A
new
year
is
upon
us,
but
COVID-19
is
still
making
Biglaw
firms
to
adjust
their
return-to-office
plans
in
our
“post”-pandemic
world.
The
omicron
variant
remains
a
disruptive
force
across
the
country.
Many
law
firms
were
once
hopeful
that
January
2022
would
be
when
they’d
finally
be
able
to
get
their
workforces
back
to
the
office.
Those
plans
—
like
most
plans
related
to
returning
to
our
pre-corona
lives
—
have
been
foiled
yet
again.
Quite
a
few
US
firms
have
already
revised
their
return-to-office
plans
(see
here,
here,
here,
and
here).
The
latest
firms
to
announce
changes
to
their
office
return
plans
are
just
going
with
the
viral
flow,
and
will
reconsider
their
efforts
if
and
when
they
can.
Morrison
&
Foerster
and
Paul
Weiss
were
hoping
to
make
their
grand
returns
to
the
office
in
January
and
February,
and
those
plans
are
now
being
rescheduled
(again).
Reuters
has
the
details:
Morrison
&
Foerster,
which
previously
set
an
office
return
date
of
Feb.
14,
will
keep
attendance
voluntary
until
at
least
March
1,
a
firm
representative
confirmed
on
Friday.
…San
Francisco-founded
Morrison
&
Foerster
is
requiring
COVID-19
vaccinations,
and
“strongly”
encouraging
boosters,
for
those
going
into
its
U.S.
offices,
the
representative
said.
As
for
Paul
Weiss,
the
firm
is
now
extending
its
work-from-home
orders
to
February
14.
Employees
were
previously
told
they
could
work
remotely
until
January
24.
Once
everyone
is
back
to
the
office,
they’ll
be
expected
to
work
there
at
least
three
days
each
week.
Paul
Weiss
is
requiring
everyone
to
be
boosted
before
entering
the
office.
Other
firms
still,
like
Sheppard
Mullin,
are
adopting
indefinite
delays
for
their
RTO
plans.
The
Los
Angeles-founded
firm
pushed
its
office
return
from
Feb.
7
to
a
date
to
be
determined,
firm
chair
Lucantonio
Salvi
said
in
an
internal
memo
dated
Jan.
14.Vaccinated
employees
are
free
to
work
in
Sheppard
Mullin’s
offices
if
they
prefer,
Salvi
said.
The
firm
will
give
30
days’
notice
before
setting
a
new
return
date,
after
which
employees
will
have
to
work
in
the
office
at
least
three
days
per
week,
the
memo
said.
What
has
your
firm
announced
as
far
as
a
revised
reopening
plan
due
to
the
omicron
variant?
The
more
information
is
out
there,
the
more
likely
it
is
that
firms
will
be
able
to
establish
a
new
market
standard
for
a
return.
As
soon
as
you
find
out
about
reopening
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.
Omicron
still
vexes
large
law
firms
as
more
office
returns
delayed
[Reuters]
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
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