Most Communications Law Firms 'Resigned' to Telework for Now

While the FCC eyes sticking with telework at least through next June (see 2007240053), many law firms with communications practices tell us they're taking a wait-and-see stance with the pandemic, with no time frame for returning to their facilities. Others have tentative dates in mind for reopening or have partially reopened. Many see increased telework as the norm post-pandemic.

Most Washington law firms "have resigned themselves to remote work for the foreseeable future," said D.C. Bar President Geoffrey Klineberg. Klineberg, of Kellogg Hansen, said remote work has been a particular focus of the firm since its inception and today there's no pressing impetus to get staff back in the office. He said telework will continue at least through August, and then the firm will see if it's wise to start bringing people back. "We will maintain a very flexible approach" to let people who feel unsafe continue to work offsite, he said: "We are coming to terms with it may be awhile before we all can be back together” and even then repopulating the building might be done in stages or people may alternate days.

Numerous firms and industry associations told us telework has had little to no effect on productivity.

DLA Piper is tentatively hoping to start reopening its numerous U.S. offices early next year, though the timing and how they resume physical operations will depend on circumstances, Chief Operating Officer Bob Bratt told us. The firm had started toward reopening in June with four offices in Texas, Georgia and Delaware, but then shut them back down. He said the company hopes to reopen its dozens of U.S. offices all at once.

Surveys of firm personnel showed many want to return to the office, but some strongly prefer telework, Bratt said. He said the firm is developing plans to test some people working remotely on a permanent basis and is debating whether that cohort should be chosen based on geography, practice or some other attribute. For those permanent remote workers, the company might try temporary office accommodations when there's a need for people to work together in-person, he said.

Lerman Senter Manager Sally Buckman said her firm also plans to survey employees' thoughts about and interest in remote work after the pandemic. She said it has no specific time frame for a general office return, though it will be voluntary until it believes there's no health or safety risk. "I have no idea when that will be," she said. She said the business will use telework more after COVID-19, though it will likely retain a physical office as well.

Fletcher Heald, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, had a “soft” reopening at the start of July, when the commonwealth moved to the less-restrictive “Phase 3” of its response, Managing Partner Frank Montero said. Staff is allowed to continue teleworking if needed for childcare or other concerns. Montero -- speaking from the office himself -- said usually about half of workers come in. “We are feeling our way through this,” he said, saying he doesn’t see the firm’s situation altering in 2020 without some massive outside change, like a vaccine.

Montero said the trend had been moving away from in-person meetings between lawyers and clients and the FCC for a while. Montero said the shift isn’t unprecedented -- when he was a new lawyer, senior attorneys would discourage younger lawyers from calling FCC staff with questions. “They’d say we had to go down and talk to them in person, ‘That’s how we do things around here!’” But as the FCC moved, and security became tighter, most interactions with the agency shifted to phone calls, the attorney said. “This is yet another inflection point."

Major trade groups also are in a holding pattern about employees returning to the office.

NAB is in the process of moving to its new headquarters, from which CEO Gordon Smith teleconferenced into a DOJ music licensing workshop last week, a spokesperson emailed. Under D.C.’s “Stage 2” restrictions, no more than 35 employees are being allowed into the building to pack. That’s similar to the FCC’s aborted moving plan.

Most NAB employees are required to telework, with about 20 staffers authorized to access HQ as needed. Those coming in are getting daily health screening and temperature checks and are required to follow social distancing and mask policies, the spokesperson said. “We will continue to assess the situation as it evolves and follow federal and D.C. guidelines on returning to the office.”

NCTA is set up to maintain teleworking "until it makes sense to return to the office," it emailed. "We do have some support staff who go to the office regularly to provide tech support and supplies to help ensure that everyone can remain fully connected and productive while working from home."

Editor's note: This is one in an ongoing series of articles in this publication about how the novel coronavirus is affecting work for telecom stakeholders. During work-from-home, the FCC scaled back on some news conferences, as we reported on here. The virus has affected 911 operations (see here and here). And it's led to the cancelation of major events, such as CES (see here).