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NEWS MARCH 22, 2021 ¦ 19

Law Offices Reassess Function
Amid Post-COVID-19 Transition

By Patrick Smith

C (Photo: master1305/stock.adobe.com)
ommunication and connectivity with both in- that regard, what is still a concern and what chal-
ternal and external stakeholders was a major lenges can be expected as workers return to the
concern for many law firms at this time last office, or don’t.
year. And rightly so. Every major law firm touts its
culture and its ability to understand and be there for The Train Station
its clients. But the industry, as a whole, found a se- Kathleen Pearson, chief human resources officer
ries of workarounds during the pandemic to keep at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, said the office
things humming. isn’t a destination anymore, but rather a train sta-
Now the pandemic is receding, but some of the tion.
changes in the way firms communicated with clients “There are different platforms. There is a culture
and their own talent are not, and new challenges are platform or a partner meeting platform. People
on the horizon as firm’s figure out how to get back would be able to come into the office on days they
to work in an office that is going to be very different know their platform will be populated,” Pearson
from the one they left a year ago. said.
A panel discussion at ALM’s Legal Week(year) She said her firm started asking, “What is work?”
on Tuesday looked at what went well last year in
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