"I was on back-to-back Zoom calls for eight hours yesterday, and I've just finished a four-hour video call about something that absolutely could have been talked about over email," sighs one weary partner at a U.S. firm in London.

His frustration is typical of many working in the legal industry. While long hours are nothing new for lawyers, he says that a new low has been reached in his tiredness — even his teenage daughter had picked up on his zombie-like manner following a particularly dull series of video calls.

"I must have looked rough if she a) noticed me and b) thought to ask about it," he says.

Numerous other lawyers at top firms also say that they are suffering from 'Zoom fatigue', which has become particularly acute in the last month or so.

In the early months of the U.K. COVID-induced lockdown, lawyers had been quick to praise the ease with which their firms have swivelled to a running a remote workforce, and lauded the virtues video call technology in helping to keep activity levels reasonably high.

But as the months have worn on, lawyers say that their initial gratitude towards software like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts has worn off due to excessive use.

Seven lawyers told Law.com International that they had been on a single video call for four hours or more, with many saying that they had to go on a second video call almost immediately after hanging up. This, they say, has led to a more pronounced feeling of fatigue than they would normally feel following phone calls or in-person meetings.

Firms tried hard to make it easier for their lawyers to hold video calls with clients and colleagues at the start of the lockdown, which one Latham & Watkins partner says was "exactly the right thing to do at the time". He adds, however, that "perhaps people overcompensated for the lack of personal presence" too early in the lockdown process.

"The enthusiasm for showing one's face has also dissipated"

Another Latham partner added that "the enthusiasm for showing one's face has also dissipated… Now, you see more blank spaces rather than people on camera."

And it's not just private practice lawyers who are finding video calls to be more hassle than they're worth.

A partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges said that their team had stopped using Zoom altogether in favour of phone calls because clients preferred to do so. According to the partner, the team was happy to oblige to the clients' requests since they were feeling similarly drained.

Videos vs phones

The benefits of using Zoom when closing a deal or litigating a case during the pandemic have been well-publicised in recent months, for reasons including that they have have increased lawyers' abilities to build more personal relationships with clients and have allowed for court hearings to be held online.

But video calls are not without flaws too, with industry onlookers citing concerns over confidentiality and on-screen slip-ups as hazards of the technology.

"To me, it's still not the same as meeting someone in person"

For scores of lawyers, the time has come to return — at least now and then — to the good old-fashioned phone call.

"I don't want to constantly be staring at my own face on the screen when I'm trying to talk to a client," says one partner. "I know people say that it's beneficial to be able to read people's body language, but to me it's still not the same as meeting someone in person and I find it far more draining."

Video calls remain, at least for now, a "necessary evil", according to one partner who warns that despite a lifting of the U.K. lockdown, the pandemic is far from over and people should still be discouraged from holding in-person meetings.

Others add that despite their weariness with the technology, they hope to see more video conferencing options in the future to limit the number of trips they need to take across London and even abroad to speak with clients. For that reason, video conferencing has been recognised as having dragged the typically tech-averse legal profession into the 21st century.

But that positive aspect will not diminish the growing numbers raising concerns about video calls. As one lawyer points out, too much of a good thing can turn something bad.

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