As the legal landscape shifts in response to the ongoing pandemic, corporate legal professionals and Biglaw associates across the globe are expressing a clear preference for more remote work opportunities. After experiencing the upsides of remote work during the height of the pandemic, many associates are unwilling to return to the traditional office-based model, trading in long commutes for the productivity of home-based operations.
According to Ronald Wood, managing director at Major Lindsey & Africa and author of the latest version of MLA’s Law Firm Culture Survey, this shift in attitude towards workplace culture has dramatically accelerated in the last few years. “They do want training, but I think a lot of them want free time, or the illusion of free time, sitting at home, where you don’t have corporate protocols and procedures,” he shared in comments given to American Lawyer.
Wood further noted that the new habits developed during remote work periods have potentially become entrenched, leading many legal professionals to question the necessity of end-to-end commutes when they could be equally (if not more) productive at home. “Why should I have to endure an hour or an hour and a half commute in some places, versus just being productive sitting at home?” asks the rhetorical question, reflecting the wider sentiment of the legal workforce.
This data echoes the sentiments voiced by thousands of legal professionals who have tasted the flexibility of remote work and wish to maintain it as an option moving forward. The traditional law firm model has been challenged, and it is yet to be seen how it will adapt to these changes.
For more information, read the full story from Above The Law.