Last July, Morgan Stanley CLO Eric Grossman delivered a strongly worded letter to outside counsel, insisting upon a return to working in offices or risk losing a "performance advantage." The letter, he wrote, was "motivated out of grave concern that our profession cannot long endure a remote work model."

Flash forward six months and two COVID variants later, and remote work is still very much with us, at the very least in hybrid form. For the moment, that appears to be a satisfactory and even desired arrangement: A recent Law.com Twitter poll ranked a hybrid work model as the most important aspect (29.4%) of law firm culture, followed by flexible work hours (27.9%) and growth opportunities (25%). A similar poll on LinkedIn ranked growth opportunities first (34%), with a hybrid work model following close behind (26%).

The question, therefore, that led off Law.com's #IsTheCommuteWorthIt Twitter chat was appropriate: Can law firm culture only exist when employees are in the office? The panel's responses were unanimous.