Biglaw

Biglaw Heavy Hitters Add Vaccine Mandates To Their Reopening Policies

More firms join in to protect their employees from the spread of COVID-19.

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CLEARY GOTTLIEB — MEMO — VACCINATION POLICY AND RETURN TO OFFICE DATE (click to enlarge)

SHEPPARD MULLIN — MEMO — UPDATED POLICIES RE RTO, VACCINATIONS, HYGIENE

To All Sheppard Mullin Folks:

A lot has been happening on the Pandemic/Return to Office front.  It is increasingly clear the Delta variant is both more contagious than prior Covid variants and more capable of infecting fully vaccinated individuals.  The vaccines are still extremely effective at preventing serious illness caused by COVID but the increased risks to all of us are real and need to be taken seriously.  A new wave of infections is sweeping the country.  After a couple of quiet months, infections among our people—especially the unvaccinated–are on the rise.  The consequences for our people have at times been serious.  The CDC and state and local governments have all been adjusting their rules and guidance and we need to do the same.

Here is the latest from the Executive Committee, based on: (1) our best understanding of the science in consultation with our medical expert Dr. Stephen Ostroff; (2) the latest governmental mandates; (3) what we have heard from you in scores of individual conversations; and (4) the recommendations of our RTO/Hygiene Task Force (me, Ted Tinson, Luca Salvi, Allison Rhodes, Bess Sully and DeAnna Ouderkirk), all while exercising our own best judgment as the elected management committee of the Firm.  We realize all of these rules will not be popular.  We need to do what is best for the organization and our business taking all considerations into account.

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Note the rules in this email apply only to our domestic offices.  Each overseas office continues to set its own rules based on local laws and considerations.

Expectations Re Coming to the Office

As you are aware we were hoping to have a more vibrant RTO starting September 7th.  In light of the current science and medical recommendations we are postponing that date and will announce a new date in the future with plenty of advance notice.  Based on our discussions with Dr. Ostroff and the experiences of the UK and India with the Delta variant, we should know more about the arc of the contagion in the next few weeks.  We will also know more about how our institutions are reacting. We understand for many of you school plans will play a key role in your decision process.

From now until we do take our next step towards a fuller RTO we will continue to operate under our RTO guidance of “do your best” to come to the office when you can.  This has generally meant that you should coordinate with your teammates and try to find a day or two per week where you can safely operate in the office at the same time.  That said, we ask each of you to be extra cautious.  If you have been engaging in riskier conduct like attending an indoor event, it is probably best to stay home at least until the Delta variant has run its course.  If you have children at home who cannot be vaccinated or you have immunocompromised individuals in your home, again you probably should not come in until Delta is through our system.  This is your call of course but no partner or management team member is going to look askance if you want to avoid going out of your home for a while.

The big takeaway here is that we have proven we can serve our clients, stay safe, and be successful as a Firm while working from home and in various hybrid permutations.  We know we need to get back in the office on a more regular basis if we are going to grow our careers and be the best we can be.  At the same time there is nothing to be gained by rushing things or expecting more office attendance than is prudent.

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Lastly,  we have received questions from many of you about our flexibility policy as we return to the office.  We continue to draft an updated flexibility policy that will offer more specific guidance and best practices for when we do move to increased office attendance.  We have previously discussed the flexibility our legal professionals will have.  We can now confirm almost all of our staff positions including secretaries also will be allowed some flexibility in their work arrangements with the understanding there are a few positions such as reception and file center that require the staff member to be physically present in the office every day.

When You Do Come to the Office

1. All of us are now required to wear a mask and distance at least 6’ except when in an office with a door, or except when actively eating or drinking.  This rule applies whether or not you are vaccinated.  This also means that those in open-air cubicles are required to wear a mask.  Most of our people are already under this rule from various local governments.  Given that it is also CDC guidance we have decided to make it universal.  We know this is frustrating.  Almost all of us have been vaccinated and we hoped that would give us more masking freedoms.  In fact it has—we just need to step back for a bit.  We hope the need for this enhanced masking rule will fade in the next few weeks.

2. Until further notice we are not going to have group meals in our conference rooms.  Just too much time together without masks.

3. We will continue to allow vaccinated visitors into our offices on a limited basis but we really mean limited.  Under no circumstances will we allow groups to use our offices when our attorneys are not actively involved.  Please do not make promises we cannot keep.

4. We previously announced that beginning August 16 we would allow in our offices only those who had been vaccinated or had within the preceding seven days been tested negative for COVID.  We are now eliminating the testing exception.  The Delta variant is simply too strong and rampant to rely on weekly testing.  Starting August 16 in order to come into one of our offices you must be vaccinated.  This rule is consistent with those adopted by dozens of other AmLaw 100 firms, the U.S. military and many of our clients, with more every day.  It keeps us all safer and gives those who are vaccinated greater comfort in coming to the office.  As under our current rule, proof of that vaccination must have been uploaded to our database.  Over 1360 of us have uploaded their records.  If you have not already done so please submit Proof of Vaccination HERE.  It is simple.  Please do not put off the upload any longer.

Thank you for you adherence to these rules.  They are for our common good.  We have had a few bumps in the road over the last 18 months.  There is not a straight line of progress against the pandemic.  Overall we are getting there, it just takes time and patience.  We do not intend that any of the hygiene measures we take in response to the virus will be permanent. We will adapt as the pandemic ebbs and flows.

Should you have any questions regarding our hygiene rules please direct them to DeAnna Ouderkirk and she will respond or forward to the appropriate person.

Have a great week,

Guy

Guy Halgren | Chairman

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.

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