Biglaw

Cravath Invites New York And London Employees Back To The Office For 'Soft Return'

They've spent so much time on their 'soft return' plan that they forgot to give me a 'soft callback'. Yeah. That's it.

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You know the big firm whose salary updates (used to) set the tone for most of Biglaw, Cravath? Well, their New York and London employees recently had new office guidance come down the pipeline, and I would not be surprised if other fancy firms followed well-tailored suit with regard to future “soft” openings. I know your 6ths of an hour are costly, so I bolded the important excerpts of the firm’s memo below:

As we approach our target office return date of October 18, 2021, we are updating our plans to make this a “soft” return. Our New York and London offices have been open to fully vaccinated individuals since May, and we have been seeing a steady increase in the number of people in each office. At the same time, we recognize that the pace of overall return to normalcy has been slower than we had hoped. As such, through year-end, we encourage people to come in to the office at a cadence they feel comfortable with. We understand that will differ from person to person, and through year-end we are not mandating any particular number of days in the office. We do believe we are at a point where we will all benefit from beginning a more structured routine that includes coming to the office and interacting with colleagues. Office access and in-person attendance at events and client meetings remains limited to fully vaccinated individuals. Masks are required in common areas and we will continue to monitor the latest guidance from local and national health authorities as it relates to mask-wearing and other safety protocols.

Donna Rosenwasser, the firm’s executive director, continues:

Office attire for both New York and London is business casual, other than when making a court appearance, where the rules of attire are formal business, and when meeting with clients, where judgment should be guided by the etiquette the client follows. The week of Thanksgiving (November 22-26, 2021) and the last two weeks of the year (December 20-31 , 2021) will be fully remote for everyone, subject to specific client needs and other than necessary on-site staff. Both offices will stay open should attorneys or staff wish to come in.

I would expect no less of a firm of Cravath’s caliber to be able to say “come to work if you’re vaccinated and feel like it” in so many words. I hope you all enjoy the three weeks where you will all be remote, regardless of COVID comfort or vaccination status. Just be honest about those billables. You don’t want to end up like this.

As soon as you find out about the reopening plan at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Office Reopening”) or text us at (646) 820-8477. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send a memo (if one exists) using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. If a memo has been circulated, please be sure to include it as proof; we like to post complete memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file. Thanks.

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com.

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