There must be a balance that recognizes the value of collaboration, teamwork, productivity, mentorship and career advancement that can only be achieved locally. The return to the work area will be like the new frontier. We all quit work, so to speak, and now we`re trying to find a way back, » said Janelle Edwards-Stewart, an attorney at Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC in Morristown, New Jersey. While there`s no way to predict the future, surveys that gather feedback from lawyers can help give an indication of what to expect in the weeks and months ahead, when offices fully reopen and the return to work begins in the « new normal. » For example, a recent survey focused on return to work in the legal profession and offers many interesting insights into what lawyers envision after returning to work when the pandemic ends. The « Lawyers Perspectives on Return to the Office » survey was conducted by Law360 and Pulse and Major, Lindsey and Africa. More than 2,500 lawyers responded, and the results provide insight into how different segments of the legal community perceive the return to the office. « During this downturn, lawyers are well advised to appear in the office. While remote work may become the new normal in the future, the most imperative is to ensure they are not laid off during this recession » – Shari Davidson, President of On Balance Search Consultants. According to respondents, there are good reasons to return to the office at least a few days a week. After all, we all know that while remote work has its advantages, it also has disadvantages. And it was the negative aspects of remote work that fueled the desire to work in the office. Respondents said remote work negatively affects the following aspects of their work lives: 1) mentoring (57%), 2) training (52%), 3) work-life separation (60%), and 4) mental wellness/burnout (52%). Lawyers are also attracted by the prospect of reduced travel; The ability to not get on a train, pay for parking, or come home late because of travel is incredibly appealing to lawyers.
It sheds light on their call for more remote work opportunities. It`s clear that it takes some persuasion to bring your employees back to the office. Hybrid work to maintain and maintain a diverse team. Despite some optimism in the medical community about a possible COVID-19 vaccine or treatment in the coming year, don`t expect law firms to resume operations as usual anytime soon. In fact, it will be complicated to enter the building. Given the different responses between younger and older lawyers, it is not surprising to learn that the firm`s partners tended to be more interested in returning to the firm full-time than employees or lawyers. This makes sense because the partners are more experienced lawyers and therefore tend to be older. As a result, 27% of partners preferred to return full-time, compared to 16% of lawyers and 7% of partners. « We started to worry about that, » Barr said.
« That`s one of the reasons we were so focused on getting people back into the game. Plans to return to the office are overshadowed by rumors of layoffs at several major law firms. Many companies that hired at a record pace in 2021 to meet market demands are now slowing down. Shearman, like most New York businesses, has employees commuting across the border area, she said. « Knowing that you have to be in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays almost guarantees that you will have people in the office, » she said. The legal industry workforce returned to the office more frequently than others, according to Kastle`s Legal Industry Return to Work Barometer. The tool tracks the anonymized activities of 341,000 unique public office holders in major cities, of which nearly 32,000 work in the legal sector. In a survey by the American Bar Association, 44% of lawyers with 10 years or less of experience say they will jump for a job that offers more freedom to work remotely.
In contrast, only 13% of people aged 41 or over say in practice that they would stop. (But is it because they`re too old to be hired?) Edwards-Stewart was one of three employment lawyers who shared their views on the future when law firms reopen during the American Bar Association`s webinar, The Employment Guide to Surviving COVID-19: Critical Issues Today & Biggest Challenges Tomorrow. She was joined by Anthony Kuchulis of Littler Mendelson PC in Portland, Oregon, and Vincent Tong of Tong Law in Oakland, California. The ABA also notes that there are as many lawyers working « almost all the time » from home as there are those who go to the office almost « 100% » – in both cases, it`s 30%; The remaining 40% have a hybrid agreement. For law firm managers who want their workforce back to the office, you should consider the results of this survey. Not all lawyers in your firm will agree with the immediate return to full-time. To retain talent and ensure your firm`s continued success in the months following the pandemic, it`s important to ensure you understand and address the legitimate concerns and preferences of your firm`s lawyers. The more comfortable they feel with the circumstances and timing of their return to the office, the better off the business will be in the long run. The ABA study, which collected responses from about 2,000 lawyers between May 31 and 15. June reports that 89% of lawyers at law firms and 86% of corporate legal departments are able to work remotely.
By comparison, only 58 percent of U.S. workers in a range of labor relationships have this privilege, according to a report by McKinsey & Company. Higher percentages of women than men and lawyers of color than white/Caucasian respondents said they were more worried about missing out on business development opportunities, getting paid less, and being overlooked for certain tasks if they didn`t work in the office at the request of their employer. Staci Zaretsky is an editor-in-chief at Above the Law, where she has worked since 2011. She would love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with tips, questions, comments or criticism. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn. « We`re focusing more on carrots than sticks and really thinking about how we can help our employees get back to market, » she said. VIDEO: In December 2021, executives from some of the nation`s largest law firms shared their plans for returning to the office and discussed whether hybrid work would stay here. Partners want junior lawyers and other employees to proactively use opportunities to compensate for their lack of training in recent years, said Jennifer Coffey, a New York-based legal recruiter for Macrae.
Showing up in person can be an important indicator for partners that these lawyers are determined to get back on track. Many lawyers who work remotely productively are reluctant to return to the office. Some may think that the urge to return to the office is a play of ego of partners, while others think it signals a lack of confidence in their ability to work effectively from home.