Biglaw Leaders Realizing They've 'Got No Leverage' When It Comes To Making Lawyers Return To The Office
Lawyers just don't want to go back to the office -- and partners are having a hard time forcing the issue.
Habits have formed, and a lot of people have gotten very comfortable working remotely. They’ve gotten into a routine, and that routine offers a lot of things, like cost savings. The timing of these inflationary pressures is not good for people who want to get [personnel] back into the office. All these things are becoming issues.
— Paul Schmidt, chairman of Baker & Hostetler, commenting on Biglaw firms’ relative inability to get lawyers to return to the office on a regular basis following years of remote work due to the pandemic. Michael Heller, executive chairman and CEO of Cozen O’Connor, was even more realistic. “The only thing that’s going to change an employer’s ability to get people back to the office is frankly if there’s a recession and it changes the employment level,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got no leverage to get our lawyers back to the office on a consistent basis.”
Staci 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.
