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Let's make this thread for the other side.
I can think of no reason why all law firms should not work for home. The pandemic has showed us that left with no option, we can do WfH and make it work. Then why go back? If anything, wfh helps getting better talent (interns) to saving time (for associates and all).
Tell me why should offices open.
Do you mean offices opening or people not working from base locations? The second doesn't work because clients want physical meetings.
Tell them they can't have it in the light of the pandemic. Or is groveling to every client demand your way of compensating for your substandard work quality? Sadly, that's the way most Indian law firms work though.
The amount of stupidity in this comment is only matched by the amount of arrogance.
Because everything is opening up, why shouldn't we? (Read in sarcasm)
I've had this conversation with my Partner and he came up with two reasons:

1. Working from office is 'normal'. WFH was abnormal. Normalcy is to be restored.

2. Clients want to see headcount. Client might not trust the Partner with work if client can't see enough lawyers staffed on the matter.

I leave it up to y'all to critique the reasons.
If head count is such a concern, let's just stop using group IDs. Problem solved.
2 here. I don't understand how the second reason works as clients hardly come to office and inspect the number of people hunched at desks. If he was referring to meetings, he may have a point. The first reason is illogical but is driving a lot of thinking at law firms and other organizations.
Nature of my team/practice is such that all clients (except few friends and family of the Partner) are foreign. 80% of these clients are never going to step a foot in India let alone the office of their lawyer. Khuda jaane office aake headcount kon dekhega.
LKS has just told the dec interns that the offline internship is now virtual
What is even the point of asking this question on Li? Anyone who supports working from office is going to be downvoted.
Because people like you will waste time such as posting such worthless posts rather than working
Full disclosure, I side with - "team work from home", and I have no desire or intention to go back to office. Pertinently, I have always been a good worker with high billable hours and high utilisation. These figures have only gone up during the last year and a half. While work has definitely increased, I appreciate not having to waste time travelling or getting ready for office, etc. Being at home also inspires me to finish my deliverables earlier to "steal" moments with my family throughout the day. It has been great for my own mental health. But I also feel drained as I can see that I am being piled with more work compared to other resources.

In my experience, wfh have made it really difficult to get work / efficiency from associates who have always been, for a lack of better word, kaam-chor. I have observed that associates who generally tend to hop around work seems to be utilising the wfh model to, (i) fake capacities, (ii) playing seniors against each other, (iii) lying, (iv) padding timesheets, etc.

Interestingly, associates who have always been hard working seem to be getting the sharp end of the stick - because work is piling on them. Simply, in the wfo model, you could visually appreciate an associate dying, however, as that is no longer true, seniors are piling work on the good resources as poor resources are faking availability. And if the good resources cry lack of bandwidth, they are generally met with, "find time", or "you will manage", or "this won't take much time" etc. This is causing a faster burn out of good resources. From a senior's perspective, as the poor associates are getting more slippery to get hold of, the reliance or rather the over-reliance on the good associates cannot be helped.

Based on the above, I think, we need to go back to office. I wish we did not have to. But, the dead weights have fucked us all - once again. And this is not a law firm sensitive issue. I have the privilege of having friendships with various folks engaged in upper management positions of many corporate houses, and they echo the same sentiment. Many observe that efficiency has seen a sharp decline after the first few months of work from home.

My solution: I think partners should be given the authority of determine who needs to comes to office, and for how many days a week. If associates perform poorly, they can be dis-incentived by forcing them to office multiple days a week (even 5 / 6 days). I am aware that this has at least 2 downsides, (i) the poor workers, as always, will find a way to not work, and (ii) psychopathic partners will just call everyone to office to feed their ego / disfunction. Irrespective, given that I work with a decent partner, I want this model, to avail wfh as much as possible.

Thank you for coming to my rant / ted talk.
I've stopped being a productive worker in office on purpose.

In WFH I had a reward for finishing work quickly, I could do things I like, hang out with people I liked, step out for a swim, etc. Obviously my team doesn't know how quick I am because I'm not stupid to take on more work than bare minimum.

In WFO, it doesn't matter if I'm done with deliverable by 3pm if I've to sit in a soulless cubicle till 7pm anyway. Might as well sit on the office toilet for hours and do some scientific research. I would've sent the deliverable at 5pm, but since I'm in office, you'll get it at 8pm when I hit send with a packed bag in hand.
I wish i were this smart from the beginning. By the time i realised this, the damage was done.
I also learnt it the hard way. If you're quick, never ever leave any hints how quick you are. Good work is only rewarded with more work. Don't kill yourself over lul bonus and titles, it's not worth it.