The legal landscape is swiftly evolving with law firms progressively adopting flexible working systems to meet current expectations around work-life balance. KattenFlex is one such program implemented by top law firm Katten, which had originally elevated flexibility to forefront, allowing practice groups and individual professionals the independence to determine a hybrid work model suitable to them. Originally distancing itself from the increasing trend of “mandatory office creep”, Katten had declared that it “doesn’t feel right” to enforce a specified number of office days on everyone.
However, Katten have recently switched gears, informing attorneys that they need to attend the office twice weekly. This update to KattenFlex, effective from May 1, emphasizes minimum two-day office attendance along with general availability during regular business hours and when required to meet client demands after-hours. This sudden change of stance might be interpreted as a rollback from the firm’s earlier liberal policy.
It’s worth noting that Katten’s updating to a two-day office attendance minimum still provides a substantial amount of freedom and flexibility compared to other law firms inching towards more rigid four-day attendance policies and leaning towards increased surveillance. Katten refrains from dictating specific days of office appearance, maintaining a consequential degree of liberty within practice groups and their attorneys.
However, KattenFlex’s latest version has opened the door for legal departments or practice groups to specify in-office attendance days, which could inadvertently threaten the spirit of original rule. Fully remote work seems to be a distant prospect, as the stakes are high and the focus on providing practical training to young associates is considerable.
With the sweeping changes in big law firm policies around office attendance, Katten’s revised policy and its impact on the legal industry remains to be seen. As Joe Patrice, a Senior Editor at Above the Law, concludes, “How much of a retreat this turns out to be is now up to the implementation.”