Biglaw

Elite Biglaw Firm Gently Reminds Associates To Get Back To The Office After 'Remote August'

Associates will have to work from the office Tuesday through Thursday each week.

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The inscription Back to work in red letters on a white sheet in the hands of a man in a business suit.The dog days of summer are here, and for those who are working at Biglaw firms that adopted a “remote August” plan, the clock is ticking on their full-time work-from-home flexibility. Earlier this week, one of the top firms in the nation emailed all of its associates to let them know just how little time they had left before an in-office work requirement would kick in for them.

Skadden Arps — a firm that came in at No. 5 on the most recent Am Law 100 ranking after bringing in $3,022,380,000 gross revenue in 2021 — has permitted all of its attorneys to work remotely this month, but once September rolls around, things will look a little different for the firm.

Executive partner Eric Friedman noted in a memo that associates would be required back in the office three days each week — on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday — starting the week of September 12. From the memo:

“We remain committed to our hybrid model, and believe that having critical mass in the office on those three days will enhance collaboration while continuing to provide you with flexibility to work remotely for a significant part of each week.”

It’s great to see that a firm as prestigious as Skadden is sticking to its hybrid working model, and it’s our hope that other firms will commit themselves to remaining flexible with remote work opportunities in the wake of the pandemic. After all, Biglaw firms posted record profits while associates were working from home, so there’s really no reason to curtail remote work.

(Flip to the next page to read the full memo from Skadden.)

Is your firm mandating a three-day, in-office workweek? As soon as you find out about reopening plans 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.

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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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