Biglaw Firm's Reopening Focuses On Flexibility, With No Minimum Number Of In-Office Work Days

The rest of 2021 is looking pretty great at this firm.

LOEB & LOEB — MEMO — RETURN TO OFFICE PLAN

Dear All,

I hope that you and your loved ones are doing well and that you all had a chance to enjoy some downtime this past Memorial Day weekend.

As many of you know, with COVID conditions continuing to improve, many cities in which we have offices have largely reopened and others are on track to do the same very soon. Of course, these reopenings also mean that restrictions on businesses will be diminished, clearing the way for us to begin using our offices more regularly. With this in mind, and in line with our goal to allow for as much flexibility as possible, we will begin a phased reintegration plan after the 4th of July holiday. Generally, we are thinking about our return in three phases, first inviting people to ease back in by visiting the office during the summer if they wish to do so, then encouraging a somewhat more meaningful return to office after Labor Day, and, finally, evaluating our new hybrid way of working as we look ahead to the longer term.

Phase 1 will begin July 6 and continue through Labor Day. During this time, we invite you to come in to the office as often as you feel comfortable so you can gradually re-acclimate. There is absolutely no requirement to come in if you prefer not to – this is simply an open invitation for anyone who wishes to come in to do so at their leisure. While there will be no need to pre-register for these visits via the Back to Loeb app during this period, you should continue to use the app as instructed in your OMP’s recent communication, unless we advise otherwise. We’ll also begin to have some fun offerings in our offices on certain days each week to make these visits a little more meaningful and enjoyable, and to give you the opportunity to reunite with others who might also be in the office. You’ll be hearing more about the selected days and offerings in the coming weeks. Again, no one should feel obligated to come in during this time. If you do come in, we welcome you, but you should feel no pressure to do so. During this time, we will not be encouraging visitors to the office, but if they do come in, pre-registration will be required. We will be providing more details on this in a subsequent communication.

Phase 2 will begin after Labor Day and continue through at least the end of 2021. During this phase, we do expect people to come in somewhat more regularly, but intend to continue to offer flexibility wherever possible. With respect to attorneys and paralegals, we will not be requiring a set minimum number of work days in the office. Instead, department chairs will determine guidelines based on department and client needs as well as individual circumstances, and will be reaching out to attorneys and paralegals in their departments over the summer to discuss options. While we expect many will strive toward an average of 2 or 3 days per week in the office, others may make different arrangements which involve them coming in more or fewer days. For assistants and other staff, Firm administration is working hard to develop models that will afford flexibility where possible, while also ensuring for appropriate in-office coverage. Your managers and/or supervisors will be reaching out to work with you in developing a plan for the remainder of the year.

Phase 3 will commence in 2022, when we will evaluate the hybrid working model and use everything we learned during our first two phases to inform our longer term plans, including establishing guidelines, if necessary, to further define our approach to flexible work. As always, we welcome your suggestions as well throughout this period.

Sponsored

The pandemic has taught us that we can produce excellent work and be highly productive while working remotely, but it has also shown us the critical importance of the special community and bonds that exist at Loeb. Over the last few months, many of you have shared with me how much you miss seeing your colleagues, spending time together and having someone to consult with just down the hall. Through trial and error and assessing what has worked best, we’ll make changes as needed and work to strike the right balance. While the working model will change—and flexibility will be core to that—our expectation is that our strong culture and our commitment to excellence will not.

Over the next few weeks, you can expect to hear directly from your OMPs and office administrators on office-specific updates. I will also be hosting Associate and Staff Town Halls on Wednesday, June 30 to provide any new information and answer any questions. In the meantime, I want to touch on one question I have continued to hear around vaccinations. While we are encouraging people to get vaccinated, we are not mandating it at this point. We do expect there may be different requirements for those who are vaccinated and those who are not in terms of mask wearing and gathering requirements, and we will share more on this later this summer.

As I noted in my previous communication, although we will be returning to the same physical space we left over a year ago, it is clear that our way of working will be very different than what we are used to. But, hopefully, it will be improved, allowing for more flexibility and a work/life balance that works for each of us while maintaining the nurturing culture that is Loeb. I thank you once again for all your patience and diligence as we work to reintegrate everyone in the most comfortable way possible.

Finally, apart from our return to office, I am sure that many of you, like me, are excited at the thought of finally being able to more safely venture out of our “bubbles” and once again enjoy many of the things we missed over the last year and a half. Whether it’s hopping on a plane for that long-awaited vacation, enjoying a concert or sporting event, or simply seeing colleagues in person again or gathering with a larger group of friends and family, it’s gratifying to at last be able to look to the future with optimism and a sense of joy.

Please take care and be well.

Sponsored

Ken


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.