Biglaw
firms
continue
to
mandate
that
attorneys
have
a
physical
presence
in
the
office,
and
in
recent
times,
those
mandates
have
applied
firmwide,
not
just
to
specific
practice
groups.
One
of
the
last
times
that
particular
practice
groups
were
singled
out
to
spend
more
time
in
the
office
was
nearly
three
years
ago
—
but
for
one
top
firm’s
corporate
lawyers,
that’s
all
about
to
change.
Sources
tell
us
that
DLA
Piper
—
a
firm
that
brought
in
$4,239,832,000
gross
revenue
in
2024,
putting
it
at
No.
3
on
the
Am
Law
100
—
has
increased
its
in-person
attendance
policy
to
four
days
for
its
U.S.
corporate
attorneys,
up
from
the
firm’s
three-day
mandate
that
was
instituted
last
year.
That
policy
gave
practice
group
leaders
discretion
to
adjust
attendance
requirements
based
on
current
needs.
Andrew
Gilbert,
the
firm’s
U.S.
corporate
practice
chair,
explained
his
rationale
for
the
move
in
an
email,
saying
that
the
increased
face
time
would
“support
our
culture
of
collaboration,
enhance
mentorship
opportunities,
and
strengthen
growth
and
development.” The
new
attendance
requirements
will
be
cited
in
associate
evaluations.
Frank
Ryan,
DLA
Piper’s
global
co-chair,
global
co-CEO,
and
Americas
chair,
told
Law.com
that
“[s]ome
of
it
is
associates
wanting
more
in-office
time,
some
of
it
is
just
work
levels.
For
the
corporate
group,
it
felt
like
a
good
time
to
do
this.”
It
is
unknown
at
this
time
whether
any
other
practice
groups
have
been
affected
by
this
new
attendance
mandate.
Quite
a
few
Biglaw
firms
are
now
requiring
four
days
in
the
office
firmwide,
including
the
likes
of Davis
Polk; Latham; Paul
Weiss; Ropes
&
Gray; Simpson
Thacher; Skadden; Vinson
&
Elkins; Weil
Gotshal; WilmerHale; White
&
Case; Sidley; Hogan
Lovells; A&O
Shearman;
and Covington. Sullivan
&
Cromwell has
taken
its
attendance
policy
one
step
further,
requiring
attorneys
to
work
from
the
office
five
days
each
week.
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.
DLA
Piper
Increases
In-Office
Requirement
for
US
Corporate
Lawyers
[Law.com]
Staci
Zaretsky is
the
managing
editor
of
Above
the
Law,
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worked
since
2011.
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