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Law Firms Should Be Shamed For Reopening Offices Too Soon

Even if there is some elusive benefit to in-person collaboration, it is not worth risking the health and safety of employees.

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Earlier in the pandemic, I predicted that some law firms would reopen their offices shortly after they were legally allowed to do so, even though this defied social distancing guidelines. Indeed, I opined that the same firms that refuse to close their offices for inclement weather, or had a reputation for not caring for their employees, would be the shops that would reopen their offices too soon during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many law firms across the country have not required attorneys and staff to return to offices because of COVID-19, I know of several law firms in my area that reopened their offices too soon. I have also received numerous emails over the past several months from attorneys and staff who need to make tough choices because their bosses are forcing them to return to the office. Since the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, law firms should not be requiring employees to come to the office under most circumstances, and the legal profession should do more to shame law firms into permitting virtual work for the remainder of the pandemic.

Supporters of reopening law firm offices often assert a few extremely flawed arguments for why attorneys and staff should be forced into returning to offices. Many managers lament that productivity has plummeted because employees are working from home and this hurts the bottom lines of many law firms. However, if productivity was such an issue, why have many law firms, both big and small, across the country promoted virtual work programs and still had the resources to reverse salary cuts, furloughs, and other austerity measures (and in many instances, awarded bonuses)? There is no reasonable explanation why taking Zoom depositions, conducting computerized legal research, drafting documents, and completing most other legal tasks cannot be conducted at home and requires a visit to the office for the sake of productivity. If a law firm is finding itself unproductive because of virtual work, perhaps this is because of the lack of vision of managers, and law firm bosses should work on boosting the output of virtual work rather than risking the health of their employees by reopening offices.

Moreover, even if productivity is a reason for reopening offices, keeping your employees healthy (which is easier if they are at home) and minimizing the number of workers who have to deal with COVID-19 will boost productivity. As someone who recovered from COVID-19 earlier this year, I can convey that the virus made it difficult for me to complete work for over a week, and I only had a moderate case of COVID-19. Of course, individuals with more serious cases of COVID-19 can be off their feet for weeks or months, and this is assuming they are able to recover from the virus at all. Moreover, permitting virtual work will make it far easier for employees to juggle all of the schooling, childcare, and other personal needs we all need to contend with these days, which should improve the mental health of a firm’s workforce and boost productivity. As a result, law firm managers concerned with productivity should be enabling employees to work remotely.

Another argument supporters of forcing attorneys and staff back to offices often convey is that meeting in an office helps with collaboration among coworkers. This is an extremely antiquated notion, the type of outdated reasoning that someone the likes of Don Draper might convey (I’m assuming, I’ve never actually seen an episode of Mad Men). Attorneys today collaborate using a number of virtual mediums, including Zoom, group texts, GChat, social media, and other platforms. Indeed, attorneys across the country have even been attending virtual happy hours and other programs in order to remotely promote the social environment of a law firm. Even if there was some elusive benefit to in-person collaboration, it is not worth risking the health and safety of employees.

Many law firms are taking safety measures to supposedly make returning to offices safer, but there is no doubt that requiring office work comes with a greater risk of being exposed to COVID-19 than staying at home. I have heard of law firms only requiring half of their employees in the office at once, which still presumably exposes their attorneys to more people than if they worked from home, not to mention the individuals they must interact with on public transportation, the lobbies of buildings, and other places. Moreover, wearing masks and sterilizing surfaces is not 100% effective, and we have all heard stories of people being careful and still being exposed to the virus. Although law firms can engage in safety theater with measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, the most effective way to keep employees safe is to permit them to work from home.

The legal profession should take a bigger role in shaming law firms into allowing virtual work as the pandemic continues to rage. This website has published stories and opinion pieces about law firms that prematurely reopened their offices, and this is a good start. However, bar associations and other trade organizations should also take the position that virtual work should be promoted in all but the most critical roles that need to be conducted in an office. As this website has demonstrated for years, law firms react to public relations pressure just like other organizations because clients, potential employees, and other stakeholders may not wish to associate themselves with law firms that mistreat their employees. We can all play a part in ensuring that fellow legal professionals remain safe during the ongoing pandemic.

In the end, even though law firm managers may be upset that they need to pay rent for an office that is rarely used in the current environment, this is no reason to force attorneys and staff back to offices. Many firms have been successfully using virtual work techniques for months and have been able to minimize any impact to their bottom line. Law firms should continue to allow work-from-home policies for the remainder of the pandemic, and we can all play a part in pressuring law firms to promote the health and safety of their employees.

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

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