While life goes on as usual in the City of Los Angeles at large, about one square mile of downtown LA remains a hotbed of civil unrest, with mostly peaceful protests against ICE raids having been flooded by members of the National Guard and the U.S. Military. With a curfew in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily, area law firms have opted to transition employees to remote work on an as-needed basis and have either moved meetings to an online environment or simply postponed them.
Biglaw and midsize firms in the downtown LA protest zone are taking extra steps to make sure that their lawyers and staff are able to avoid the commuting inconveniences that have become associated with the protests, like road closures and public transportation delays. The American Lawyer has the details:
“When the curfew was announced, I think we were most worried about the protesters’ reaction to the announcement of the curfew, more so than the actual curfew itself,” [John Nadolenco, managing partner of Mayer Brown’s Los Angeles office and co-chair of its global technology industry group,] said. Although employees working in Downtown LA are exempt from curfews if they leave immediately after work concludes and carry their work ID, Nadolenco said Mayer Brown has been encouraging its attorneys to avoid lingering in the area at night.
“We certainly told our people, look, we don’t know what downtown is going to be like after dark,” Nadolenco said. “Certainly, [on] Sunday night, downtown didn’t look great after dark, so I told folks they should feel free to leave so that they didn’t have to deal with either protesters or traffic. … I told people, ‘You do what you think is best for you and your family under your circumstances.’”
Nadolenco went on to say that Mayer Brown’s lawyers have “gotten in and out as normal.” Things are going similarly for lawyers at Hanson Bridgett. After a single day of recommended work from home, Kristina Lawson, the firm’s managing partner and chair of its management committee, said, “We did not ask anyone in the downtown LA office to work from home on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, [Friday] of this week, as it’s been up to them as to whether they go into the office.” A spokesperson for another local firm, Square Patton Boggs, noted that “[t]he disruption was minimal,” and that “[p]eople worked remotely for a day or two without missing a beat and are back in the office.”
It seems to be business as usual for lawyers in Los Angeles. We here at Above the Law extend our thoughts to all affected by the government overreach that’s taking place within the protest zone.
Los Angeles Law Firms Navigate Working Amid Civil Unrest, Curfews Downtown [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
