Biglaw

Are You Ready To Go Back To The Office Next Week? Weil Gotshal Will Be At 100 Percent Capacity In Most Offices By June 1

Be ready to provide vaccination documentation when you return!

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Memorial Day is rapidly approaching — I know I’ve mentally checked out of this week in anticipation of the long weekend already. And with summer’s arrival, Biglaw firms are increasingly ironing out the details for their return to the office.

The latest Biglaw firm to announce their reopening plan is Weil Gotshal, a firm that took in $1,657,603,000 in gross revenue last year, making it #17 on the Am Law 100 ranking. The firm’s memo on reopening emphasizes that it’s a gradual process to a full reopening, but ready or not, the process will start next week, on June 1st.

In the U.S., full return to the office will be after Labor Day, on Tuesday September 7th. But the New York, Boston, D.C., Miami, Dallas, and Houston offices will be opened at 100 percent capacity beginning in June. The Silicon Valley office will be at 25 percent capacity on June 1, with the intent to be at 100 percent capacity (consistent with local rules) on June 15th. Although office attendance isn’t strictly required throughout the summer, the firm “encourage[s] people to return to the office on some basis, as it is part of the return to the new normal.”

As for those coming back to in-person Biglaw life, the firm has made it clear, they should get themselves vaccinated, saying, “it is our expectation that all Weil employees will be vaccinated against Covid-19, barring any religious or medical proscriptions to vaccination.” In what Above the Law believes is a first in Biglaw, vaccinated employees are also expected to self-report their vaccination status. As for the unvaxxed, they may have to undergo COVID testing (just like at Skadden):

As a reminder, everyone who has been fully vaccinated – meaning that they have waited the requisite amount of time following their final dose of vaccine – should send their proper CDC card verifying vaccination to [redacted]@weil.com. Please bear in mind that everyone will be required to self-report their vaccination status prior to the full return and that, thereafter, unvaccinated individuals may be required to undergo periodic testing for Covid-19.

As we’ve noted, the firm has stressed that returning to the office is a gradual process, and has put a lot of emphasis on being comfortable in the new normal:

We recognize and understand that some people may have anxiety or apprehension surrounding the full return to the office, as was the case at the start of the pandemic when we were all transitioning to working remotely for the first time. Just as was true then, we will adjust back to this new normal together, as has always been the case with the Weil family. As Barry has said in his weekly communications, during this period of voluntary return, we continue to encourage people to go into the office on some basis to regain a comfort level prior to the full return. And we understand that further questions will arise for people as we move closer to September, so please bear in mind that this is certainly not the final communication from the Task Force. We continue to work on the policies that will govern our full return to the office, and everyone will know the protocols that are being put in place by the Firm and the expectations that Weil will have of its people well prior to that time.

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But ATL tipsters have expressed concern that those who aren’t yet okay with coming back to the office — or who have structural issues that prevent them from doing so, such as location or child care issues — will be at a disadvantage compared with peers who are able to go back to the office immediately. Walking that hybrid line, particularly in the short term, will be a tricky matter.

The firm has also committed to making virtual work a feature going forward, though the specifics of a work-from-home policy have yet to be hammered out:

Additionally, our remote working policies are being revised and will be more liberal for both lawyers and administrative staff than prior to the pandemic.

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

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.

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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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