Top Biglaw Firm Looking Forward To Associates Spending 'Meaningful Time' In The Office

Associates are worried there's not enough flexibility.

What legal industry observers are learning by watching Biglaw firms roll out their office reopening plans, is that different firms are prioritizing different things. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett — a firm ranked 14th on the Am Law 100 with  $1,844,627,000 in gross revenue last year — has a reopening plan, and as their announcement makes clear, they “continue to believe it’s important for our attorneys to spend meaningful time in the office.”

But what does that actually mean? According to the firm, “no one will be asked to be in the office before September 13th, 2021.” So folks at least have the summer to ramp themselves up to office life. According to the firm’s announcement, “the ultimate goal that attorneys be in the office 3-4 days a week on average during this next phase.” While we applaud the end of a 5-day in the office week, tipsters on the ground still feel that doesn’t offer enough flexibility.

Said one insider:

Disappointed. Seems like STB does not want to give any flexibility. I’d rather go elsewhere given my hours and the cold unpleasant nature of our office. Also, STB associates don’t sit with their practice groups and don’t casually mingle with their neighbors so there’s no value in being in the office. It seems STB is just going old school and will hemorrhage even more associates. Every Friday is a departure memo dump.

The firm also said they “strongly encourage” everyone to get vaccinated, and expect most employees will be vaxxed come September.

STB also noted that more specific guidance will be forthcoming, and will adhere to CDC protocols.

You can read the full Simpson memo on the next page.

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As soon as you find out about the reopening plan 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.


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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