Benefits of hybrid work examined in new study, while firms’ quest to bring lawyers back to office continues
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan traditionally has had generous policies that permit its lawyers to work fully remotely. But the new office space in New York City, with about 150,000 square feet, has been created to “be more inviting.” (Photo courtesy of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan)
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 people are turned on by different things.”
Many lawyers consider a firm’s remote work policy when weighing job opportunities, according to legal recruiters and law firm consultants.
“Most firms to be competitive have to offer at least some ability for its attorneys to work remotely,” says law firm consultant Peter Zeughauser of Zeughauser Group.
“Each floor is a little different,” says Andy Rossman, the managing partner of Quinn Emanuel’s New York office. “We’ve deliberately tried to have common collaborative space interspersed with office space. The collaborative space is a mix of setups, [such as] couches or high-top tables with bar stools, to allow for impromptu meetings.”
Best for efficiency
Adding a wrinkle to the debate over remote work is new research suggesting that hybrid schedules can increase productivity.
Nicholas Bloom, the William D. Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University, began studying the effect of remote work long before the pandemic. Bloom, who has been presenting his research to law firm managers, has concluded that a hybrid schedule promotes “maximum efficiency.”
In a study published in June in Nature, a science and technology journal, Bloom found that employees who work from home for two days per week were just as productive and as likely to be promoted as their in-person colleagues. In addition, employees with hybrid schedules were less likely to quit.
“In-person is clearly better for mentoring, likely for innovation and building culture,” Bloom says. “But you do not need every day in the office.”
Associates are more likely to return to the office if they know that senior associates and partners also will be there or if there is a need for group collaboration, such as an upcoming trial, according to Fontaine.
“To keep people coming in person, there has to be a reason for them to be in-person and a culture of collaboration,” Fontaine says. “If people really feel like they are part of a team and they enjoy being with the people with whom they work, that can be motivation to rub actual elbows with each other.”
Bloom suggests firms operate on a hybrid schedule with coordination, including aligning partners and associates to ensure mentoring is happening. The most common law firm schedule is Tuesday through Thursday in the office with the options for Monday and Friday to be remote, according to Bloom.
Bloom also suggests frequent performance reviews and outcome-based feedback to ensure lawyers working on a hybrid schedule know whether they are meeting expectations.
“When employees work from home, you cannot observe them,” Bloom says. “So rather than monitoring inputs, you have to focus on monitoring outputs, which means a strong focus on performance evaluation and making sure employees meet their deliverables.”
Light, space and cupcakes
But what to do about lawyers who are fighting coming into the office even on a hybrid schedule?
At some firms, an office with a nameplate is a reward for lawyers who come in most days.
That motivation could work for some lawyers who “want to put down that plant or that family photo or whatever on their own desk in their own office because that gives them a sense of belonging and makes their job feel more real,” says Alexander Paykin, founder and managing director of the Law Office of Alexander Paykin in New York.
But younger associates find an assigned office less of an enticement than their older counterparts, says Zeughauser. They are more likely, he says, to be happy with lockers and temporary office space or hoteling.
Some BigLaw firms also are remodeling their space to make it more attractive and responsive to the needs of their employees.
In 2024, Latham & Watkins opened a health clinic in its downtown Washington, D.C., office with acute and preventative care services for its lawyers and staff members, according to the firm’s press release.
The Washington, D.C., office of Foley & Lardner overlooking the Potomac River was recently renovated to maximize natural light and create more communal space. There are biweekly happy hours featuring both cocktails and mocktails, fruit bars on Tuesdays and cupcakes on Thursdays. The D.C. office has a wide variety of coffee options, including a cold brew keg, and large selection of creamers that includes regular milk, oat milk and coconut creamer, according to David Sanders, the D.C. office managing partner.
“Any creamer you can find, we have,” Sanders says. “The last thing I want is people not to come in because we don’t have the right creamer.”
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan traditionally has had generous policies that permit its lawyers to work fully remotely. But the new office space in New York City, with about 150,000 square feet, has been created to “be more inviting,” with a combination of common spaces and offices, along with upgraded technology, including double monitors at each desk, says Andy Rossman, the managing partner of Quinn Emanuel’s New York office.
“Each floor is a little different,” he says. “We’ve deliberately tried to have common collaborative space interspersed with office space. The collaborative space is a mix of setups, [such as] couches or high-top tables with bar stools, to allow for impromptu meetings.”
The new office opened in December 2024 and so far, “it has been packed,” Rossman says.
‘Watercooler conversations’
Questions over coordinating remote and in-person work aren’t limited to BigLaw firms.
Paykin’s firm, which employs four full-time associate attorneys and five part-time senior of-counsel lawyers, is remodeling its suite of offices. By the end of the renovation, Paykin says, the full-time lawyers will all have offices with nameplates by their doors. The part-time lawyers, many of whom rarely come to the physical office, will share two offices, he adds.
No one is required to come into the office, but Paykin thinks it’s important to have a dedicated space for “the watercooler conversations,” which help the law firm members bond as a community.
Sarah Novak Nesbitt, a partner in the Columbia, Maryland-based Family Legal Advocacy Group, says her firm expanded its office space during the pandemic.
The firm, which has four full-time attorneys, one part-time attorney, three full-time staff members and two part-time staff members, boasts a renovated suite in a three-story office building that includes nine offices, two conference rooms, a workroom and a kitchen. While lawyers and staff work in a hybrid arrangement, they try to congregate in the building on Mondays for firm-wide meetings and informal collaboration, Nesbitt says.
The full-time lawyers all have dedicated offices, but there are no nameplates because, according to Nesbitt, that’s not really part of the firm ethic.
“We’re just extremely practical here,” she says.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
