Reed Smith, Weil, Pillsbury Enact Remote Working To Stave Off Coronavirus
A growing number of law firms are adopting remote working plans in earnest to ward against the pandemic.
March 13, 2020 at 10:46 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
This story has been updated to include information about Pillsbury and Weil Gotshal and to note the death of a staff member from the U.S. firm Davis Wright Tremaine.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues with no end in sight, a growing number of law firms on Friday announced plans to have the vast majority of their lawyers and staff begin working remotely.
Reed Smith's workforce began working remotely on Friday, according to a firm spokesperson. On Monday lawyers and staff at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Weil, Gotshal & Manges will also begin working remotely en masse—or in Weil's case, in shifts.
The three firms have 3,500 lawyers between them, not including staff, according to ALM data. Spokespeople for each of the firms said none of their employees have tested positive for the coronavirus.
"With the uncertainty and the rapidly evolving situation around the COVID-19 outbreak, Reed Smith has decided to take additional preventative steps to protect our people, our clients and the firm's business continuity," a Reed Smith spokesperson said.
Reed Smith and Pillsbury said their offices will remain open and manned by skeleton staff. Weil is taking a different approach—the firm is dividing its lawyers and staff into two groups, who will alternate working from home on a weekly basis. The firm is doing this so as to "reduce the number of people spending time together in close contact," Weil said.
The announcements come as Big Law begins to switch in earnest to remote work following the international outbreak of the coronavirus. Many law firm leaders said earlier this week that they have remote-working protocols in place and believe it can work as a short-term solution.
None of the law firms have said how long they plan to keep these working arrangements up, posing a major test for an industry that is built on relationships.
In Washington State—the site of a major coronavirus outbreak—Davis Wright Tremaine said Friday that it has closed its Seattle and Bellevue offices after a 60-year-old staff member went home earlier in the week with flu-like symptoms and was found dead in her home Thursday.
Other full or partial law firm closures this week, including at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, were in reaction to confirmed cases or potential exposures to COVID-19.
"We will regularly evaluate our position based on the best available health information. We are keeping our workforce informed of developments, and we will of course keep our clients informed as well," a Reed Smith spokesperson said.
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