Midtown Manhattan, New York. Photo: Ryland West

Big law firms remain cautious about having lawyers and staff return to offices in Manhattan, with some firms such as Latham & Watkins and Shearman & Sterling planning to allow some personnel to return to New York offices this month. Meanwhile, other firms remain uncommitted to any timeline before Labor Day.

These decisions come as many of New York-based financial service clients head back to the office in bigger numbers, according to a recent survey conducted by Seward & Kissel.

New York City law firms were allowed to reopen their offices, with limited capacity, as of June 22. Some Manhattan lawyers returned to offices then, but many didn't. While there are solid benefits to working alongside colleagues, the risk of working in offices, including the commute and the unpredictability of outbreaks, has kept many lawyers at home.

Concerns remain that outbreaks in the South and West may spread to New York, which was once the epicenter of U.S. cases, while small outbreaks in New York City suburbs are erupting near many commuters' homes.

For these reasons, reopening dates, if they are set, are tentative or limited to a select few.

In a statement, Shearman & Sterling said starting July 6, "a limited number of personnel" who can't effectively work remotely "will have access to our New York City office on a voluntary basis in a rotating team structure."

"We are encouraging everyone to continue to work remotely unless it is necessary and essential for them to enter the office," Shearman said. "The safety of our people and those around them remains our main priority. We have strict guidance in place to help people access the workplace safely, and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We continue to provide our clients with excellent service, while maintaining business continuity across the firm. "

Meanwhile, Sherman said it does not anticipate requiring attendance in the office until at least after Labor Day.

"As communities around the world continue to manage the impact of COVID-19 and navigate how to reopen, we are formulating our plans to return to the firm's offices," said David Beveridge, a senior partner, in a statement. "We have a global approach to returning to our offices that incorporates the needs of each location. We are now at the stage where specific offices in some jurisdictions are returning to the workplace. In all of these plans, the health and well-being of our people, their families and our clients remain of paramount importance."

Latham & Watkins plans to reopen its Manhattan office later this month, but not before July 20, using a voluntary and gradual approach, along with masks and social distancing.

"As localities enter new phases of opening, we will begin the process to allow our personnel to gradually return to the office with appropriate precautions, including physical distancing, the use of masks, and limiting the numbers of individuals in the office at any given time," a Latham representative said. "We continue to closely watch the evolving situation with the safety of our people and clients as our first priority," the representative said, adding the firm has been "fully engaged in serving our clients and the business of the firm" in remote operations.

Similarly, a representative with Stroock & Stroock & Lavan said the firm's current plan is to reopen on July 27 "with minimal numbers to test out protocols." Additional staff could return after Labor Day, the firm said.

Law.com has previously reported that Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Pryor Cashman and Sidley Austin had set tentative reopen dates in Manhattan this summer, while Morrison Cohen chose to reopen its office with limited capacity on June 22 on a voluntary basis.

For its part, a Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson spokeswoman said the firm was not opening its offices before Labor Day. The firm is "monitoring local guidelines and updates to determine a more specific reopen date that prioritizes the health and safety of the Fried Frank community," the spokeswoman said, adding the firm continued to provide clients with uninterrupted service.

But many big firms, such as Proskauer Rose, haven't yet set a reopening date in New York. "We will introduce a phased return-to-work plan across all of our offices over the next several weeks," a representative confirmed Wednesday, "so that our people can safely work in the office and are able to keep socially distanced."

Client offices

The legal industry may be less ambitious about returning to offices than some of its financial service clients.

New York midsized firm Seward & Kissel surveyed managers of hedge funds, private equity funds and other alternative investment vehicles, receiving responses in June from about 150 fund managers about when they planned to return to their offices.

According to the survey results, 61% of respondents said they believe that up to half of their firms' workforce will return to the office by September. And nine in 10 New York City respondents believed that half of their workforce will return to the office by year-end.

"People are somewhat ambitious," said Steve Nadel, a Seward partner who was lead author of the study, noting that financial service professionals, like others, "have been working from home since March and while I think the [fund] industry has been successful in pivoting to remote technology, clearly there are some reasons that people want to be in the office."

That includes preserving workplace culture and more ease in collaborating on teams, supervising employees and training personnel, he said.

But Nadel said he doesn't think any push by financial service clients to return to offices would influence their attorneys to return faster. "It's extremely rare for a client to say we must meet in person," Nadel said about experiences in his own practice.

"I've been operating extremely efficiently from home," Nadel said. "We're not going to be making our decision on when we physically open based on when clients reopen," Nadel said about his own firm's reopening. "There's a myriad of factors that need to be considered when reopening."

Nadel also noted the difficulty for all employers to stock up with supplies. "We're ordering thousands and thousands of masks and gloves and sanitizer, and we're competing with everyone else who is ordering the same stuff," Nadel said. "It's a big undertaking, and you want to do it right, and you want to do it carefully."

Demographics may factor into when different industries return to their offices. For instance, many hedge fund staff are in their 30s and 40s and are living in the city, Nadel noted, while many lawyers who work in Manhattan tend to live in the suburbs and are older. "Those demographic factors play into it," Nadel said.

Patrick Smith and Samantha Stokes contributed to this report.