{"id":28797,"date":"2023-09-05T11:19:27","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/?p=996552"},"modified":"2023-09-05T11:19:27","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:19:27","slug":"goodwin-office-tracking-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed — But They Shouldn’t Be"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"magnifying

(Image via Getty)<\/p><\/div>\n

With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, many Biglaw firms are now expecting their associates to be working from the office, at least four days each week. Some firms have yet to take the leap and make such a mandate, but instead, they’ve put technology into place that will track associates to see who is in the office, and perhaps most importantly, where<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This happened recently at Goodwin Procter, where the firm rolled out a new system called “Colleague Connect.” Though the firm — which brought in $2,211,469,000 gross revenue in 2022, putting it at No. 13 on the Am Law 100 — intended to use the program to “enhance the way we interact with each other, making our office communication more efficient and productive,” many associates weren’t immediately on board, with some referring to the implementation of the technology as a Big Brother-esque invasion of privacy.<\/p>\n

In fairness to Goodwin Procter, most, if not all, firms are already tracking their associates’ office attendance thanks to card swipes — this new system is just allowing people to see where people are located. In fact, we here at Above the Law once called a system like this<\/a> the way to “manag[e] the hybrid office of the future.” The firm entered into this new office management model with the best intentions, telling the American Lawyer<\/a> that the firm remains “committed to continuing to improve the hybrid work experience for all members of the Goodwin community.”<\/p>\n

Here are some additional details from Am Law:<\/p>\n

Goodwin explained some of the thinking behind the rollout of Colleague Connect.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor extra flexibility, we are able to vary our individual schedules on a weekly basis,\u201d the firm said in a statement. \u201cOur people have noted that our flexible model means they do not always know when colleagues are in the office, on different floors for example. To address this, we designed Colleague Connect to make it easier for us to connect with each other in-person on any particular day when we are working from a Goodwin office. Because Colleague Connect is designed to facilitate in-person collaboration, it provides a snapshot only of who is an office that particular day.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One supportive Goodwin associate said, “Honestly, I appreciate this, it\u2019s always a pain to figure out who is in when I\u2019m in.” We suspect there are even more associates who feel the same way.<\/p>\n

Though associates may be wary of the firm’s implementation of this system thanks to its recent history of outright<\/a> and stealth<\/a> layoffs, let’s look at this through rose-colored glasses: this shouldn’t be seen as a burden, but as a benefit. Goodwin is embracing its flexible attendance model and offering associates new ways to connect with their colleagues while they’re working in the office. This is good for morale, and it might just make associates happier about being in the office if they have a simple way to find their friends.<\/p>\n

Good Business or Big Brother? In-Office Tracking is a Contentious Subject and Messaging Matters<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n

\n

\"StaciStaci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is 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<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter<\/a> and Threads<\/a> or connect with her on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This really isn’t as bad as it seems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":492491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[279],"tags":[102,11118,8720,10588,11100,7],"class_list":["post-28797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biglaw","tag-biglaw","tag-colleague-connect","tag-goodwin-procter","tag-hybrid-work-policies","tag-office-attendance-mandates","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed - But They Shouldn't Be - Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed - But They Shouldn't Be - Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This really isn't as bad as it seems.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-05T15:19:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staci Zaretsky\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staci Zaretsky\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/\",\"name\":\"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed - But They Shouldn't Be - Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-05T15:19:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-05T15:19:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/726e12202a0f3b590d13cb86365f6c62\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed — But They Shouldn’t Be\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/\",\"name\":\"Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event\",\"description\":\"A Legal Tech Adoption Guide For Perplexed Lawyers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/726e12202a0f3b590d13cb86365f6c62\",\"name\":\"Staci Zaretsky\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6288ad138784ab9bf8d52d91ffcfb532ce6f4b22ad0ebe8894b9b69f74396c2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6288ad138784ab9bf8d52d91ffcfb532ce6f4b22ad0ebe8894b9b69f74396c2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Staci Zaretsky\"},\"description\":\"Staci Zaretsky became an editor for Above the Law in June 2011. She has written for ATL in various capacities since August 2010. Her writing has also appeared in other publications, such as POLITICO, Judgepedia, Lawyerist, and Ms. JD. Staci graduated from Lehigh University and Western New England University School of Law, where her writing was published in the Western New England Law Review. Before deciding to pursue writing as a full-time career, Staci worked at a small law firm. Staci has been featured on various television and radio shows, like CNBC's Power Lunch, CBC News, NPR, CBS Radio News, and BBC Radio, among other programs. You can connect with Staci on Twitter, Threads, and LinkedIn, and you can reach her by email at tips@abovethelaw.com (for general ATL inquiries or story ideas) or staci@abovethelaw.com (for personal correspondence such as media inquiries or speaking invitations). She looks forward to hearing from you soon!\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/author\/staci-zaretsky\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed - But They Shouldn't Be - Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed - But They Shouldn't Be - Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event","og_description":"This really isn't as bad as it seems.","og_url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/","og_site_name":"Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event","article_published_time":"2023-09-05T15:19:27+00:00","author":"Staci Zaretsky","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Staci Zaretsky","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/","url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/","name":"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed - But They Shouldn't Be - Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2023-09-05T15:19:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-05T15:19:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/726e12202a0f3b590d13cb86365f6c62"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2023\/09\/05\/goodwin-office-tracking-technology\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Top Biglaw Rolls Out In-Office Tracking Tool, And Associates Are Pissed — But They Shouldn’t Be"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/","name":"Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event","description":"A Legal Tech Adoption Guide For Perplexed Lawyers","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/726e12202a0f3b590d13cb86365f6c62","name":"Staci Zaretsky","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6288ad138784ab9bf8d52d91ffcfb532ce6f4b22ad0ebe8894b9b69f74396c2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6288ad138784ab9bf8d52d91ffcfb532ce6f4b22ad0ebe8894b9b69f74396c2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Staci Zaretsky"},"description":"Staci Zaretsky became an editor for Above the Law in June 2011. She has written for ATL in various capacities since August 2010. Her writing has also appeared in other publications, such as POLITICO, Judgepedia, Lawyerist, and Ms. JD. Staci graduated from Lehigh University and Western New England University School of Law, where her writing was published in the Western New England Law Review. Before deciding to pursue writing as a full-time career, Staci worked at a small law firm. Staci has been featured on various television and radio shows, like CNBC's Power Lunch, CBC News, NPR, CBS Radio News, and BBC Radio, among other programs. You can connect with Staci on Twitter, Threads, and LinkedIn, and you can reach her by email at tips@abovethelaw.com (for general ATL inquiries or story ideas) or staci@abovethelaw.com (for personal correspondence such as media inquiries or speaking invitations). She looks forward to hearing from you soon!","sameAs":["https:\/\/abovethelaw.com","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky"],"url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/author\/staci-zaretsky\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}