Biglaw would really like associates to come back to the office. Whether it’s because of lease obligations, training woes, trying to build a culture, or all of the above, by and large, firms would love to have attorneys back in the office. The question is how to do it.
We’ve seen some carrot approaches, but increasingly mandates are the default. And for associates who don’t get on board with the rules of the road? They can expect to have their bonuses docked. Now another firm is joining the ranks of Ropes & Gray, Sidley, Davis Polk, and Cahill and explicitly tying office attendance to associate bonuses.
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Simpson Thacher — a firm that brought in $2,150,365,000 gross revenue in 2022, putting it in 15th place in the latest Am Law 100 — recently held a firmwide meeting saying its return-to-office plan would remain unchanged, and that lawyers would be expected to attend the office three days each week (with reportedly lax enforcement, thus far). Sources tell us that a few days later, an email was sent out, notifying associates that they must check for updates in the firm’s employee handbook.
Lo and behold, the updated handbook book contains a new policy linking office attendance to bonuses. Check out the first paragraph below, which states that in-office attendance requirements may affect eligibility to receive any discretionary bonuses, including year-end bonuses:
“Why couldn’t they mention this during the hour-long meeting? Very shady move,” said one source at the firm. “[T]hey basically insinuated in the meeting that remote August is not happening because our clients are back in office,” said another. Yikes. Remote Augusts have been the cornerstone of many Biglaw firms’ work/life balance protocol since hybrid workplace policies went into effect in the wake of the pandemic. We hope other firms aren’t following in STB’s footsteps here.
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Now that this attendance-based bonus eligibility trend has taken off, will other Biglaw firms follow? If your firm is linking bonuses to office attendance let us know. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477). Thanks for your help.
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.