High
profile
back-to-the-office
announcements
from
Biglaw
heavy
hitters
have
many
wondering
if
the
legal
industry’s
remote
work
flexibility
era
may
soon
come
to
an
end.
Law
firms
love
matching
policies
with
their
peers
and
a
mounting
push
against
hybrid
work
could
offer
firms
the
safety
in
numbers
they
need
to
retreat
from
popular
hybrid
models.
But
it
seems
the
industry
as
a
whole
still
relishes
working
from
home
too
much
to
give
up.
Based
on
a
survey
of
over
2,800
professionals,
Affinipay’s
2025
Legal
Industry
Report
provides
a
wealth
of
knowledge
about
a
wide
array
of
issues.
But
with
lawyers
struggling
to
figure
out
how
to
run
an
office
in
a
post-pandemic
world,
some
of
the
most
interesting
results
addressed
the
remote
work
landscape.
Overall,
28%
of
our
survey
respondents
said
their
firms
operate
fully
in-office;
21%
use
hybrid
schedules
for
all
team
members;
19%
are
fully
remote,
and
18%
adopt
hybrid
schedules
for
some
of
their
staff.
However,
these
preferences
shift
noticeably
depending
on
firm
size.
Less
than
a
third
have
moved
fully
in
office
and
while
attorneys
will
quibble
over
3
or
4
day
schedules,
it
seems
as
though
the
5-day
office
week
still
faces
significant
headwinds.
Unsurprisingly,
solo
practitioners
show
the
most
interest
in
working
remotely,
with
31%
of
those
respondents
operating
entirely
remotely.
Once
lawyers
add
more
faces,
the
push
for
in-office
work
jumps
up,
with
the
1-5
lawyer
operation
running
fully
in-office
at
36%
and
only
10%
working
fully
remote.
Hybrid
schedules
dominate
at
the
large
firms
we
surveyed
(51+
lawyers),
with
61%
offering
hybrid
schedules
for
all
team
members—nearly
three
times
the
overall
average.
Fully
remote
and
fully
in-office
arrangements
were
rare
at
this
size,
with
only
6%
reporting
each
model.
These
variations
indicate
that
firm
size
influences
not
only
logistical
considerations
but
also
cultural
and
operational
needs
when
determining
work
arrangements.
While
so
much
of
the
public
conversation
around
returning
to
the
office
revolves
around
associate
training
—
long
the
province
of
the
bigger
firms
—
when
forced
to
explain
themselves,
training
wasn’t
the
biggest
concern.
Security
and
privacy
lead
the
way.
Which
is
a
little
confusing
because
technology
exists
to
keep
remote
employees
as
secure
out
of
the
office
as
they
would
be
within
the
four
walls,
and
the
dumbest
activity
—
like
feeding
confidential
material
into
ChatGPT
—
can
happen
wherever
the
lawyer
finds
themselves.
And,
not
for
nothing,
but
lawyers
have
worked
hybrid
for
years.
It’s
not
like
they
weren’t
working
from
home
on
weekends
and
the
data
threat
doesn’t
go
up
just
because
they’ve
logged
on
Tuesday
instead
of
Saturday.
Which,
of
course,
is
why
72%
of
respondents
are
very
or
moderately
concerned
about
tech
failures.
It’s
actually
surprising
how
few
respondents
cited
training
and
culture
—
though
the
high
number
of
small
and
solo
respondents
might
be
a
factor.
The
experienced
lawyers
who
entered
lockdown
produced
record-breaking
revenue
for
firms,
but
can
the
new
blood
get
up
to
speed
without
informal
interactions
with
senior
lawyers?
Formal
training
programs
can
and
must
become
a
bigger
part
of
training
for
a
lot
of
reasons,
not
just
because
lawyers
have
fewer
informal
interactions,
but
as
Stephen
Embry
noted
at
AffiniPay’s
virtual
seminar
this
week,
to
combat
the
industry’s
historic
biases
that
delivered
so-called
soft
learning
unevenly.
But
formal
training
can’t
account
for
everything.
And
even
putting
aside
the
unexpected
learning
moments,
remote
work
throws
obstacles
in
the
way
of
minor
feedback
and
course
correction.
Poking
a
head
into
an
office
to
correct
a
small
but
stupid
associate
moment
exacts
a
much
smaller
price
than
setting
up
a
Zoom
meeting
to
talk.
If
the
mistake
is
small
enough,
the
supervisor
might
just
fix
it
themselves
rather
than
deal
with
the
hassle.
Yet
those
tiny
issues
add
up
to
create
a
festering
hole
in
an
attorney’s
training.
That
said,
if
junior
lawyers
are
going
to
respond
with
“nah,
you
do
that,”
maybe
it
doesn’t
matter.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
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