As law firms race to tighten their in-office policies, most are now pushing for four days a week — though a handful are taking a more “modest” approach, asking attorneys to come to the office just three days a week. How refreshing.
Arnold & Porter — a firm that brought in $1,193,720,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 51 on the Am Law 100 — recently announced that come 2026, it would be making “very modest adjustments” to its in-office policy, specifying that all attorneys and professional staff would be expected in the office three days each week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, during normal business hours. Leading up to this new attendance mandate, A&P will be in “virtual operating status” firmwide during the week of Thanksgiving (November 24-28) as well as the final two weeks of the year (December 22, 2025 – January 2, 2026).
As part of a memo sent out this week and viewed by Above the Law, Sean T. Howell, the firm’s CEO, said, “We look forward to spending more time together in the year ahead and to continuing to build on the success and sense of community that make our firm so special.”
Quite a few Biglaw firms are now requiring four days in the office firmwide, including the likes of A&O Shearman; Cooley; Covington; Davis Polk; Dechert (junior associates); DLA Piper (corporate associates); Goodwin; Hogan Lovells; Latham; Paul Weiss; Ropes & Gray; Sidley; Simpson Thacher; Skadden; Vinson & Elkins; Weil Gotshal; WilmerHale; and White & Case. Sullivan & Cromwell has taken its attendance policy one step further, requiring attorneys to work from the office five days each week.
As soon as you find out about office attendance plans at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Office Reopening”) or text us at (646) 820-8477. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send a memo (if one exists) using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. If a memo has been circulated, please be sure to include it as proof; we like to post complete memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file. Thanks.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
The post Top Biglaw Firm Opts For Three-Day Office Mandate In A Four-Day World appeared first on Above the Law.
As law firms race to tighten their in-office policies, most are now pushing for four days a week — though a handful are taking a more “modest” approach, asking attorneys to come to the office just three days a week. How refreshing.
Arnold & Porter — a firm that brought in $1,193,720,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 51 on the Am Law 100 — recently announced that come 2026, it would be making “very modest adjustments” to its in-office policy, specifying that all attorneys and professional staff would be expected in the office three days each week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, during normal business hours. Leading up to this new attendance mandate, A&P will be in “virtual operating status” firmwide during the week of Thanksgiving (November 24-28) as well as the final two weeks of the year (December 22, 2025 – January 2, 2026).
As part of a memo sent out this week and viewed by Above the Law, Sean T. Howell, the firm’s CEO, said, “We look forward to spending more time together in the year ahead and to continuing to build on the success and sense of community that make our firm so special.”
Quite a few Biglaw firms are now requiring four days in the office firmwide, including the likes of A&O Shearman; Cooley; Covington; Davis Polk; Dechert (junior associates); DLA Piper (corporate associates); Goodwin; Hogan Lovells; Latham; Paul Weiss; Ropes & Gray; Sidley; Simpson Thacher; Skadden; Vinson & Elkins; Weil Gotshal; WilmerHale; and White & Case. Sullivan & Cromwell has taken its attendance policy one step further, requiring attorneys to work from the office five days each week.
As soon as you find out about office attendance plans at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Office Reopening”) or text us at (646) 820-8477. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send a memo (if one exists) using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. If a memo has been circulated, please be sure to include it as proof; we like to post complete memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file. Thanks.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
