“You didn’t see your children before the pandemic, and you shouldn’t expect to see them now,” says the Elite Law Firm partner.

Bigelow

Sorry honey, but sometimes my millionaire bosses get lonely too.

Well, you have to give this unnamed senior partner credit for saying the quiet part out loud.

Skadden announced this morning that it will be retracting its current 3-day hybrid office model and will create a 4-day Monday-Thursday attendance model starting in September. Of course, the company intends to include adherence to the policy in performance reviews. Why are lawyers evaluated on the product of work or revenue generated when live time is an option?

Executive partner Eric Friedman sent this letter to the company:

If the letter finds lawyers well, they won’t stay that way for long. Was the irony lost on Skadden’s leadership that it trusts remote working technology to communicate the message that the company no longer trusts its remote working model?

Yes. yes it is.

Determined Remote Work Periods include extended periods such as the week of Thanksgiving and the week between Christmas and New Years.

It remains confusing that law firms seem unable to fully grasp that the value of hybrid office models is there Flexibility. Colleagues are less concerned with the number of days they have to attend than with the freedom to set up an office and commute schedule works for them. A three-day weekend (or more accurately a “three-day period at home which corresponds to what non-lawyers know as a “weekend”) might suit one lawyer, while another just wants Wednesdays at home because that’s the day for care their children.

And the advantage of the company itself is Concepts of hotel – Minimize physical office space (and associated overhead) by having colleagues available on a rotating basis throughout the week. Getting everyone to come on the same days requires maintaining it everyone Office space but exploited less.

Colleagues are not happy. “If they force this I will quit,” one mentor wrote. “I have a lot of recruitment emails coming in.” Big stat compensation is always a teamwork problem, but many people overlook how this applies to office politics. If Skadden gets caught on the mandatory M-Th end while peers offer flexibility or fewer days in the office, they functionally put a cheap sell-mark on their affiliate ranks.

One unverified piece of advice suggests this Partners He may not be happy either – he is likely aware of all of the issues described above. According to this source, the policy was put to a vote at the partners’ meeting And I failed. Was it possible for the assertive leadership to ignore the collective will of the partners on whom this policy was imposed anyway?

Oh, there’s a little more:

In other words, the partners don’t want to be here in August either.

Which is at the heart of “back to the office” policies. Some partners feel lonely and want friends who pay them a one-on-one to come hang out with them at the office. There are plenty of legitimate issues with fully remote work — most of them related to training and team building — but companies can tackle them without overwhelming the office four days a week.

Partners are lonely. Nor do they think that children—or any other concern a lawyer might have—should prevent them from having youngsters in the office either to socialize with them or to berate them systematically.

So, yes, “You didn’t see your kids before the pandemic…”.

Joe Patrice He is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of The Think like a lawyer. Do not hesitate to e-mail Any tips, questions or comments. follow him Twitter If you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also works as Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.