Career & Practice
How does a firm incentivize its lawyers to come back into the building? Promise each attorney who treks into the firm every day a big office with a shiny nameplate? Bring in a barista? Comfortable communal space? An in-house medical clinic? Cupcakes?
Almost five years after the coronavirus pandemic shut down buildings throughout the world—and specifically in the U.S.—lawyers are used to working remotely.
While management at most firms would like to see their employees returning to their dedicated office space at least some of the time, there’s still no consensus on how best to do that. Certainly, law firm managers have varied in their approaches, from mandating attendance to attempting to lure their lawyers back with attractive amenities.
Meanwhile, lawyers from junior associates to partners often are willing to come back into the office but on their own terms, prioritizing flexibility and control when it comes to their work schedules, according to legal recruiters and law firm managers.
“There’s still so much tension in law firms about remote versus hybrid versus in-person when it comes to office policies,” says Valerie Fontaine of SeltzerFontaine, a legal search consulting group in Los Angeles. “It’s the No. 1 topic in many partnership meetings. What motivates lawyers to go into the office? There’s no single answer, that’s what law firms are finding out. Different...
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