One after the next, Biglaw firms keep falling in line to announce when their offices will fully reopen in the wake of employees’ prolonged absence due to the pandemic. In this post-COVID world, the majority of large firms have announced a September return, with varying levels of flexibility for remote work. Now, yet another Am Law top 10 firm will throw open its doors after Labor Day, but with tons of flexibility involved — including only a two- or three-day in-office workweek.
White & Case, ranked No. 8 on the most recent Am Law 100, with $2,387,800,000 in 2020 gross revenue, made this welcomed announcement earlier this week, and to say associates are quite pleased would be an understatement. Here’s a relevant excerpt from the email sent by Steven Petrie, W&C’s Americas Chief Operating Officer (emphasis added; full email on the next page):
[W]e will continue to support remote working in all of our U.S. offices through Labor Day. This means that if you are able to do your job remotely, we will not ask you to return to the office until September 7. Starting September 7, we will offer a flexible approach to remote working through the end of 2021, asking that you spend two or three days per week in the office.
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Petrie noted that additional details on the reopening would be provided by the end of the summer, and that the firm’s Agile Working Task Force would be thinking about a “longer-term approach to remote work,” with further information to come.
“[L]et’s think about how we can go back to the office in a manner that makes sense for each of us,” Petrie wrote, “and then do so in a gradual and comfortable way.” Flexibility continues to be the key to the successful Biglaw firm of the future, and White & Case is sounding all of the right notes in its messaging here.
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.
(Turn to the next page to see the full email from White & Case.)
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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.