{"id":164935,"date":"2026-10-13T15:53:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T23:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/13\/quinn-emanuels-work-from-anywhere-policy-scaled-back\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T15:53:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T23:53:40","slug":"quinn-emanuels-work-from-anywhere-policy-scaled-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/13\/quinn-emanuels-work-from-anywhere-policy-scaled-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Quinn Emanuel\u2019s \u2018Work From Anywhere\u2019 Policy Scaled Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

In December 2021, as the rest of Biglaw started trying to figure out how to forge a post-COVID hybrid work schedule to get folks back in the office, Quinn Emanuel went the other way<\/a>. Every U.S. lawyer, \u201cfrom first-year associates to partners,\u201d could work from anywhere in the country, indefinitely. \u201cOur lawyers should work from wherever they do their best work,\u201d John Quinn explained at the time. It was the natural and logical extension of the firm\u2019s earlier experiment with \u201cwork from anywhere week\u201d starting back in 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alas, in 2026, the Work From Anywhere policy is a tad more complicated. Quinn attorneys can still work from anywhere, but the policy includes a significant shift in tone, having gone from \u201cwork from wherever they do their best work\u201d to the new mantra \u201cwe are at our best when we are together.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a time when most Biglaw firms have beat a retreat from their hybrid work arrangements, Quinn is not ending remote work, but it does seem to be putting a little extra weight on the scale toward convincing lawyers to come back to the office. And as part of that, the \u201cindefinitely\u201d has morphed into a mostly<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\n

WFA attorneys must work on-site at their home office for a minimum of three days at least two times per calendar year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Six days a year is not a huge ask. Frankly, it\u2019s hard to imagine a lawyer schedule that wouldn\u2019t have brought them back into the office for at least a couple weeks a year just for meetings. But it\u2019s notable that the firm has formalized a change after years of a hands-off approach.<\/p>\n

The fine print on eligibility has changed as well. Back in 2021, the policy covered first-years too, but now associates need \u201cat least two years of post-law school experience,\u201d before taking advantage of the plan. Beyond that, all candidates looking to work from anywhere must first \u201cwork on site in a US QE office for at least one year.\u201d <\/p>\n

If there\u2019s been any takeaway from the COVID era, it\u2019s that about half the country is willing to pretend a deadly disease doesn\u2019t exist as long as conspiracy theorists tell them it\u2019s true. And if there\u2019s been a second takeaway from the COVID era, it\u2019s that training matters. Young professionals generally have proven behind on basic skills<\/a>, and junior lawyers understand they desperately need to build the soft skills<\/a> that really only develop with in-person work.<\/p>\n

And some don\u2019t even understand how much help they need<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Attorneys can excel working remotely if they already understand what the work is all about. But until they do, they\u2019re better off in an environment where they can pick up the lessons they need.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WFA policy has been tremendously successful, and we\u2019re proud of the flexibility our culture affords,\u201d Andy Rossman explained. \u201cThese adjustments are intended to connect participants even more closely to the firm and set them up for continued success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

WFA status may be renewed for two additional one year terms, for a total program participation of three years. Execom may, in its sole discretion, renew an attorney\u2019s WFA status beyond three years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This reads like a big departure from \u201cindefinitely,\u201d but if you can\u2019t start the program until your third year, and you get to the beginning of your sixth year still performing at a high level\u2026 they\u2019re going to extend it.<\/p>\n

\n

Participation in the WFA program may affect an attorney\u2019s mentorship and relationship-building opportunities, which can in turn impact contributions to the Firm\u2019s culture and business development. Accordingly, the Firm may consider WFA status as one of several legitimate business factors when determining discretionary bonuses or compensation awards.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Check that\u2026 they\u2019ll either extend it or they\u2019re telling you that you need to be coming in because partnership requires a couple years of networking. And if you aren\u2019t performing at a high level at that point, it\u2019s probably time to look elsewhere anyway. <\/p>\n

Current participants are \u201cgrandfathered and exempt\u201d from the three-year limit, and the ones who never worked on site are excused from the one-year requirement too. This appears to be about making sure the next generation of Quinn attorneys \u2014 either coming in from law school or moving over from another firm \u2014 learn the Quinn way in an office setting first. <\/p>\n

This is still the best deal in Biglaw for any lawyer that values flexibility. If you can do your job, you can do it anywhere. But it looks like even the most generous out-of-office policy has to bend a bit to allow the firm to accomplish all its goals.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Quinn Emanuel Will Allow Lawyers To Work Remotely, Indefinitely, From Anywhere In The Country<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Quinn Emanuel\u2019s \u2018Work From Anywhere\u2019 Policy Scaled Back<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

In December 2021, as the rest of Biglaw started trying to figure out how to forge a post-COVID hybrid work schedule to get folks back in the office, Quinn Emanuel went the other way<\/a>. Every U.S. lawyer, \u201cfrom first-year associates to partners,\u201d could work from anywhere in the country, indefinitely. \u201cOur lawyers should work from wherever they do their best work,\u201d John Quinn explained at the time. It was the natural and logical extension of the firm\u2019s earlier experiment with \u201cwork from anywhere week\u201d starting back in 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alas, in 2026, the Work From Anywhere policy is a tad more complicated. Quinn attorneys can still work from anywhere, but the policy includes a significant shift in tone, having gone from \u201cwork from wherever they do their best work\u201d to the new mantra \u201cwe are at our best when we are together.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a time when most Biglaw firms have beat a retreat from their hybrid work arrangements, Quinn is not ending remote work, but it does seem to be putting a little extra weight on the scale toward convincing lawyers to come back to the office. And as part of that, the \u201cindefinitely\u201d has morphed into a mostly<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\n

WFA attorneys must work on-site at their home office for a minimum of three days at least two times per calendar year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Six days a year is not a huge ask. Frankly, it\u2019s hard to imagine a lawyer schedule that wouldn\u2019t have brought them back into the office for at least a couple weeks a year just for meetings. But it\u2019s notable that the firm has formalized a change after years of a hands-off approach.<\/p>\n

The fine print on eligibility has changed as well. Back in 2021, the policy covered first-years too, but now associates need \u201cat least two years of post-law school experience,\u201d before taking advantage of the plan. Beyond that, all candidates looking to work from anywhere must first \u201cwork on site in a US QE office for at least one year.\u201d <\/p>\n

If there\u2019s been any takeaway from the COVID era, it\u2019s that about half the country is willing to pretend a deadly disease doesn\u2019t exist as long as conspiracy theorists tell them it\u2019s true. And if there\u2019s been a second takeaway from the COVID era, it\u2019s that training matters. Young professionals generally have proven behind on basic skills<\/a>, and junior lawyers understand they desperately need to build the soft skills<\/a> that really only develop with in-person work.<\/p>\n

And some don\u2019t even understand how much help they need<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Attorneys can excel working remotely if they already understand what the work is all about. But until they do, they\u2019re better off in an environment where they can pick up the lessons they need.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WFA policy has been tremendously successful, and we\u2019re proud of the flexibility our culture affords,\u201d Andy Rossman explained. \u201cThese adjustments are intended to connect participants even more closely to the firm and set them up for continued success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

WFA status may be renewed for two additional one year terms, for a total program participation of three years. Execom may, in its sole discretion, renew an attorney\u2019s WFA status beyond three years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This reads like a big departure from \u201cindefinitely,\u201d but if you can\u2019t start the program until your third year, and you get to the beginning of your sixth year still performing at a high level\u2026 they\u2019re going to extend it.<\/p>\n

\n

Participation in the WFA program may affect an attorney\u2019s mentorship and relationship-building opportunities, which can in turn impact contributions to the Firm\u2019s culture and business development. Accordingly, the Firm may consider WFA status as one of several legitimate business factors when determining discretionary bonuses or compensation awards.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Check that\u2026 they\u2019ll either extend it or they\u2019re telling you that you need to be coming in because partnership requires a couple years of networking. And if you aren\u2019t performing at a high level at that point, it\u2019s probably time to look elsewhere anyway. <\/p>\n

Current participants are \u201cgrandfathered and exempt\u201d from the three-year limit, and the ones who never worked on site are excused from the one-year requirement too. This appears to be about making sure the next generation of Quinn attorneys \u2014 either coming in from law school or moving over from another firm \u2014 learn the Quinn way in an office setting first. <\/p>\n

This is still the best deal in Biglaw for any lawyer that values flexibility. If you can do your job, you can do it anywhere. But it looks like even the most generous out-of-office policy has to bend a bit to allow the firm to accomplish all its goals.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Quinn Emanuel Will Allow Lawyers To Work Remotely, Indefinitely, From Anywhere In The Country<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In December 2021, as the rest of Biglaw started trying to figure out how to forge a post-COVID hybrid work schedule to get folks back in the office, Quinn Emanuel went the other way. Every U.S. lawyer, \u201cfrom first-year associates to partners,\u201d could work from anywhere in the country, indefinitely. \u201cOur lawyers should work from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164935","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=164935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}