One by one, Biglaw firms continue to announce their plans for the reopening of their offices across the country. While some firms expect all employees to return on a specific date for full-time office work, others are taking a more moderate approach by offering a return in phases, with plenty of room for remote work. Today, we have news from a top 10 Biglaw firm, and it looks like all employees in its Washington, D.C., office will be back at their desks on “a regular basis” sometime soon.
Yesterday, Noel Francisco, former U.S. Solicitor General and partner in charge of Jones Day’s D.C. office, emailed all lawyers to let them know that thanks to the lifting of local restrictions and capacity limits, the firm is considering “how and when we will bring our office back into a regular working environment.” Here’s a relevant excerpt from Francisco’s email (full email on next page):
[A]t some point in the future, we will be providing specific guidance and timetables for returning all attorneys and staff to the office on a regular basis. But for now, I would like to encourage all lawyers, who are able to do so, to begin returning to working from the office starting Monday, May 24th. To assist in these efforts, we will also begin rotating necessary staff into the office as well so you will have all the tools you need to serve our clients.
In addition, I plan to host a series of get-togethers on the rooftop to welcome lawyers back to the office starting the week of June 13th. Invitations will be sent out in the next week or two.
Plugging The Profit Leaks: How Your Firm Can Stop Burning Money
Join the webinar on September 25th and learn some quick wins you can implement right away.
Although lawyers are not yet expected to be in the office, a little more notice for an “encourage[d]” return probably would have been nice.
Francisco noted that safety will of the utmost importance for Jones Day’s return to its D.C. office, and that the firm will continue to follow all mandated COVID-19 guidelines. To that end, masks will be required in all office common spaces.
(Flip to the next page to see the full email from Jones Day.)
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.
How 8am LawPay Takes The Sting Out Of Legal Billing
Getting paid can be an arduous task. You should make it as easy on yourself and your clients as possible.
Staci 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.