The COVID-19 pandemic brought sweeping and abrupt changes to the legal profession. Some change—the improved use of technology and increased efficiencies for many attorneys, for example—was long needed. But this summer, as we seemed poised to exit the remote environment and return to our offices (in some capacity or another), high-ranking attorneys at firms and in-house began to question the long-term effects of the remote environment.

Among some of the more prominent voices emerged a push for a complete return to the traditional model: attorneys in the office every day. This call for a return to “normalcy” has raised an important question: In a global pandemic, which has thrust change upon the legal profession, how do we emerge with lessons learned and without losing the ever-important emphasis on key principles, such as client and attorney relationships?

Client Relationships