Remote Working and Colleague Relations

    Aspects of the legal profession such as meeting with clients, virtual court proceedings and other areas have all been impacted by the increase in popularity of working from home. When thinking about these areas the first thing that comes to my mind is the attorney client relationship and how remote working can impact meetings with clients. However, one thing I think should also adressed is the impact that remote work can have on colleagues in certain firms. 

Some firms allow lawyers to choose which days they wish to work remote. By allowing this, you and the person in the office next to you may never be in the office on the same day. While this may not be a huge issue because you are both doing separate work, in certain situations it can surely influence the relationship you have with colleagues. 

Working in an office next to someone allows for in person conversation, quick questions while passing their office doorway and other general daily conversations. These are conversations one may not have if they only speak to their colleague via phone or email because you strictly contact each other for work related questions which can be much different than in person conversation.

I think that this is something that can greatly affect certain firms where lawyers are not given the opportunity to strengthen their professional relationships with colleagues by working in a professional atmosphere together. With that being said I do not necessarily think that firms should require attorneys to all be in the office every day, or for a certain number of days. However, I do think that at least once every week or every other week all attorneys in a firm should try to be in the office on the same day.