Big Law Heads Home

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius recently became the latest large firm to offer flexible work options when it announced a new policy allowing U.S. and UK associates with two or more years at the firm to spend one to two days a week working remotely. The program, which launches on May 1, includes an in-home office setup with dual monitors, a headset and a docking station.

Perfect for Millenials

Millennial associates have spent the majority of their lives working from behind a screen, preferring to communicate via text message or email rather than by phone, one expert said. To them, having the flexibility and technology to work from home or outside the office is becoming all the more important in determining their future employer.

A generational study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that if given the opportunity, 64% of millennials would occasionally want the opportunity to work from home. And, in another survey by PwC, flexible working hours ranked second after personal learning and development as a desired benefit from employers. Cash bonuses came in third.

These flexible working arrangements supported greater productivity and employee engagement while enhancing millennials' personal well-being, health and happiness, according to the survey by Deloitte. And what do employers get for giving millennials this flexibility? Loyalty.

Flexibility

With yearly attrition rates at close to 17%, according to a report by the National Association for Law Placement, law firms could benefit from being a little more flexible.

“We're in a battle for the best talent in the world and the more flexibility that we exhibit allows us to attract and retain that talent,” said Greg Nitzkowski, a managing partner at Paul Hastings in Los Angeles. For years, Paul Hastings has had an informal flexible work policy, allowing associates and other lawyers to coordinate with their practice groups to work remotely. The firm has invested in technology to make working remotely fairly painless for its lawyers. Each attorney has a desktop where he or she can collaborate on documents, as well as a mandatory video phone, among other offerings.

The program is part of a long-term effort by Paul Hastings to create an “office of the future,” where at least 10% of the firm's lawyers don't have permanent offices, Nitzkowski said. In order to accomplish this, “You have to have technology that allows you to work as if you are right down the hall from someone,” added Nitzkowski.

It's the availability of this kind of technology that Nitzkowski claims has dispelled traditional notions of the ineffectiveness and lack of productivity that can come with working remotely.

“We can ask ourselves if client service is really effected anymore and we can ask ourselves whether to the extent that that problem exists,” he said. “[But] technology has really overwhelmed that argument.”

This is what Morgan Lewis found prior to implementing its own policy. The firm conducted beta-testing in Los Angeles, tracking the hours recorded by participants, as well as pro-bono hours and time spent by lawyers doing other things such as client development and recruiting.

Efficiency and Morale

Allowing for workplace flexibility can also have other positive impacts for firms. In April 2016, Shearman & Sterling officially instituted a flexible work policy. The firm's initiative allows associates and counsel in its five locations in the Americas to work outside the office up to two days each month, depending on their practices's needs. These lawyers work with their practice group leaders to arrange days that they will work remotely, and Shearman & Sterling has offered to install at-home printers for interested participants.

Perhaps the most important impact of the policy at Shearman & Sterling has been a significant boost in the firm's morale. In 2015, the firm ranked 98th on The American Lawyer's midlevel associate survey with an average job satisfaction score of 3.678. Just one year later, the firm saw its ranking rise to 21st, with an average job satisfaction score of 4.355.

Such policies, of course, do have some red flags. While the option to work remotely may be enticing, taking advantage of such programs could potentially be harmful to an associate's advancement at a firm. Associates need to look at their firm's culture and determine whether or not working remotely might be detrimental to their careers.

*****
Meghan Tribe writes for The American Lawyer, an ALM sibling of this newsletter.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius recently became the latest large firm to offer flexible work options when it announced a new policy allowing U.S. and UK associates with two or more years at the firm to spend one to two days a week working remotely. The program, which launches on May 1, includes an in-home office setup with dual monitors, a headset and a docking station.

Perfect for Millenials

Millennial associates have spent the majority of their lives working from behind a screen, preferring to communicate via text message or email rather than by phone, one expert said. To them, having the flexibility and technology to work from home or outside the office is becoming all the more important in determining their future employer.

A generational study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that if given the opportunity, 64% of millennials would occasionally want the opportunity to work from home. And, in another survey by PwC, flexible working hours ranked second after personal learning and development as a desired benefit from employers. Cash bonuses came in third.

These flexible working arrangements supported greater productivity and employee engagement while enhancing millennials' personal well-being, health and happiness, according to the survey by Deloitte. And what do employers get for giving millennials this flexibility? Loyalty.

Flexibility

With yearly attrition rates at close to 17%, according to a report by the National Association for Law Placement, law firms could benefit from being a little more flexible.

“We're in a battle for the best talent in the world and the more flexibility that we exhibit allows us to attract and retain that talent,” said Greg Nitzkowski, a managing partner at Paul Hastings in Los Angeles. For years, Paul Hastings has had an informal flexible work policy, allowing associates and other lawyers to coordinate with their practice groups to work remotely. The firm has invested in technology to make working remotely fairly painless for its lawyers. Each attorney has a desktop where he or she can collaborate on documents, as well as a mandatory video phone, among other offerings.

The program is part of a long-term effort by Paul Hastings to create an “office of the future,” where at least 10% of the firm's lawyers don't have permanent offices, Nitzkowski said. In order to accomplish this, “You have to have technology that allows you to work as if you are right down the hall from someone,” added Nitzkowski.

It's the availability of this kind of technology that Nitzkowski claims has dispelled traditional notions of the ineffectiveness and lack of productivity that can come with working remotely.

“We can ask ourselves if client service is really effected anymore and we can ask ourselves whether to the extent that that problem exists,” he said. “[But] technology has really overwhelmed that argument.”

This is what Morgan Lewis found prior to implementing its own policy. The firm conducted beta-testing in Los Angeles, tracking the hours recorded by participants, as well as pro-bono hours and time spent by lawyers doing other things such as client development and recruiting.

Efficiency and Morale

Allowing for workplace flexibility can also have other positive impacts for firms. In April 2016, Shearman & Sterling officially instituted a flexible work policy. The firm's initiative allows associates and counsel in its five locations in the Americas to work outside the office up to two days each month, depending on their practices's needs. These lawyers work with their practice group leaders to arrange days that they will work remotely, and Shearman & Sterling has offered to install at-home printers for interested participants.

Perhaps the most important impact of the policy at Shearman & Sterling has been a significant boost in the firm's morale. In 2015, the firm ranked 98th on The American Lawyer's midlevel associate survey with an average job satisfaction score of 3.678. Just one year later, the firm saw its ranking rise to 21st, with an average job satisfaction score of 4.355.

Such policies, of course, do have some red flags. While the option to work remotely may be enticing, taking advantage of such programs could potentially be harmful to an associate's advancement at a firm. Associates need to look at their firm's culture and determine whether or not working remotely might be detrimental to their careers.

*****
Meghan Tribe writes for The American Lawyer, an ALM sibling of this newsletter.