Back to the office, and back … to the future 

As COVID-19 restrictions ease and vaccines become more universally available, law firms are planning their grand re-openings—reviewing past work models, analyzing present ones, and deliberating how to resume “normal” operations in the future. 

The urgency with which firms are mulling timetables and blueprints for reoccupying their brick-and-mortar spaces varies greatly. Some are already deeply absorbed and conferring in focused, in-person board meetings. Others are taking a more casual approach, kicking around ideas over teleconferences and coffee. 

Despite different philosophies and targets, the legal industry is preparing to emerge from a global pandemic that suddenly and drastically changed the way law is practiced. 

In March 2020, North Carolina firms of all sizes were effectively evacuated. Managing partners and other firm leaders immediately encouraged—ordered, in some cases—attorneys and staff to temporarily assume remote or hybrid work models that would promote safety and maintain firm productivity. Those transitory arrangements have, obviously, become indefinite. 

More than a year later, firms’ offices still remain sparsely occupied by their employees, who’ve traded traditional workplaces for coffee shops and residential workspaces. Previously bustling hallways have become as deserted as their in-house libraries.  

But gradually, lawyers are beginning to trickle back in, if only sporadically.  

Gotta get back, in time 

Despite the widespread adoption of work-from-home work models, some top-level managers declined to abandon their offices, hunkering down and waiting for legal life to get back to the way it was. Some remain concerned that their firm’s culture might suffer from prolonged absence, so back-to-office proposals include ideas such as new lounges, conference rooms, and recreation areas to better foster camaraderie, collaboration, and excitement. 

But before firms completely reopen and attorneys and staff mix and mingle, safety protocols must be in place. A recent survey by research company Gartner shows that leaders overwhelmingly agree on the necessity of a concrete safety plan that includes social distancing, protective equipment, visitor screening, and symptom check procedures.  

Many firms are thus taking a wait-and-see approach. Betty Temple, the chief executive officer of Womble Bond Dickinson, which has offices in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville, said that there’s no rush to usher attorneys and staff back at her firm. 

“We will keep listening to public health officials in making any decisions,” Temple said.  

Many of the state’s larger firms either declined to comment or offered only that they have no plans at this time. Some smaller firms are more assured. Charlotte attorney Josh Van Kampen’s office of three attorneys and three staff members is completely open for face-to-face business. 

“Because we are set up in a small house, I was able to do it safely,” Van Kampen said. “We require the cleaning [crew] to start coming every week and we bought two COVID zapper machines.” (“Zapper machines,” as they are commonly called, use ultraviolet light to kill microorganisms and viruses.) 

Even where there is little anxiety about entering their own offices, some are wary of welcoming clients back just yet. Eric Montgomery, a solo practitioner with a small office in Charlotte’s South Park neighborhood, said he plans to clean and disinfect as necessary but is taking other precautions. 

“I often make house calls, especially for elderly clients, to reduce their potential exposure,” Montgomery said. “When I go in, I wear a mask and sit at the opposite end of the table.”  

Where we’re going, we don’t need dress pants 

One reason why the shift back to traditional offices has been so unhurried in most cases is that the remote office has functioned more effectively than almost anyone would have thought possible before the pandemic. Some changes that were unimaginable before 2020 are now set to become permanent at most firms. 

Attorneys enjoy the freedom of working half-dressed from home, but the arrangement has proven in many cases to be good for business. Many attorneys report no reduction in productivity, despite distractions such as social media and children. Time spent dressing professionally and fighting traffic can now be used for client service and business development. Several studies show that employees in all industries are working longer hours post-pandemic. 

The practice of law is steeped in tradition but there appears to be a “new normal” on the horizon. Many believe that the pandemic-mandated changes are not only for the better, but forever.  

“Instead of setting an all-hands return to work date where everyone is back in the office, we are rolling out a new telecommute/flex schedule policy to continue what we have been doing since we found it to be successful for us,” said Amy Thyen, human resources director for Roberts & Stevens in Asheville. 

Temple said that the pandemic-prompted flexibility is appealing to many of the firm’s employees, and that it has an added benefit. 

“We see this as a tool to help us recruit and retain top talent,” Temple said. “I think that post-pandemic, we will continue to look at ways to keep our team members connected to each other and provide resources to meet their needs, not just attorneys and staff, but as people.” 

On Slack, but not a slacker 

Out of necessity, traditional methods of practicing law gave way to modern, sometimes untested ones. Even the most senior attorneys have become less fearful and more embracing of technology and innovation. In lieu of risky face-to-face interactions, firms have moved to videoconferencing applications such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams that allow them to virtually conduct business and events such as client meetings, legal proceedings, summer associate gatherings, and firm retreats. 

“The interesting part of [videoconferencing] is that you kind of see clients more than before—you see their faces, their kids running around, their dogs barking,” said Robinson Bradshaw managing partner, Allen Robinson. “In a sense, they become more human because you have all these interactions with them inside their homes.”  

Meanwhile, word processing programs such as Google Docs and Zoho Writer allow users to create, collaborate on, edit, and share documents on one platform. Business collaboration tools such as Slack and Cisco Jabber also provide methods to instantly file documents and communicate in real time through editing, threading, and instant messaging. 

At the start of the pandemic, bosses in many industries worried that employees might slack off while working from home. Thanks to all this new technology, though, firms can see that some attorneys are getting more done than ever. 

“Working from home and using these project management programs can separate superstars from slackers,” said Terry Wallace of Wallace Childers in Charlotte. “If you’re slacking, it’s going to be known.”