Huge adjustments hardly ever occur shortly at Biglaw companies. Even earlier than the rank-and-file associates catch wind of something, there’s normally a lot dialogue and evaluation happening on the administration degree. So when the world’s richest regulation agency, Kirkland & Ellis, made a change to plain overview assessments, it acquired tongues wagging.
Kirkland lately despatched out their affiliate overview questionnaires. And tipsters on the agency observed a brand new addition to this 12 months’s type, which requested:
Work Schedule: As a reminder, Agency Coverage on in-office attendance is Tuesday via Thursday every week. For the Affiliate Evaluate, please present a common description regarding your in-office attendance in the course of the previous overview interval in order that the Committee can take into account this info when reviewing any in-office knowledge studies and knowledge.
Again in 2022, Kirkland rolled out their three days-a-week mandate, however in 2025, an increasing number of companies are pushing for associates to be in the office four and even five days a week. Now that the agency is asking questions on attendance, tipsters are questioning precisely what that’s foreshadowing. As a insider instructed Above the Regulation, “For the primary time, they’re now asking about in workplace attendance which appears to be the preliminary step to demanding extra in workplace attendance.”
However, in fact, this could possibly be a prequel to one thing much more punitive. Whereas it’s removed from the trade norm, several firms have threatened (or even gone through with) docking affiliate bonuses in the event that they flout the in-office necessities.
…Or possibly the agency is simply making an attempt to take associates’ temperature and seize knowledge on how the coverage is understanding. That’s a fairly Pollyanna take, but it surely COULD be true.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Regulation, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the most effective, so please join together with her. Be happy to e mail her with any suggestions, questions, or feedback and comply with her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
