Biglaw

With COVID-19 Out Of Control, Working From Home Is Still All The Rage In Biglaw

Do you really need to be in the office to get work done? Most firms don't think so.

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The novel coronavirus continues its rapid spread across the country, with cases increasing exponentially by the day. Hospitals are once more on the brink of being overrun, and indoor gatherings of large groups of people have been discouraged by the CDC. So much for Biglaw’s plans to return to the office.

Some firms had already opened their doors and welcomed employees back to their desks in small numbers, but the Biglaw powers that be are now asking lawyers and staff to come to grips with the most difficult of questions: Do you really need to be in the office to get work done? Is it absolutely necessary?

Haynes & Boone, for example, was eager to get people back into the office, but they’re rethinking those plans. The firm’s executive committee is now telling employees to avoid the office at all costs, unless absolutely necessary, from November 25 through December 9, at the very earliest. “We’re still very focused on what return to office is going to be like,” managing partner Tim Powers said in an interview with the American Lawyer. “But right now, we’re trying to be careful, do the right thing, and keep people physically and mentally well.”

At other firms like Dentons, where office work was made optional for the remainder of 2020, firm leaders are deciding whether they’ll extend their work-from-home plans into 2021 given how cases are surging and expected to get worse during the holiday season. Think twice before you head to the office at this firm.

“We’re still following, at the top level, the same approach that we had, which is incremental and deliberate,” U.S. chief operating officer Mark Flanagan said. “All of our offices are available for access.” …

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, Dentons is asking workers to consider if their presence in the office is really essential. ”It’s an additional protective measure with regard to the coming two weeks,” Flanagan said.

If any Dentons attorneys or staff do elect to hit the road or get on an airplane over the holiday, they will be asked to stay out of the office for 14 days upon their return, per the firm’s travel policy.

Firms with offices located in the heartland, like Ballard Spahr and Faegre Drinker, are still letting employees work remotely. “While our office remains open, we will largely continue to rely on our robust technology and remote-work capabilities in the coming weeks until the greatest risks from COVID-19 have subsided,” said Ballard Spahr’s Minneapolis managing partner Karla Vehrs. Although some of the firm’s locations in the Midwest reopened (with low in-person attendance), Faegre Drinker’s chief operating officer Jane Koehl echoed Vehrs’s thoughts, saying, “Earlier this year, we committed to all colleagues that no one is required to return to our offices in 2020. That commitment to our people has not changed.”

Help us help you. What are your firm’s plans for the second wave of COVID-19? Let us know what your firm is doing to take care of all of its employees during this unprecedented time. Please text us (646-820-8477) or email us if your firm expects you to go into the office or if you’ll be able to continue to work from home. Thanks.

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As COVID Cases Rise, Law Firms Push Lawyers and Staff to Stay Home [American Lawyer]

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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