Returning to the office is on more and more people's minds. But are there long-term costs for those who elect to stay home? Some business leaders worry about what happens once we've expended our social capital. Want to weigh in? Email me here. Want this dispatch in your inbox every Thursday? Sign up here.

I got a copy of a survey yesterday from an company called Fishbowl. The "workplace social network for verified professionals" asked users if they would choose to work from home permanently if their employer changed its policy to permit it.

Now, the methodology here wasn't so rigorous. But of the 2,500+ individuals who chose to respond and said they worked in the legal field, 52.25% said they'd prefer not to return to the office.

That's actually below the mean. Unsurprisingly, those in the tech industry were the pacesetters here: over 68% said "yes" to staying out of the office forever. Law professionals (we're talking not just lawyers, but anyone who ticked the "legal industry" box) also trailed those in advertising, accounting, finance and consulting. They like working remotely more than HR professionals and teachers, however.

The folks at Facebook, Twitter and Square are going to get their wish. But the lack of a consensus among professionals in the legal industry gets to the distinction between these two types of work. In law, a huge portion of the work is fundamentally collaborative. Compare that to the tech industry, where legions of coders, engineers and designers can do outstanding work without interacting with others. I'm painting with an overly broad brush here, I'll admit. But the distinction is still informative.

Several corporate leaders have talked to the press about their take on the future of remote work in recent weeks. Tech workers at Microsoft shouldn't be burning any bridges with their dog walkers. Speaking with editors and reporters at The New York Times, CEO Satya Nadella said that he missed the two minutes of informal conversation before and after a physical meeting. These soft interactions, when compounded over time, help knit together the fabric of a culture in any given organization. Nadella likened a switch from offices to an all-remote set-up to "replacing one dogma with another dogma," fretting that while virtual work may be effective at the moment, its success relies on burning that social capital that's already been accumulated.

Citigroup's investment banking leader Paco Ybarra also spoke of depreciating capital in a conversation with the Financial Times: "Some of the feeling that we have about how well this thing works, I think will erode with time."

There are two influential voices making the case for why the office is bound to retain a critical role in our work lives, even if we find ourselves going there less. I think there's also value in thinking about who's leaving the house, following on a point that editor-at-large David Plotz made over at Business Insider. He doesn't use the term "social capital." But the concept pervades his assessment that "insiders" and "outsiders" have different experiences in the same organization. "Insiders build the small, socially lubricating connections that humans thrive on," he writes. "They create stronger networks. They develop better reputations, more friendships. They know more about what's happening at the company. And that makes them more valuable employees."

This lens has value for multiple layers of the 21st century law firm. Take the fact that even with fewer associates committed to becoming law firm partners, competition to ascend to the next level is as intense as ever. By being in the office, ambitious junior lawyers will be availing themselves of an easy signaling tool. Those who exercise the choice to stay home will likely be sending a different message to decision makers.

Or what of the "caste system" that exists in many firms between lawyers and professional staff? Does being "out of sight" automatically entail remaining "out of mind" and ensuring these divisions in status persist? Or, conversely, does the lack of clout held by these individuals mean they'll be denied the increased flexibility that is likely to be offered to others when firms revisit their guidelines once the pandemic has subsided?

That draws me back to the jumping off-point of that Fishbowl survey. The category "law," alas, is so amorphous that it doesn't really tell us that much at all. Show me the data on what associates think of working from home versus partners. Or professionals versus fee earners. Then we can get to some real nuance assessments about who's going to be working where once the dust settles.

In the News

➤➤ Outside of the U.S., one firm has already tipped its hand on this subject. Slater & Gordon is closing its London office permanently, my colleague Meganne Tillay reports. Instead, 200 London employees will work from home permanently, although the firm is looking to find a smaller office space for meetings. Slater & Gordon does have an historic appetite for risk that's not widely shared in the industry. It's been publicly traded in Australia since 2007, and had to spin off its U.K. operation in 2017 because of financial troubles.

➤➤ Meanwhile, northeast regional firm Barclay Damon has outlined a plan to open up all 12 of its offices, with four upstate New York locations expected to lead the way. According to my colleague Christine Simmons, office occupancy will be limited to 30%, while working from home for part or all of the week will remain an option for all attorneys and staff in 2020. Furthermore, that arrangement could be made permanent at the end of the year.

➤➤ And, just as the pandemic hit China first, the country has a head start in figuring out what's next. My colleague Anna Zhang reports that a number of international firms have resumed full activities in large business centers like Beijing and Shanghai. "It's a gradual process of returning to normalcy," said Weil, Gotshal & Manges China practice leader Charles Ching.

Wash your hands, keep your distance, try your best to stay sane, and you'll hear from me again next Thursday. Thanks again for reading, and please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. Sign up here to receive The Law Firm Disrupted as a weekly email.