While we had all hoped that by the end of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic would be in the rearview mirror, it is now obvious that COVID-19 will continue impacting the world well into 2021. With that in mind, we can look back at what law firms did (or did not do) well for young lawyers in their handling of the pandemic thus far, and look forward to what firms need to keep doing (or do better) in 2021.

Let’s start first with the decision to close physical offices and move to remote work. This was obviously the correct decision from a health and safety perspective. But beyond that, law firms deserve high praise for seamlessly moving to remote work, particularly since most firm leaders would have said in the pre-pandemic world that it was impossible to move an entire law firm to remote work, even over years. (This is a good reminder to treat skeptically pronouncements by law firm leaders that unconventional ideas are “impossible.”)