Biglaw

Davis Polk Sets Up Optional 'Back To Office' Days For Lawyers To Reacquaint Themselves With Office Life

The compensation leader has spoken on what its return to work will look like.

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As Biglaw firms continue to weigh their options when it comes to getting their attorneys and staff back into the office, one of the most prominent firms in the country has announced a plan that will allow its employees to gently dip their toes back into office life.

According to our sources, Davis Polk — known most recently as a compensation trendsetter for the special bonuses that have twice swept the industry — announced at an April 22 town hall meeting that the firm would remain in a “voluntary return posture” until Labor Day, and would then switch to a hybrid return model, the details of which are likely to be announced after the July 4th holiday.

During the same meeting, the firm also announced that it was setting up two days in May for a “Spring Back to the Office” program. To entice people to head back to the office, Davis Polk will reimburse up to $40 for lunch or dinner expenses. Here are the details from a memo on the event:

“On May 13 and May 24, we will welcome our New York employees to work in the office and see their colleagues. We are excited for this fully optional first step towards a return to the office,” [managing partner Neil] Barr said in the memo.

The memo said New York workers must make reservations to return to the office, subject to a 50% capacity limit. Consistent with current firm guidelines, the reservations and a “completed health attestation” are required to enter the office, while usage of masks and social distancing will be followed, the firm’s memo said.

“An important part of returning is having the opportunity to see colleagues in person,” the memo said.

The email memo attached a list of restaurants offering outdoor seating and takeout around the firm’s New York office at 450 Lexington Ave, which has about 700 lawyers. The firm is also offering free snacks.

“Many of us have been away from our office for so long that the idea of returning may seem a bit disconcerting,” Barr noted in the memo. “I hope that you will use these two days as an opportunity to get reacquainted with being together again in the workplace.” No arrival time has been specified, and casual dress is encouraged.

Will other Biglaw firms organize similar programs now that Davis Polk has spoken? The more information is out there, the more likely it is that firms will be able to establish a market standard for what their return to work will look like.

As soon as you find out about reopening plans at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Office Reopening”) or text us at (646) 820-8477. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send a memo (if one exists) using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. If a memo has been circulated, please be sure to include it 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. Thanks.

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Davis Polk Planning Office Days as ‘Optional First Step’ Toward Return [New York Law Journal]

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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