{"id":136371,"date":"2025-11-05T17:52:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T01:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/11\/05\/top-biglaw-firm-opts-for-three-day-office-mandate-in-a-four-day-world\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T17:52:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T01:52:06","slug":"top-biglaw-firm-opts-for-three-day-office-mandate-in-a-four-day-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/11\/05\/top-biglaw-firm-opts-for-three-day-office-mandate-in-a-four-day-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Biglaw Firm Opts For Three-Day Office Mandate In A Four-Day World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As law firms race to tighten their in-office policies, most are now pushing for four days a week \u2014 though a handful are taking a more \u201cmodest\u201d approach, asking attorneys to come to the office just three days a week. How refreshing. <\/p>\n<p>Arnold &amp; Porter \u2014 a firm that brought in $1,193,720,000\u00a0 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 51 on the Am Law 100 \u2014 recently announced that come 2026, it would be making \u201cvery modest adjustments\u201d 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&amp;P will be in \u201cvirtual operating status\u201d firmwide during the week of Thanksgiving (November 24-28) as well as the final two weeks of the year (December 22, 2025 \u2013 January 2, 2026).<\/p>\n<p>As part of a memo sent out this week and viewed by Above the Law, Sean T. Howell, the firm\u2019s CEO, said, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Quite a few Biglaw firms are now requiring four days in the office firmwide, including the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/07\/major-biglaw-firm-ups-their-in-office-requirement-for-attorneys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">A&amp;O Shearman<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/10\/top-biglaw-firm-will-require-associates-to-spend-four-days-in-the-office-come-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cooley<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/07\/top-biglaw-firm-increases-office-attendance-demands-for-attorneys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Covington<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/06\/davis-polk-4-day-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Davis Polk<\/a>; Dechert (junior associates); <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/08\/top-biglaw-firm-increases-its-office-attendance-mandate-to-four-days-but-only-for-corporate-associates\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DLA Piper<\/a> (corporate associates); <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/11\/new-years-forecast-for-this-top-20-biglaw-firm-four-days-in-the-office-rain-or-shine\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Goodwin<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/06\/top-biglaw-firm-will-require-attorneys-to-work-from-the-office-4-days-each-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Hogan Lovells<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/08\/latham-calls-lawyers-back-to-office-even-though-midlevels-sit-in-open-cubicles-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Latham<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/paul-weiss-will-require-4-in-office-work-days-each-week-starting-in-spring-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Paul Weiss<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/07\/ropes-gray-4-day-office-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Ropes &amp; Gray<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/top-10-biglaw-firm-mandates-four-office-days-for-attorneys-starting-next-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Sidley<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/12\/simpson-thacher-4-days-in-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Simpson Thacher<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/05\/you-didnt-see-your-kids-before-the-pandemic-you-shouldnt-expect-to-see-them-now-says-elite-law-firm-partner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Skadden<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/08\/vinson-elkins-4-day-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Vinson &amp; Elkins<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/07\/weil-gotshal-4-days-in-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Weil Gotshal<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/top-biglaw-firm-wilmerhale-mandates-four-office-days-for-attorneys-each-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WilmerHale<\/a>; and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/top-10-biglaw-firm-white-case-mandates-four-office-days-for-attorneys-each-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">White &amp; Case<\/a>.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/01\/biglaw-firm-breaks-with-trend-requires-associates-to-be-in-office-5-days-a-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Sullivan &amp; Cromwell<\/a>\u00a0has taken its attendance policy one step further, requiring attorneys to work from the office five days each week.<\/p>\n<p>As soon as you find out about office attendance plans at your firm, please\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:tips@abovethelaw.com?subject=%5BFirm%20Name%5D%20Office%20Reopening\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">email us<\/a>\u00a0(subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Office Reopening\u201d) or text us at\u00a0<a href=\"tel:(646)%20820-8477\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(646) 820-8477<\/a>. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Staci-Zaretsky.jpg?resize=150%2C100&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-66762\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/author\/staci-zaretsky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to <a href=\"mailto:staci@abovethelaw.com\">email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/stacizaretsky.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/staci-zaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/11\/top-biglaw-firm-opts-for-three-day-office-mandate-in-a-four-day-world\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top Biglaw Firm Opts For Three-Day Office Mandate In A Four-Day World<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image post-single__featured-image--medium alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1436575124-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>As law firms race to tighten their in-office policies, most are now pushing for four days a week \u2014 though a handful are taking a more \u201cmodest\u201d approach, asking attorneys to come to the office just three days a week. How refreshing. <\/p>\n<p>Arnold &amp; Porter \u2014 a firm that brought in $1,193,720,000\u00a0 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 51 on the Am Law 100 \u2014 recently announced that come 2026, it would be making \u201cvery modest adjustments\u201d 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&amp;P will be in \u201cvirtual operating status\u201d firmwide during the week of Thanksgiving (November 24-28) as well as the final two weeks of the year (December 22, 2025 \u2013 January 2, 2026).<\/p>\n<p>As part of a memo sent out this week and viewed by Above the Law, Sean T. Howell, the firm\u2019s CEO, said, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Quite a few Biglaw firms are now requiring four days in the office firmwide, including the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/07\/major-biglaw-firm-ups-their-in-office-requirement-for-attorneys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">A&amp;O Shearman<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/10\/top-biglaw-firm-will-require-associates-to-spend-four-days-in-the-office-come-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cooley<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/07\/top-biglaw-firm-increases-office-attendance-demands-for-attorneys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Covington<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/06\/davis-polk-4-day-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Davis Polk<\/a>; Dechert (junior associates); <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/08\/top-biglaw-firm-increases-its-office-attendance-mandate-to-four-days-but-only-for-corporate-associates\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DLA Piper<\/a> (corporate associates); <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/11\/new-years-forecast-for-this-top-20-biglaw-firm-four-days-in-the-office-rain-or-shine\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Goodwin<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/06\/top-biglaw-firm-will-require-attorneys-to-work-from-the-office-4-days-each-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Hogan Lovells<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/08\/latham-calls-lawyers-back-to-office-even-though-midlevels-sit-in-open-cubicles-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Latham<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/paul-weiss-will-require-4-in-office-work-days-each-week-starting-in-spring-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Paul Weiss<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/07\/ropes-gray-4-day-office-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Ropes &amp; Gray<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/top-10-biglaw-firm-mandates-four-office-days-for-attorneys-starting-next-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Sidley<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/12\/simpson-thacher-4-days-in-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Simpson Thacher<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/05\/you-didnt-see-your-kids-before-the-pandemic-you-shouldnt-expect-to-see-them-now-says-elite-law-firm-partner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Skadden<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/08\/vinson-elkins-4-day-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Vinson &amp; Elkins<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2023\/07\/weil-gotshal-4-days-in-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Weil Gotshal<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/top-biglaw-firm-wilmerhale-mandates-four-office-days-for-attorneys-each-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WilmerHale<\/a>; and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/top-10-biglaw-firm-white-case-mandates-four-office-days-for-attorneys-each-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">White &amp; Case<\/a>.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/01\/biglaw-firm-breaks-with-trend-requires-associates-to-be-in-office-5-days-a-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Sullivan &amp; Cromwell<\/a>\u00a0has taken its attendance policy one step further, requiring attorneys to work from the office five days each week.<\/p>\n<p>As soon as you find out about office attendance plans at your firm, please\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#b0c4d9c0c3f0d1d2dfc6d5c4d8d5dcd1c79ed3dfdd8fc3c5d2dad5d3c48d9585f2f6d9c2dd958280fed1ddd59585f4958280ffd6d6d9d3d5958280e2d5dfc0d5ded9ded7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">email us<\/a>\u00a0(subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Office Reopening\u201d) or text us at\u00a0<a href=\"tel:(646)%20820-8477\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(646) 820-8477<\/a>. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Staci-Zaretsky.jpg?resize=150%2C100&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-66762\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/author\/staci-zaretsky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#394a4d585a5079585b564f5c4d515c55584e175a5654\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/stacizaretsky.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/staci-zaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As law firms race to tighten their in-office policies, most are now pushing for four days a week \u2014 though a handful are taking a more \u201cmodest\u201d approach, asking attorneys to come to the office just three days a week. How refreshing. Arnold &amp; Porter \u2014 a firm that brought in $1,193,720,000\u00a0 gross revenue in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Staci-Zaretsky-umYiLT.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}