Biglaw Firms Better Get Ready To Push Back Their Unrealistic Reopening Dates
Yes, again. COVID-19 is still raging across America.
The dates don’t seem very realistic. People in the firms expect it to be pushed back.
Firms really want to have time back in the office. There are competing pressures here. On the one side, people have gotten attached to remote work. But for many firms their culture and long history is tied to being in the office.
Some firms will say, ‘Well we’re supporting hybrid work but expect you to be in the office four days a week.’ I think there’s a bit of a cognitive dissonance.
— Bill Bice, CEO of legal technology company nQ Zebraworks, commenting on the Biglaw reopening announcements that have been made public thus far. About half of the 72 law firms with publicly available return-to-office plans are targeting September 21 as their reopening date. The second-most popular date is October 21. According to data analyzed by Bice, most firms are offering a hybrid return policy, with the most popular choice being three days a week in the office. The second-most popular option is four to five days a week in the office, which is not really a hybrid policy at all, and more of a full-time in-office policy.
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.
