Are Biglaw Leaders Doing 'Irreparable Harm' To Their Firms By Delaying Full Reopenings?
Some are starting to wonder how long this waiting game can last.
How long can we wait ‘til we start doing irreparable harm to your culture, to training, to all those value propositions from in-person interaction?
Once you get past the beginning of November, you’re looking at Thanksgiving, and then the December holidays. If you miss that window, you’re probably talking about sometime early in 2022, which is a really daunting thing to think about.
I don’t think [voluntary office attendance] is sustainable in the long run. The question is: How long can the short run be?
— Paul Schmidt, chairman of BakerHostetler, offering his thoughts on Biglaw firms that have delayed their “post”-pandemic reopenings and are encouraging voluntary office attendance. Schmidt’s firm was supposed to officially reopen on September 8, but those plans were scrapped thanks to the Delta variant. BakerHostetler has not announced a new reopening date.
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.
