Biglaw

Top Biglaw Firm Sets Its Sights On A September 2021 Office Reopening

Are you ready to return to work this fall?

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ROPES & GRAY — MEMO RE: U.S. OFFICE UPDATES

Our community has worked together very successfully during the past year, in the most challenging of circumstances.    You navigated remote work brilliantly and we have lessons to learn from that success.  At the same time, we believe that being together in person provides critical benefits to the firm as a whole, and to each of us as professionals, that must be maintained for our long-term success.    We look ahead with great optimism as COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available, while recognizing that the full distribution of vaccines in many U.S. locations will take several more months to complete.

Given the uncertainty around the timing of distribution of the vaccinations, and our desire to provide you with the certainty necessary to plan for the next few months, we have decided that permissive office usage will continue in our U.S. offices through September 6th (Labor Day), subject as always to any limitations imposed by local regulations.   Currently our California offices are not open for permissive use, but we will change to that status as soon as we are allowed to do so.   We hope that sharing a more certain long-term plan now helps you address some of the logistic stress you and your families may experience as the seasons change and lead to new living, childcare and family obligations.

Even in advance of September 6th, as more members of the Ropes community are vaccinated and safety conditions improve, we hope you will find safe and creative ways to be together in person.   For example, we anticipate that many more of you will begin returning to our offices voluntarily well in advance of September 6th.   We think that you will find that being in the office will be a welcome change; it has been an energizing experience for many of us.    And we expect that small gatherings of colleagues outside the firm, especially as weather improves, will prove to be rewarding.    In terms of the office experience and connecting our people, our Back to the Future task force is continuing to gather information, feedback and ideas from the Ropes community and from outside the firm.  More information about Back to the Future initiatives will follow in the months to come. In the meantime, the latest status and protocol for each office is available on the Coronavirus InfoNet page.

Of course, the pandemic has been characterized by the unknown and our timing estimates have proven to be optimistic in the past.    We will be in regular touch and will always provide at least 45 days’ notice before moving from permissive usage to a broader office return.

Thank you for your continued dedication, adaptability and unwavering excellence.

Julie, David & Akhil

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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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