Downtown Houston. (Photo: f11photo/Shutterstock.com)

As Texas slowly reopens for business beginning Friday under guidance from Gov. Greg Abbott, many firms in the Lone Star state have chosen to wait a bit longer to move their remote workforces back into offices.

One exception is Houston trial firm Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing, which is set to reopen its offices in downtown Houston on Monday. But leaders of several other Texas firms are eyeing the prospects cautiously as they consider health and readiness concerns, or simply because they don't feel an urgent need to shift gears and return to the office.

"We are still watching and waiting because we are fortunate to be operating very well remotely," said Wade Cooper, managing partner of Jackson Walker, the state's largest Texas-only firm.

Cooper said lawyers and staff in the firm's seven offices will continue working remotely for at least a couple more weeks. "After that, we may allow folks to return on a voluntary basis," he said.

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he would not extend the state's stay-home order past its expiration Thursday, and he launched a process to reopen business in the state. Phase one of his plan allows restaurants, theaters and retail to reopen Friday, but at 25 percent capacity. A second phase is scheduled to kick in May 18.

However, on Thursday, the day the stay-home order in Texas lapsed, the state recorded a death count of 50 for the day, the highest to date.

Steve Shardonofsky, a labor partner at Seyfarth Shaw in Houston, said the reopening order did not specifically mention professional firms including law firms, but says that any business planning to reopen must comply with social distancing guidelines.

"The message the governor wants to put out is Texas is essentially back open, but the reality is there are large sectors of economies and industries where that is not the case," Shardonofsky said. "There are some workplaces where you can implement social distancing, staggered shifts, other types of safety protocols much more easily than in other workplaces. It will take some time for employers to adjust."

He said Seyfarth is working on a plan to reopen its offices.

For now, Shardonofsky said, to the extent that workers can continue to work at home, there should be no rush to get them back into downtown offices.

But John Zavitsanos, managing partner of Ahmad Zavitsanos, said it's important to start moving things "back to normal." Still, his firm is taking "extraordinary measures" to make sure the workplace is safe for its 100 employees.

He said each employee will be provided with with cloth masks, disposable gloves and hand sanitizer, and the common areas off the office will be cleaned four times a day. In addition to cleaning provided by the building, the firm has hired an industrial cleaning company for an additional cleaning once a week, he said.

He said employees 65 and older and those with children under age 13 have the option to continue working from home.

Zavitsanos said that the firm's first priority is to make sure everyone is safe and second is to help "collateral businesses" in Houston that are on the verge of going under because they haven't been able to operate.

"We really need to do what we can to try to kind of get things back to normal while maintaining safe measures as soon a possible. That means going to our dry cleaners, going to our coffee shop in the morning, burning up some gas [and] going to our lunch place," he said.

Additionally, Zavitanos said, people work more efficiently in an office, where they can collaborate, even when abiding by social distancing guidelines.

Other firms, while they aren't moving yet, are planning ahead for their eventual return to the offce.

Mark Sloan, managing partner of Thompson & Knight, is planning a "soft opening" for its Texas offices tentatively on May 18, which would entail some staff returning to the offices and lawyers working from the office on a voluntary basis.

"For now, if people can get their job done at home, there's no reason for them to come in," Sloan said. The timetable to reopen offices elsewhere, such as in New York or Mexico, is uncertain because of local conditions, he said.

Neal Manne, managing partner of trial firm Susman Godfrey, said his firm will not even partially reopen any of its offices "until it's clear from reliable public health data that it is safe to do so." He said lawyers and staff are working remotely "very busily and very productively, so there is no reason to prematurely open our offices."

The trial firm has not laid off anyone, or reduced anyone's compensation, and the partners will make personal sacrifices if necessary to support everyone at the firm, Manne added.

"That is the ethos our founder Steve Susman created 40 years ago and we aren't about to change it, even as we hope and pray for Steve to recover from his recent accident," Manne said. Susman was seriously injured in a cycling accident last week and remains in the hospital, unconscious.

Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry is "in the midst of preparing a plan to gradually transition back to work in our offices," said chairman emeritus Wayne Risoli. But he said it is too early to discuss details.

Corpus Christi plaintiff's firm Hilliard Martinez Gonzales sent a survey to its lawyers and staff to get their thoughts on remote work and the firm's response to the COVID-19 crisis. Based on results of that survey, the firm is "staying virtual for now," said Bob Hilliard, the firm's founder.

"I will likely develop a hybrid plan—when its safe to re-open the building—allowing those who feel that given the virus or their unexpected home obligations with child care, they would prefer to work from home, to do so," he said, noting that the firm would not open even partially before May 11.

Lizzy McLellan contributed to this report.

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