buried
at
the
office
It’s
pretty
hot
out
this
summer,
and
Biglaw
firms
think
they’ve
got
the
perfect
solution
for
beating
the
heat:
by
announcing
mandatory
office
attendance
policies.
Which
firm
is
the
latest
to
invite
attorneys
to
enjoy
their
supercool
office
air
conditioning
four
days
a
week?
It’s
Covington
&
Burling.
The
firm
—
which
brought
in
$1,747,129,000
gross
revenue
in
2024,
putting
it
at
No.
31
on
the
Am
Law
100
—
recently
decided
to
change
up
its
attendance
policy
to
mandate
four
days
spent
in
the
office
each
week,
including
those
working
in
its
London
office.
Law.com
has
some
additional
details,
including
a
late
summer
work
perk:
The
firm’s
lawyers
are
now
expected
to
be
in
the
office
Monday
through
Thursday,
but
can
work
remotely
on
Friday,
according
to
several
sources
with
knowledge
of
the
matter.
…To
ease
the
shift,
the
firm
has
told
its
staff
that
they
can
have
up
to
two
weeks
working
remotely
in
August,
but
this
is
subject
to
applicable
policies
concerning
remote
working,
including
that
it
cannot
impact
availability.
Covington
now
joins
the
likes
of Davis
Polk; Latham; Paul
Weiss; Ropes
&
Gray; Simpson
Thacher; Skadden; Vinson
&
Elkins; Weil
Gotshal; WilmerHale; White
&
Case;
Sidley;
Hogan
Lovells;
and
A&O
Shearman in
its
four-day,
in-person
attendance
policy. Sullivan
&
Cromwell has
taken
its
attendance
policy
one
step
further,
requiring
attorneys
to
work
from
the
office
five
days
each
week.
Best
of
luck
to
everyone
at
Covington
as
they
adjust
to
their
new
lives,
which
will
be
mostly
spent
at
the
office.
As
soon
as
you
find
out
about
office
attendance
plans
at
your
firm,
please email
us (subject
line:
“[Firm
Name]
Office
Reopening”)
or
text
us
at
(646)
820-8477.
We
always
keep
our
sources
on
stories
anonymous.
There’s
no
need
to
send
a
memo
(if
one
exists)
using
your
firm
email
account;
your
personal
email
account
is
fine.
If
a
memo
has
been
circulated,
please
be
sure
to
include
it
as
proof;
we
like
to
post
complete
memos
as
a
service
to
our
readers.
You
can
take
a
photo
of
the
memo
and
attach
as
a
picture
if
you
are
worried
about
metadata
in
a
PDF
or
Word
file.
Thanks.
Covington
Switches
to
4-Day
In-Office
Week,
Offers
August
WFH
[Law.com]
Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn.