The coronavirus crisis has driven law firms of all sizes to call into question the way they do business. After working remotely for months thanks to global quarantines, law firms have learned that they can do more with less — less office space, that is — and now the largest law firm in the world is leaning into the changing times by closing some of its offices for good.
Dentons, the Biglaw behemoth with nearly 10,000 lawyers, has decided to shut down two of its UK offices, allowing all employees there to permanently work from home, with the option to travel to other “nearby” offices (i.e., at least two hours away by train) to work if they choose. The offices subject to closure are located in Watford and Aberdeen, and between the two, 66 people will now be able to work remotely.
Lisa Sewell, Dentons managing director for the U.K., Ireland and Middle East, said in a statement: “The success of remote working during lockdown has made us really stop and think about how we can learn from this new way of working to accelerate the physical and behavioral changes that form part of our strategy to build the law firm of the future.
“In that way, the lockdown has forced the behavioral shifts that are the basis of any real change of this type, so we want to use this to ensure we don’t just assume we will return to the way we used to work post lockdown. It’s an exciting shift for us, our people and for how we will be able to serve our clients in different ways in the future.”
Dentons has no plans to close its four other UK offices in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Milton Keynes, but when its London lease is up in 2025, the firm may “re-define the volume and kind of space it now needs in this new dynamic, whether that be in a new premises or through an overhaul of its current premises.”
Office closures in favor of remote work structures may become a trend in the legal profession thanks to the success that we’ve seen as the pandemic has traveled its way across the globe. Does your firm have plans to institute more work-from-home environments? Please feel free to email us and let us know.
Dentons Shutters Two UK Bases Following Up-Tick In Remote Working [Law.com International]
Dentons closes Aberdeen and Watford offices as part of remote working review [Global Legal Post]
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 email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.