As the COVID pandemic continues into 2022, law firms are faced with instability as to their workforce. As much as firms would have liked to mark the new year as the date everything goes back to normal, COVID-19 and its variants have other plans. Firms are backing off original return to work dates and even the new timetables seem tenuous at best.

Where does this leave attorneys? Geographically scattered, and often under-mentored.  Some attorneys have returned to the office, at least partially, while others will brag about having been going into the office “since it started” almost 2 years ago. However, the end result is the same — you have some attorneys and support staff working remotely, some law firms are scuttling plans for a set return date, and others will continue a hybrid model. In the UK, the largest law firms have told their London staff to stay away from the office and work from home. Like everything, that could change back at a moment’s notice. 

Previous Lean Adviser lessons have discussed how the “Great Resignation” was either caused by  or spurred on by COVID, and how lean practice methods can help retain talent and even use the trend as an opportunity to re-examine workflow processes. This lesson will focus on managing remote workers and teams, and how lean law practice is compatible with remote and hybrid work.  One of the aspects of in-person working is the benefit it offers new associates in terms of mentoring and providing guidance. Younger lawyers, in particular, suffer from the lack of direct interaction with more senior attorneys, says Roman M. Silberfeld a Los Angeles-based Robins Kaplan partner. “They don’t even understand what they are losing,” Silberfeld says. He still recalls weekly lunches with his mentor as a golden opportunity for a young lawyer to learn “more than I ever did from everything formal he did for me.”

 “Junior associates still need the apprenticeship-type training and mentoring senior lawyers took for granted,” says former litigator turned executive coach and talent management expert Julia Mercer. “And yet it seems inevitable that hybrid work will remain a long-term reality making it challenging to meet that critical need. In short, the pandemic has brought into focus the need for law firms and law firm leaders to be strategic about fostering the connections, engagement, learning and innovation that will allow them to both attract and retain top talent.”

As we see throughout Lean Adviser, one of the key aspects of practicing lean is efficiency. Consider the plight of the junior associate who is given an assignment (on a Friday afternoon with a due date of Monday morning, of course), or even worse a complete project. Now suppose this happens without the benefit of an in-person handover. The associate may get no guidance on context or what is expected of them and will spend a lot of time staring at the material and fretting about what they’re supposed to be doing. That’s a lot of time wasted when a short phone call or virtual meeting to explain the assignment and answer questions would provide direction, focus and efficiency. The days of giving a young lawyer an assignment without any instructions and letting them sink or swim (the law firm equivalent of leaving a child in the woods with just a compass and a bottle of water and expecting them to find their way home) are gone. That’s not exactly efficient and there is no room for those types of games anymore. To mix metaphors, associates who get thrown in at the deep end are likely to get out and go find a nicer pool, with warmer water and a lifeguard. With the ongoing talent war, that associate, who very well may become a bright spot for the firm, can leave for another firm that is providing guidance and mentoring, even in a remote world.

John Blood, Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer & Company Secretary, AB InBev says that law firm leaders need to “think expansively about your role and your responsibilities. If you are in business, your role is not just to make money for your shareholders. If you are a lawyer, your job is not just to represent your clients.” In today’s world, Blood says, “every leader must have a sense of purpose that goes beyond the narrow metrics we used to rely on. We need to all be thinking in terms of “how do we create value that will be broadly felt and broadly shared.”