Biglaw

Milbank's Reopening Plan Includes More Mandatory In-Office Days For Younger Associates

Are any other firms requiring younger associates to spend more time in the office than their peers?

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When will lawyers at some of the largest firms in America have to head back to the office after their prolonged absence due to COVID-19? More and more, the answer seems to be the first week of November. At least half a dozen firms have settled on the first or second week of November, and one more prominent firm is about to join them.

Late last week, the executive committee at Milbank — a firm that was once referred to as Thrillbank for taking the lead on Biglaw’s 2018 move to the $190K salary scale — notified attorneys in New York, D.C., and Los Angeles that November 8 would be their mandatory return date. What will that entail? Here’s a relevant excerpt from the memo (emphasis added; available in full on the next page):

Starting November 8, associates in classes 2021 and 2020 are expected to return to the office four days a week.  All other lawyers are expected to return to the office three days a week.  However, all lawyers will be permitted to work on a fully remote basis the weeks of November 22 (Thanksgiving holiday) and December 27 (Christmas/New Year’s holiday).

We will remain flexible in accommodating lawyers with specific personal health risks or circumstances that would impact their return to the office at this time.  Extended full-time remote working arrangements are still permitted for those with extenuating circumstances through January 2022 and should be discussed with and approved by legal personnel and your practice group leader.

First- and second-year associates are required to be in the office more than their elder colleagues, and further down in the memo, we see that first-year associates will actually be starting their time in the office next week, on October 21. To our immediate knowledge, Milbank may be one of the only firms requiring younger associates to spend more days per week in the office than their peers. Is this the “nice” thing to do, since thus far, both class years have been deprived of the true experience of working at the firm? Sure, we suppose. Is this the necessary thing to do? That’s another question entirely….

Many Biglaw firms — including Milbank (per the firm’s memo) — are all about getting back to their “culture of collaboration, mentoring, and teamwork,” while the new generation of lawyers is all about work-life balance, health, wellness, and safety during the pandemic. Milbank looks a little less thrilling when its attendance requirements include more work for younger associates in the form of an avoidable commute and the anxiety that could be caused by having more required in-office time than their colleagues.

We suppose we’ll see how this works out for the firm but right now, folks don’t seem too pleased.

What has your firm announced as far as a reopening plan is concerned? The more information is out there, the more likely it is that firms will be able to establish a market standard for a return to work.

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(Flip the page to read the memo from Milbank.)

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.

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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