Covid
cases
may
be
picking
up
again,
but
the
height
of
the
pandemic
is
now
behind
us,
and
the
powers
that
be
at
Biglaw
firms
across
the
country
want
their
workforce
to
return
to
the
office.
At
some
firms,
associates
and
partners
alike
have
been
somewhat
laissez
faire
about
hybrid
work
policies,
but
now,
Biglaw
firms
are
entering
“put
up
or
shut
up
mode,”
and
they’ll
be
pushing
their
return-to-office
mandates
—
hard.
And
what
will
that
mean?
Want
that
bonus?
Get
to
the
office.
Want
your
partner
draw?
Get
to
the
office.
Some
firms,
of
course,
already
have
these
policies
in
place,
but
now
they’re
really
going
to
be
enforced.
The
American
Lawyer
has
some
additional
details
on
Biglaw
firms’
rush
to
get
lawyers
back
to
their
real
estate
holdings:
[Jeff]
Lowe[,]
[senior
managing
partner
and
market
president
for
Washington,
D.C.,
at
CenterPeak],
said
he’s
spoken
with
a
number
of
firm
chairs
who’ve
said
“this
is
gonna
be
the
year
where
we
really
put
up
or
shut
up.”
That
could
mean
withholding
a
portion
or
percentage
of
a
partner’s
draw
or
reducing
bonus
pool
eligibility,
he
said.“I
think
they’ve
already
told
their
people,
‘If
you
don’t
show
up,
there’s
going
to
be
a
penalty.’
And
now
is
the
time
where
they’re
gonna
have
to
actually
enforce
that
penalty,”
he
said.
“It’ll
be
interesting
to
see
what
happens,
because
they
know
they
always
run
the
risk
of
a
partner
with
an
essential
practice
saying,
‘To
heck
with
you,
I’m
outta
here.’
That
can
be
a
lot
of
money
walking
out
the
door
because
the
person
wasn’t
coming
downtown
as
many
days
as
they’d
like.”
These
days,
most
Biglaw
firms
require
three
days
in
the
office,
but
a
little
more
than
a
handful
of
firms
want
their
attorneys
to
work
from
the
office
at
least
four
days
each
week
(Davis
Polk;
Latham;
Ropes
&
Gray;
Simpson
Thacher;
Skadden;
Vinson
&
Elkins;
and
Weil).
Come
2025,
or
perhaps
even
sooner,
leaders
at
many
Biglaw
firms
may
flex
their
power
to
demand
more
office
attendance,
joining
the
firms
that
already
require
more
facetime.
As
noted
by
Lauren
Drake,
a
partner
at
the
legal
recruiting
firm
Macrae,
“Some
firms
are
getting
considerably
more
aggressive
getting
people
back
to
the
office,
saying
there
could
be
an
impact
on
performance
reviews
and
bonuses,
things
like
that.”
As
soon
as
you
find
out
about
office
attendance
plans
at
your
firm,
please email
us
(subject
line:
“[Firm
Name]
Office
Attendance”)
or
text
us
at
(646)
820-8477.
We
always
keep
our
sources
on
stories
anonymous.
There’s
no
need
to
send
a
memo
(if
one
exists)
using
your
firm
email
account;
your
personal
email
account
is
fine.
If
a
memo
has
been
circulated,
please
be
sure
to
include
it
as
proof;
we
like
to
post
complete
memos
as
a
service
to
our
readers.
You
can
take
a
photo
of
the
memo
and
attach
as
a
picture
if
you
are
worried
about
metadata
in
a
PDF
or
Word
file.
Thanks.
‘Put
Up
or
Shut
Up’
in
Office
Attendance:
Law
Firm
Leaders
Still
Hold
the
Cards
[American
Lawyer]
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
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