We’re closing out the first week of June, and it’s so hot on the east coast that you can feel the new season creeping in. At one elite Biglaw firm, the powers that be have decided to allow employees to have one last summer fling with hybrid work before demanding that more time be spent working from the office.
Yesterday, Hogan Lovells — a firm that brought in $2,964,460,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 11 in the most recent Am Law 100 — announced that beginning in September, lawyers are expected to be, “on average,” in the office “four days a week during normal business hours.” The firm’s rationale for making this change is detailed in a memo from Richard Lorenzo, regional managing partner of the Americas (available in full on the next page):
This shift is about fostering, the energy, innovation, and connection that comes from working together. In-person collaboration allows us to share ideas organically and spontaneously, strengthens relationships, and enhances professional growth, and connection in ways that are not always possible remotely. In these daily interactions, we mentor, problem-solve, and reinforce the culture that sets us apart. …
The temporary measures put in place during the pandemic have evolved, and while remote/hybrid work has its benefits, it has its challenges, including professional development. Being together in person creates an environment where we can learn, grow, and succeed, which requires a renewed focus on in-office collaboration.
Thankfully, the firm recognizes that associates’ lives — ranging from health care appointments to child-related issues — still exist outside of the office, and is allowing for some flexibility within its new office attendance mandate, for those with “compelling” needs. The firm has also taken care to carve out several remote weeks throughout the year, including the last week of August and the first week of September (based on local school calendars), the week of Thanksgiving (November 24-28), and the end of December through the holidays (December 22-January 2).
Hogan Lovells now joins the likes of Davis Polk; Latham; Paul Weiss; Ropes & Gray; Simpson Thacher; Skadden; Vinson & Elkins; Weil Gotshal; WilmerHale; White & Case; and Sidley in its four-day, in-person attendance policy. Sullivan & Cromwell has taken its attendance policy one step further, requiring attorneys to work from the office five days each week.
Best of luck to everyone at Hogan Lovells as they adjust to their new lives, which will be mostly spent at the office come September.
As soon as you find out about office attendance plans at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Office Reopening”) or text us at (646) 820-8477. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send a memo (if one exists) using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. If a memo has been circulated, please be sure to include it as proof; we like to post complete memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file. Thanks.
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.
