May 05, 2022
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Want to Thin Your Law Firm's Head Count? Mandate 3 or More Days of Office Attendance | The American Lawyer - Law.com

Blocks-reading-hybrid-work
Firm leaders must tread carefully when setting and enforcing policies.

What You Need to Know

  • A recent survey of Big Law attorneys found that most lawyers want more flexibility than three mandated days of office attendance.
  • Flexibility weighed heavily into many attorneys' decisions over whether to leave their firms, and some took requests to return as an affront after billing record hours from home.
  • Respondents indicated that many firms aren't enforcing their policies and said they'd leave if managers cracked down.

Throughout the pandemic, managing partners have asserted the necessity of bringing attorneys back to the office to mentor the next generation of lawyers and preserve their firm’s culture. With hybrid work policies now taking effect, these leaders are about to discover whether lawyers value their firm’s culture and mentorship over the ability to work from home.

If that sounds ominous, it should. Last week, the American Lawyer posted a survey asking Big Law attorneys to describe their firm’s return-to-office policy and reflect on how they felt about it. We also asked what could be improved and how these policies may impact lawyers’ willingness to move to another firm. We ultimately garnered 350 responses after our reporters and industry thought leaders shared it on their social media channels.

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source: https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2022/05/05/want-to-thin-your-law-firms-head-count-mandate-3-or-more-days-of-office-attendance/

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