For many law firms, “returning to normal” meant bringing lawyers who had grown accustomed to billing from home back into the office. Some firms stressed the importance of in-person work because it gave junior associates a chance to learn by osmosis, while others passed it on by tying bonuses to attendance. But not everyone sees the new normal as a return to the past: Fennemore Craig has embraced remote work and is actively recruiting lawyers from home. From Reuters:
Phoenix-based Fennemore Craig said Tuesday it is launching a new formal program to hire attorneys in locations where it does not have offices, joining a small number of traditionally brick-and-mortar firms now allowing full-time alternatives to in-person work.
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“We think other companies are making a huge mistake by requiring everyone, regardless of their circumstances, to come into the office,” said Fennemore CEO and President James Goodnow. “We really want to take advantage of that.”
If you work at a similar company and hate how rigid their mandate to work in-person for 3-4 days has made your schedule, you have options! Now, the big question: do these remote positions come with a pay cut? Thankfully, no! Fennmore’s program is still comparatively experimental when you look at what the rest of the industry is doing, but there’s hope that working from home is one of those COVID oddities that will re-emerge and stay with us for a long time. Sort of like COVID.
Another U.S. law firm is promoting the option of working entirely remotely, bucking the post-pandemic trend (Reuters)
Chris Williams became Above the Law’s social media manager and assistant editor in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he worked as a junior Memelord in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He’s a former boatbuilder who can’t swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a passion for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at (email protected) and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
