Latham & Watkins Will Require Four Days in Office for New York

Latham & Watkins is asking its attorneys in New York City be in the office four days a week in the coming year.

Starting January 1, 2025, the law firm is expecting that all its attorneys in the Big Apple to work in office at least four days per week, according to a Tuesday email sent by Marc Jaffe, managing partner of Latham’s New York office, viewed by Bloomberg Law.

“Our continued success in large part rests on training, developing, collaborating, and connecting with each other,” he said in his email. “We believe working and being together in person is essential,” Jaffe said.

The firm will not require any mandatory attendance days, but rather will defer to its attorneys to determine what works best, he said.

“This in-office standard is consistent with our vision for how we can and should work together to serve our clients, was crafted in consultation with various internal constituencies including department and practice leadership and firm committees, and is similar to the policies of many of our clients and peers,” Jaffe said.

With its decision, Latham joins the likes of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Ropes & Gray and Vinson & Elkins, which have all adopted a four day a week office requirement.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced offices to shutter across the globe, law firms, like other businesses, adopted flexible work from home policies. In the years that followed they’ve slowly moved back into the office with most law firms requiring their attorneys to work in the office at least three days a week.

Many of their clients, however, have already made the move back to the office full-time. Barclays PLC, Citigroup Inc., and HSBC Holdings PLC are now requiring their staff to be in the office 5 days a week.