Biglaw, In-House Counsel

Business Travel Amid The Pandemic: Are Lawyers Ready To Return To The Lives They Left?

In true lawyerly fashion, it depends.

By  
on

For more than 18 months now, lawyers and staff members have largely worked from home thanks to the pandemic. But with law firms now announcing (and postponing and then delaying) their offce reentry plans, the prospect of a commute looms large. And with a commute comes the expectation that other business travel may soon be expected as well.

With that in mind, it got us wondering: will attorneys truly be ready for more business travel once the new year rolls around?

We polled attorneys and staff members running the professional gamut across Biglaw firms, small firms, in-house legal departments, and state and federal government offices to find out what lies ahead for the legal workforce in the wake of the pandemic. The largest group of respondents to our survey were law firm partners and counsel (36.25%), followed by law firm associates (26.25%), and general counsel/in-house counsel (18.75%). Are lawyers ready to travel for business again? In true lawyerly fashion, it depends.

The largest cohort of our survey respondents (27.85%) reported that they are planning moderately less travel in 2022 compared with their travel plans from before the pandemic, with 20.25% reporting that they will be doing far less travel. These responses were expected; after all, we’re still in a pandemic. Now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

How do your business travel plans for internal meetings in 2022 compare with those from before the pandemic?

The largest cohort of respondents (27.12%) reported that they are planning far less travel for internal meetings in 2022 compared with their travel plans from before the pandemic. Nothing unexpected here, folks.

Sponsored

How do your business travel plans for external/client meetings in 2022 compare with those from before the pandemic?

The largest cohort of respondents (30%) reported that they are planning moderately less travel for external/client meetings in 2022 compared with their travel plans from before the pandemic. The hits just keep on coming for business travel in 2022.

How do you feel about your amount of planned business travel for 2022?

Sponsored

The largest cohort of respondents (30.43%) reported that they believe their amount of planned business travel for 2022 is the right amount. Who are these people who want to travel a lot more? Maybe the secret lies within the responses to our next survey question.

How important do you believe business travel will be to business development and client satisfaction?

Aha, here we go. The largest cohort of respondents (32.35%) reported that business travel is somewhat important to business development and client satisfaction. This thinking leads us to the reason why many law firms are trying to reopen before 2021 is over.

How important do you believe business travel will be to law firm morale, mentorship, and internal networking?

Over one third of respondents (36.76%) reported that they believed business travel is somewhat important to law firm morale, mentorship, and internal networking. But just saying, many associates value the health and safety of their families more than their law firm networking opportunities.

When asked to share their general thoughts on business travel in the future, our survey respondents really spoke their minds and some common themes emerged. Here are some select responses that we thought would really resonate with others.

  • “The pandemic has demonstrated that plenty of business can be conducted just as easily and successfully virtually. As much as I enjoy seeing people in person, I am comfortable with NOT attending ANY in person conferences before 2023 (and I’ll reconsider that next summer).”
  • “The pandemic shattered old models. From court hearings to meetings, it’s really a new (better) world. We don’t need to burn so much jet fuel and head downtown (or out of town) for every court appearance or meeting. Zoom works just fine.”
  • “We’ve proven excessive business travel is not necessary for success. We owe it to our own health and well-being, and that of our planet, not to rush back to what we used to consider ‘normal.’ It never was, or at least never should have been.”
  • “Remote depos work, remote meetings work. Business travel, for the most part, is a waste of time and resources.”

As it turns out, not everyone wants to remain at home forever. Here are some thoughts from other survey respondents who wish things could go back to the way they were before the pandemic.

  • “We need to all get vaccinated and become comfortable meeting in person again. Meeting in person facilitates the exchange of useful information and ideas – which our world desperately needs more of right now – better than any videoconferencing platform.”
  • “I wish business travel would return to pre-pandemic levels, but I do not think that will happen.”
  • “Lawyers are incredibly risk averse and do not understand data and numbers. Being fully vaccinated and understanding how good the data is for those who are vaccinated, I plan to take advantage of that and get in front of clients more often than other attorneys.”

So there you have it. Are lawyers ready for business travel again? Yes! But also, no. As with all things having to do with COVID-19, plans for any travel are likely subject to some amount of change, so be sure to prepare yourselves for all the possibilities that go hand in hand with office life — because it’s going to start happening again, and sooner than you may like.

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.

Topics

, , , , , , ,