Survey of Lawyers at Major Law Firms, Videoconferencing vs in-Person Work Practices

Survey of Lawyers at Major Law Firms, Videoconferencing vs in-Person Work Practices

Political views may also be a factor in how employees view a law firm's policies on working from home. Liberal or Social Democratic employees are the most likely to feel that their firms encourage working from home, with more than 83% 20.83% finding acceptable, encouraged or even required while all attorneys left of liberal also fell into one of these categories. Conservatives and centrists were less likely to share these feelings.

The study provides valuable insights into how lawyers at major law firms perceive the advantages and disadvantages of working from home, as well as the extent of their use of various videoconferencing platforms in their professional lives. Data is presented separately for use of Zoom, WebEx, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.  In addition the report gives detailed data on the extent of interactions with clients and -- in a separate data set -- with coworkers -- that are conducted via videoconferencing rather than in person.  Respondents also evaluate the direction their firms’ are going in terms of work from home and general videoconferencing use. The report's readers can benchmark their use of work from home, and general videoconferencing strategy, with a data set derived from major law firms, which are listed in an appendix. In addition, survey participants evaluate the impact of videoconferencing and work from home on their personal productivity, providing critical data and insights for law firms struggling with these issues and technologies.