The legal job market is still slow and we are all starting to get used to working from home. The transition from pressed suit to flip flops has gone more smoothly than we thought. We’ve mastered Zoom meetings and have come up with ways to keep the dog from barking on the most important calls. In short, we’ve adapted to the Covid-19 work environment.
At the risk of sounding tone deaf, I understand that things are far from improving in some areas of the country, but as things generally start to improve, what will be asked of the American attorney? Will they return to their office? Will the modern trend of smaller offices, open floor plans and shared community spaces still make sense, or will attorneys be encouraged (or demand) to use their physical office only as necessary and primarily work from home?
Sadly, we don’t know yet. As we are talking to attorneys, there does seem to be a large number of them that do not want to return to the old system of working from an office. They want to work from home either out of fear of infection, that they are more efficient at home or both. But there also is another cohort that really is struggling with the work-from-home mentality. This group thrives on interpersonal communication and collaboration. They are anxious to return to the workplace. Historically, legal departments and firms have not been good at saying “do whatever works for you.” we are an industry of standards, billable hours and conformity; our industry doesn’t do well with true individualism.
So how will law firms and in-house legal departments navigate these two groups? Without a crystal ball, there is no clear answer, but it does seem reasonable to think that there will be a fracturing of legal jobs.
One group will be with firms and employers who have their legal team primarily work remotely. The other group will be much more of a pre-2020 employer requiring attorneys to be in the office. It will be interesting to see how talent splits along those lines. It’s also not too big of a stretch to imagine the marketing of the work environment as a distinguishing point–both lateral attorneys and potential clients. “Our firm works together in person, we don’t have the barrier of a screen in front of the legal team representing your interests” versus “our firm is progressive and we care about the safety of our attorneys, who have mastered the art of remote working – your file is best suited with us.” In a landscape where many firms are largely indistinguishable, this would provide a small data point which might help potential clients choose a firm.
What do you think? When we are all allowed to go back to work, will you go? If the firm culture changes at your firm based on their interest in allowing attorneys to work remotely, will you consider another employer? If the decision to bring employees back becomes “weaponized” to attract clients, will it work? Only time will tell, but it does seem that firms and lawyers are breaking along this fault line and there will be a lot of movement in the coming months because of it.