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20-year litigator here, so I would put myself on the senior side of the discussion, but maybe not crazy far out from the associates. (At least, I don’t see myself that way).
From what I have seen, both at my firm and others, in-person is where the real mentorship and advancement happens. I do not see how you can truly learn to be great at this profession (in no way am I calling myself great, but I am pretty darn good) without lots of in-person time. I can hardly count the important thingsI learned about the practice (substantive and otherwise) from casual conversations with my old senior partners in their offices, that never would’ve happened otherwise. Little tricks about jury selection, office management, taxes, the broader, legal community, etc. Stuff that never would have come up if I had to schedule everything by Zoom.
If the person that you want to bond with and learn from — the one who controls your workload, your compensation, and your advancement at the firm — is in the office, wouldn’t you want to be in that space?
Entirely agree - depends on those people being in the office though.
While I like wfh, in many ways it is hurting us. We are becoming more and more introverted and losing the ability to communicate with others in meaningful ways. At risk of sounding like the old parent who said “when I was a kid, we walked 10 miles in the snow to get to school. . .”, back in the day, I wore a suit, with hose and pumps, every single day. If you’re making the trip, find opportunities to engage with people. Take breaks with a coworker. Laugh. Make a difference in someone else’s life.
Personally, I see both sides of the coin. However, unless there is real in person mentorship (i.e. someone sitting me down and explaining a markup, issues, etc.), I’ve learned that I am way more productive and motivated at home. However, my firm (big law) has a strict in office policy so here we are…
Rising Star
I’m all about flexibility. I like being able to work from home or be in the office depending on what’s going on and what I need to get done, but wouldn’t want to have 100% of either setup. I will say, we have a couple of associates who use their wfh privileges more liberally than most, and because of that they’re often forgotten (you know, out of sight, out of mind). Make of that what you will. To each their own.
I also think juniors benefit the most from being in the office, where they can learn directly from busy seniors without having to constantly schedule Zoom calls (of course, this assumes seniors make the effort to be in the office).
Anyways, this job can get miserable, and as cheesy as it sounds, a bit of human connection can make it easier. Being in the office a few times a week ain’t the worst thing.
All that said, I’m WFH all next week because Christmas 😂
I agree, i definitely feel like the in office juniors are more likely to be given substantive work. Especially interesting stuff, like complicated MSJs, deposition prep, cases the might actually go to trial. Those we never see, its more like okay here is some more written discovery to answer and another EEOC position statement to write… hope all is well or whatever
I'd consider myself on the younger side (I'm in my mid 30s). My home set up is great, but being at home is not very productive. There's too much going on - I have a lot of animals. Our office is very flexible, and most folks work remotely. But I just get more done there.
Ive been practicing 15 years and hybrid is the best of both worlds. 2-3 days in office to collaborate, see everyone, work with a fast printer, mentor, etc. And, as a working mom, twoish days a week i get to be the one dropping off and picking up my kiddo, doing some quick laundry or dishes between deliveries and calls, etc. I was remote when my kid was little, for years, and eventually i found it isolating and very hard to connect with and grow with your colleagues. Alternatively, five days is a lot to make the hour commute with kids. So… TL;DR, hybrid for the win
I feel like you only need to be in the office 1-2 days a week. We have advanced in technology for a reason.
My manger is in another state and I just teams call whenever I need to talk something through. If I need to show documents, I just share my screen. It has not hindered my development within the Company. A good manager/partner will find way to deliver. Our company has RTO and it makes it harder to work out and be healthy and it’s less productive. I also come to work less refreshed.
I generally like working from home - I do it on weekends. While I agree that strict formats are stupid and it does nothing if everyone has their doors closed, it is helpful to walk by a colleague‘s office and chat about the thing you are working on.
I definitely was more productive at home without constant interruptions. There are a surplus of managers and heads that need appear productive with employees on site, zoom meetings, and most definitely control. My day at home would usually complete my planned tasks. My days at work I rarely complete what I had planned. This was mostly due to interruptions and being pulled in many directions.
i don’t.