Instead of overthinking and overanalyzing associate return to office policies, why not let associates decide where and when they should work based on what needs to be done, the type of work they are doing and the needs and demands of the client and the partner with whom they are working?
Lots of chatter recently about how big law firms and, to a lesser extent, in-house legal departments should manage the return of their associates to the office as the pandemic ebbs. Should everyone be “strongly encouraged” to return to work every day (wink, wink, nod, nod)? Should the policy be work in the office so many days per week? Per month? And one firm, in its benevolence, says it will allow associates to work one whole week at home per year. Per year.
The GC of one major company, Morgan Stanley, even insists that its outside lawyers must work from the office. (have to wonder how will MS lawyers plan to police this.) This GC has convinced himself that his outside lawyers will somehow produce better results when they are in the office. What, the work the last 15 months has been substandard? Not timely done? Morgan Stanley has gone so far as to mandate NO “critical” meetings via Zoom; they must be in person. Guess that means Morgan Stanley will gladly pay standard per hour billing rates for lawyers to spend 3 hours traveling for a half-hour meeting.
So firms are stewing. Wringing their lily white hands
So firms are wringing their lily white hands. Some firms have announced policies only to retract them when there’s an uproar. Others flounder around with individual partners pontificating about the claimed advantage of working exclusively from the office. (One partner in an AmLaw 100 firm
