If you phone Robert Hinerfeld at his Manatt, Phelps & Phillips office in West Los Angeles, he’ll most likely pick up the call at his desk overlooking the swimming pool in his leafy Santa Monica backyard. Hinerfeld sets his phone at the law firm to bounce calls to his home whenever he chooses to work there, as he does three or four days a week.
He lives just a 12-minute drive from the office, so he can dash in if necessary. But it rarely is. “Face-to-face communication is nice,” he says. “Sometimes it’s irreplaceable. But that’s not always the way people work these days. With modern technology, we’ve gotten used to not seeing people.”
