Page 26 - BusinessWest November 10, 2021

Betsey Quick says there has been a “transformation of the practice of law” because of COVID, and she believes there are many positives amid a host of disruptions.
work, how firms communicate (with clients and employees alike), how and to what extent they use paper (much less now), and how they show community support and engagement (turning out for auctions and golf tournaments has been replaced by other, more pandemic- friendly methods).
Changes have come to where lawyers work, how firms communi- cate (with clients and employees alike), how and to what extent they use paper (much less now), and how they show community support and engagement (turning out for auctions and golf tournaments has been replaced by other, more pandemic-friendly methods).
Going back to that word used earlier, firms have been adjusting to
“You need to be in the office if you’re going to work in Springfield; if you’re a full-time person working remotely, it doesn’t work out, and it wouldn’t work out — not for us.”
a changed world, and the adjustment process is ongoing, especially when it comes to where and how people work.
At Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, as noted, maybe half the lawyers continue to work remotely, said Mulhern, adding that the firm has not rushed anyone back, and it won’t, at least for the foreseeable future, in large part because the current work policies, if they can be called that, are working.
“A number of our lawyers have learned how to work at home, myself included — I couldn’t have worked at home at all before, and
I figured it out now,” he told BusinessWest. “We’ve made that adjust- ment, and we have some lawyers who, either because of compromised health issues or simply because they have a long commute, are work- ing predominantly from home.”
And there are variations on the theme, he said, noting that some lawyers work a portion of their day at the office and the rest at home.
At other firms, most if not all lawyers are back in the office. That’s certainly the case at Bulkley Richardson, which implemented a vaccine policy on Oct. 1, said Quick, noting that the firm recognizes the impor- tance of in-person interaction with colleagues and the need for human connection.
That said, Bulkley Richardson and other firms have learned that remote working can and does work, and there is certainly room for — and, even more importantly, a need for — flexibility.
“The transition to remote work was unprecedented, but what we learned by the unexpected lockdown was that flex-
Lawyers
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