Like many Biglaw firms, WilmerHale is attempting to balance the flexibility of working from home with the firm’s in-office needs. Associates have enjoyed the ability to bill their hours bedecked in their finest athleisure from the privacy of their own home, but firms are seeing a dip in associates’ work product that they attribute to not logging enough hours in the office. So, firms are trying to thread the needle, launching hybrid work schedules. Since 2021, at WilmerHale that means three in-office days (of the associate’s choosing). But in the beginning of 2024, the firm let associates know that “record of their compliance” with the in-office mandate would “be taken into consideration in future assessments of [their] performance, which could include, for example, advancement and/or bonus determinations.”
Now the rubber has hit the road, and associates “significantly out of compliance” with the office attendance policy are hurting in their wallets — to the tune of 25% of their bonuses.
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WilmerHale just sent emails to associates who were “significantly out of compliance” with the firm’s in-office work policy telling them that their bonuses would be reduced by 25%. This is the first time associates have been told definitively that their bonuses would be reduced for non-compliance with the policy, and the first time any figure–let alone 25%–was mentioned.
Above the Law reached out to WilmerHale for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
It really stinks for associates to find that such a sizable chunk is being taken out of their bonuses. WilmerHale isn’t the only firm to get serious about coming into the office, but such punitive measures are far from the industry standard. Above the Law will continue to monitor how in-office policies are being handled in the Biglaw trenches.
As soon as you find out about office attendance plans at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Office Attendance”) 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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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].