It’s back to school season again. Crisp air, good times around the Quad, and rival football teams being crushed under the weight of millions of dollars in NIL funds. And for Biglaw, it’s still back to the office season, as firms struggle to coax midlevel and senior lawyers to rejoin the soul-sucking commute so they can help guide the next generation of young lawyers. If only there were a way to combine these two phenomena…
Well, Seward & Kissel gave it the old college try.
Last week, partner Steven Nadel once again took up the mantle of “office event quarterback” to organize the firm’s latest office morale booster: School Spirit Day.
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This time it involved Yoo-hoo.
“Wear school stuff from nursery through grad school that you or a relative attended,” Nadel told the firm. Rather than let the day pass as just a super-casual Thursday, the festivities included an afternoon event complete with school favorite snacks and juice boxes. As if nostalgia didn’t offer enough motivation to see if attorneys could still fit into their college jersey after all those summer associate lunches, Seward & Kissel held a contest to determine who had the Most School Spirit.
So… not exactly SEC country.
Nostalgia was obviously the primary selling point, and on multiple levels. On the surface it’s about reliving long lost school daze and trolling the litigator for wearing a sweatshirt from that rival Cow College. But what made this a clever exercise in nostalgia is calling forth memories of team camaraderie and the spontaneous, casual interactions around campus that firms keep trying to rekindle in a hybrid work environment. “Make the Office into Campus Again” isn’t an official initiative, but inviting school spirit into the office taps into some of the unconscious magic lacking in many firms hoping to reinvigorate post-lockdown esprit de corps.
As Seward & Kissel have proven with previous events like building the record-breaking miniature golf hole and hosting therapy dogs, it’s easier to create an office that people want to visit with honey than vinegar. Fostering moments that people actually look forward to — and people they want to see — can get people under the same roof without leaving them furiously updating resumes.
Plus there’s Yoo-hoo.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.