The recent letter sent out by Morgan Stanley chief legal officer Eric Grossman asking his company’s outside counsel to service its matters in-person has raised a tricky question for law firms: How heavily do we weight clients’ requests for a in-office interaction against the popularity of hybrid work among attorneys—especially working parents?

It’s a question made more complicated by an ultra-competitive talent market. And it arises as some, with nearly 18 months of remote work informing their view, argue that the traditional law firm office perhaps isn’t the bastion of mentorship and talent development that some firm leaders assert it is.