Duane Morris has become the latest major law firm to tighten its return-to-office policy, raising its in-person work expectation from three days a week to four.
Matthew A. Taylor, chairman and CEO at Duane Morris, explained the firm’s reasoning by pointing to the central importance of face-to-face connection with clients and colleagues.
“Connecting in-person with our clients and our colleagues is a core value of our firm’s culture,” Taylor said in comments reported by the ABA Journal.
Taylor added that the updated policy reflects this value in practical terms for everyone at the firm, from attorneys through to staff members.
“Our policy that attorneys and staff are either connecting in person with our clients, representing our clients in court or in business meetings, or otherwise being in the office four days a week is one facet of this core value,” he said.
Duane Morris is far from alone in making this shift, as a growing number of Am Law firms are moving away from the three-day week that became common following the pandemic.
Goodwin Procter, Haynes and Boone, Reed Smith, White and Case, and WilmerHale have all introduced four-day in-person requirements for their attorneys in recent months.
The trend signals a broader recalibration across the legal industry, with senior leadership at major firms concluding that hybrid arrangements have gone far enough in favour of remote working.
For many firms, the push for greater in-person attendance is being framed not as a punitive measure but as a cultural and client-service imperative that distinguishes top-tier practices.
The shift puts pressure on mid-size and smaller firms that have used flexible working arrangements as a recruitment and retention tool to compete with larger rivals for legal talent.
Associates and staff at affected firms will need to adjust their working patterns significantly, with four-day in-office weeks leaving little room for the remote flexibility many lawyers have come to expect.
Whether the four-day requirement becomes the new standard across Biglaw, or whether some firms hold the line at three days to maintain a competitive edge in hiring, remains to be seen as the industry continues to evolve.