’ve done in the past when it comes to raises and bonuses, we are compiling a table of all the firms that have announced coronavirus policies that will benefit their employees, who those policies apply to (lawyers and staff or only lawyers), and the markets where those policies are in effect. Today, we unveil that table for your viewing pleasure. We will be updating this table on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times, as news on these policies is announced. If you see any information here that is incorrect or needs clarification, let us know.

Help us help you. Let us know what your firm is doing to take care of all of its employees during this unprecedented moment in time.

As a little reminder, we love covering the Biglaw news, but we need your help. As soon as your firm’s coronavirus policy memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Coronavirus Response”). We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send the memo using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. Please be sure to include the memo as proof; we like to post complete memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file.

Firm Offices Who Is Covered? Policy
Alston & Bird All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH policy starting 3/12, lasting through 3/31 (“[n]o one … should feel pressure to do anything other than work remotely”); skeleton crew available at office sites
Baker Botts All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH policy starting 3/13
BakerHostetler All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH starting on 3/17; supervisor must be notified of plans; Seattle, WA office closing for one week
Baker McKenzie All US & Canada Offices All Employees All US and Canada offices will close; mandatory WFH lasting until at least 3/31
Brown Rudnick All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting 3/16, lasting until further notice
Cleary Gottlieb All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH starting on 3/16
Clifford Chance All US Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH policy starting 3/16, until further notice
Cozen O’Connor All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH starting 3/16, lasting through 3/27
Cravath All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting 3/16
Davis Wright Tremaine All US Offices
Portland, OR Office Closed
Bellvue, WA Office Closed
Seattle, WA Office Closed		 All Employees Mandatory WFH policy starting 3/16
Dechert All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH policy starting 3/13, until further notice
Dickinson Wright All Offices All Employees Firm is closing all 18 of its physical locations; mandatory WFH, starting 3/17 for New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; and Toronto, Canada; Mandatory WFH, starting 3/18 for all other US offices and Mexico; all lasting until further notice
DLA Piper All Offices All Employees Voluntary Mandatory WFH starting 3/16 3/20 at 5 p.m., lasting until further notice at least 4/6
Eversheds Sutherland All US, UK, Continental Europe, and Middle East Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH for “next several weeks”; “core support team” will still be on site at each office location
Faegre Drinker All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH on 3/10; all offices reopened 3/11 except DC; Mandatory WFH for all offices starting 3/13, lasting through 3/31
Ford O’Brien All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH until further notice
Fried Frank All Offices All Employees De facto mandatory WFH policy starting 3/12, lasting through 3/31; chairman announced he’d be working from home
Goodwin Procter Boston, MA Office All Employees Voluntary WFH starting 3/16
Gunderson All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH, with some offices starting as early as 3/12
Haynes & Boone All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting 3/16, lasting through 3/30; offices remain open with minimal staffing needed to support operations
Hogan Lovells All US Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH with “strong preference” to remain at home; core essential services will remain staffed in each office; San Francisco, CA and Silicon Valley, CA offices closed completely per “shelter in place” directive
Holland & Knight All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting on 3/16; very limited number of staff members will continue work in offices
Jayaram Law All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH, lasting until further notice
Jones Day Washington, DC All Employees Voluntary WFH starting on 3/17; supervisor must be notified of plans
Katten All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting 3/17, lasting for the indefinite future; no on-site support for any attorney who must access any office
King & Spalding All Offices All Employees Temporary voluntary WFH policy starting 3/16, lasting through 3/29; policy could be extended
K&L Gates Pittsburgh, PA All Employees Voluntary WFH policy starting 3/14 if high risk, experiencing cold/flu-like symptoms, or have child-care obligations that have been disrupted; must inform supervisor
Littler Mendelson All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH, starting 3/17 for New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; and Toronto, Canada; Mandatory WFH, starting 3/18 for all other US offices and Mexico; all lasting until further notice
Lowenstein Sandler All Offices All Employees “Strongly urged” voluntary WFH for all starting 3/16; some skeleton staff to work on-site on rotating basis to keep operations going
Mayer Brown US Offices, followed by UK/EU All Employees Lawyers and staff will be on a team-based, daily rotation system between office appearances and WFH
McDermott All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH, lasting until at least 3/29
Mintz All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH policy starting 3/16, lasting through 3/27; legal assistants given paid time off
Morgan Lewis All Offices All Employees Lawyers and staff will be in the office on alternating days and WFH on the other days; personnel encouraged to work odd hours on in-office days to minimize exposure on public transportation; all employees may wear jeans to the office Voluntary WFH for the next 2 weeks; must notify supervisor of plans
Orrick All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting 3/16; administrative skeletal crew to work in office
Paul Hastings New York, NY Office Closed
Los Angeles, CA		 All Employees Mandatory WFH for NY office lasting through at least 3/27; WFH “strongly encouraged” for LA office lasting through at least 3/27
Pillsbury All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH starting 3/16, lasting until further notice
Proskauer All Offices All Employees “Strongly encouraged” voluntary WFH starting 3/16 “unless you absolutely need to be in the office”
Quarles & Brady All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH starting 3/15, lasting through “at least” 4/5; rotating in-office schedule for administrative staff in Chicago and DC offices; additional 10 days of PTO for employees unable to work due to quarantine, lack of transportation, Covid-19 recovery, taking care of school children
Quinn Emanuel New York, NY All Employees Mandatory WFH from 3/9 to 3/13; unknown if this has been extended
Reed Smith US & EME Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting 3/13; policy to last several weeks or longer
Ropes & Gray All Offices All Employees “Strongly” suggests everyone WFH, indefinitely
Schiff Hardin All Offices Majority of All Employees Mandatory WFH policy starting 3/16, lasting through 3/27; all offices will remain open for “essential business support functions”
Sheppard Mullin All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH starting 3/16, lasting until at least 3/31
Sherman & Howard All Offices All Employees Mandatory WFH
Sidley Austin All US Offices All Lawyers (with alternate plan for staff) Lawyers WFH starting 3/16, lasting through 3/27; staff will be divided into two groups, and switch between working in office and WFH
Skadden All Offices All Employees WFH policy starting 3/16; must inform supervisor of plans
Steptoe & Johnson All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH, lasting until further notice
Sullivan & Cromwell All Offices All Lawyers (with alternate plan for staff) Voluntary WFH policy starting 3/13; legal secretaries in “certain locations” may switch weekly between working in office and WFH
Weil Gotshal All Offices All Employees Alternate office appearances and mandatory WFH in weekly shiftsVoluntary WFH starting 3/17, lasting until further notice
WilmerHale All Offices All Employees Voluntary WFH policy starting 3/13; offices will remain open with “essential services” on staff

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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