Biglaw

September Reopening For Baker McKenzie, With Remote Work Still On The Table

But just how much remote work are we talking about?

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Now that it’s mid-May, Biglaw firms have realized that it’s time to get in gear when it comes to planning a return to their offices in the wake of the pandemic. One of the largest law firms in the country by head count and gross revenue has entered the scene to announce a course of action that sounds relatively familiar at this point.

Baker McKenzie, the law firm that made a huge impact by kicking off Biglaw bonus season in 2020, is expecting that employees in North America will come back to the office in the beginning of September. With that, the firm echoes the vast majority of post-Labor Day reopening announcements that have already been made.

Colin Murray, the firm’s North American CEO, said that work from home will undoubtedly be a part of Baker McKenzie’s path to the future, but that a bit of in-person contact will be critical going forward. He elaborated on that in a recent interview with the American Lawyer:

“We enjoy interaction with each other,” Murray said. “We enjoy the culture of interaction with our clients, and at some level, there have been challenges, because you’re not bumping into each other in the kitchen, you’re not stopping into each other’s office to say ‘Hi,’ so there is an aspect of it that leaves us now eager to get back in.”

At the same time, Murray acknowledged that the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic had fundamentally altered how his firm, and others, will operate. But Baker McKenzie will not yet be joining the small list of firms that have expressed an openness to fully remote partners or associates.

“We don’t always need to have in-person meetings. We can now do things virtually, and I think that will continue,” he said, but adding “I don’t see us evolving towards a model where our people are scattered all over the place. We’ve got 16 offices in North America, and I think we’ll have an expectation that, if you’re affiliated with an office, that’s your home base of operations.”

Just how much time will Baker McKenzie afford for associates to work at home? That remains to be seen, but at other peer firms, lawyers can at least expect an end to the five-day, in-office workweek. If you have any details on how these plans are shaping up at the firm, please reach out to us and let us know.

What has your firm announced as far as a reopening plan is concerned? The more information is out there, the more likely it is that firms will be able to establish a market standard for a return to work.

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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Baker McKenzie Plans September Return, Eyeing Mix of Virtual and Office Work [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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