LawSchool.Life

I kind of feel the same way...
Never been a big fan of socializing in my lawfirm. Now that we worked from home, I don't really want to go back at the office. To be honest I was working way better from home.

Not sure the partners will keep it this way, they are oldschool and want to watch the juniors closely...

Fiero85 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 09, 2020 10:03 pm

Stirfry wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:44 pm

Fiero85 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:09 pm

For what it's worth, my firm "opened" a full on virtual office and is letting people "move" to that if it's mutually agreeable. Seems like the small number of applicants have gotten it and they are hiring from outside the firm as well.

Can't be the only firm doing this

Just curious (and I hate the snobbiness of my question) but is this a high ranked firm?

No worries. National firm, high double-digits AmLaw100.

I'm jealous. I hope my firm does the same

Stirfry wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:44 pm

Fiero85 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:09 pm

For what it's worth, my firm "opened" a full on virtual office and is letting people "move" to that if it's mutually agreeable. Seems like the small number of applicants have gotten it and they are hiring from outside the firm as well.

Can't be the only firm doing this

Just curious (and I hate the snobbiness of my question) but is this a high ranked firm?

No worries. National firm, high double-digits AmLaw100.

Fiero85 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:09 pm

For what it's worth, my firm "opened" a full on virtual office and is letting people "move" to that if it's mutually agreeable. Seems like the small number of applicants have gotten it and they are hiring from outside the firm as well.

Can't be the only firm doing this

Just curious (and I hate the snobbiness of my question) but is this a high ranked firm?

The Chair of my firm said that we will not be doing away with office space totally or allowing anyone to exclusively WFH, which I found a bit of a surprise given our culture. That being said, the equity partners in my group have made it very clear that if you want to be in the office 2-3 days of the week and out of the office 2-3 days of the week then that's totally fine. They just want folks to get their work done. I do know a permanent counsel (I'm too lazy to look up her actual title) at Cravath who was already exclusively WFH pre-COVID, so I imagine if you're valuable enough to your firm/group and you make it clear you can get work done outside the office then you can probably work something out.

I don't think you're actually a real law school/law poster, but for this forum, the answer is because you need to have a JD and be admitted to the bar in the US to do the job.

Think about this.

If companies find telecommuting works well and more people work from home, then why would they pay someone full rate to work in the same or nearby city.

Why wouldnt they hire someone for half the price in with a degree in another depressed country?

For what it's worth, my firm "opened" a full on virtual office and is letting people "move" to that if it's mutually agreeable. Seems like the small number of applicants have gotten it and they are hiring from outside the firm as well.

Can't be the only firm doing this

Post-COVID I do think working from home will be more generally acceptable. But it may depend on practice group, location, and general culture? Litigation in my office has always been incredibly WFH-friendly and it won’t be a big deal at all if people WFH a couple days a week post-COVID (some people, including partners, were doing that even last year). But I’m not sure if I can say the same for other practice areas at my firm - hopefully COVID will have changed the culture though.

WFH has seriously improved my quality of life in biglaw. I’m young and I don’t have kids, so I don’t mind the biglaw hours that much (most of the time). What I despise is the Facetime requirement. My firm (pre-Covid) expected us to be in the office five days a week from 9-6 at least (often much longer), and it was miserable for me. I’m a junior associate, and working from home more than once a month (and for a legitimate reason) wasn’t really acceptable for juniors at my firm. I was beyond miserable waking up early to get ready, commuting, and being in a depressing office all day. Now, when I’m slow, I can hang out with my spouse (also WFH, but at a less demanding job) and our dog. I can do laundry or cook or exercise. I don’t have to sit in an office and stare at a wall. I also save so much time with WFH. I also save a lot of time— I don’t have to commute and park, and I don’t have to do my makeup or hair or wear formal clothing. I’m eating healthier and exercising more.

I’m an introvert, and while I like the people I work with, we don’t have a ton in common outside of work, and I’m not itching to spend time with them. I’m not super worried about building relationships as I have no interest in being a partner or anything like that. (Honestly though, I don’t think my relationships have suffered due to WFH, but that could be the introvert in me).

I’m incredibly depressed at the thought of spending five days a week in an office from 8-6 (and very often longer) again. I’m not sure I can do it, but I haven’t been in biglaw long enough to go in house or anything yet.

I’d be happy never going into an office again, honestly, but I know that isn’t realistic for almost any job. However, working from home 1-2 days per week would seriously improve my quality of life. Does anyone think their firm will become more accepting of working from home a couple of days a week post-Covid? If my firm doesn’t become more flexible, I would love to lateral to a firm that allows associates to WFH frequently.