Impact of COVID on work practices for Lawyers in Caboolture

If there is one learning for Caboolture Law Firms to come from the COVID pandemic it is that, for the most part, lawyers enjoy working from home. There has been an overall acceptance of flexible working arrangements and a desire to embrace this pattern of work in the future.

As the western world starts to transition back to an office environment, we are witnessing a new normal, one where there is a desire to utilise existing and new technologies to enable workplace flexibility. To truly embrace this new flexible culture, solicitors should be thinking "remote first" and "digital by default"

Lawyers, by nature of their profession, are knowledge workers. Hence, they are ideally positioned to work in a remote model. Most of the tools used by a lawyer are digital and those that are not can be transitioned to digital using new technologies. The tasks completed by a lawyer daily can be dissected into individual tasks and their outcomes are quantified in the form of billable hours. The need to meet with a client face to face is becoming less frequent, and when it is required can be completed using conferencing software.

It has already been noted that some of the world's largest businesses are already moving to a remote-first model. These include companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. Once a vaccine for COVID has been found and the world returns to "normal" there is already an expectation that these businesses will remain in a remote working model.

There are many reasons why a Caboolture Law Firm would want to embrace flexible working arrangements.

Cost Saving for Caboolture Lawyers

First, the health and happiness of employees. Removing the need for a stressful and time-consuming daily commute has been a positive outcome for everyone. With more autonomy and time in their day, employees get more done.

Second is the considerable cost savings. That piece of floor underneath your lawyers' desk is expensive. With more employees working from home, the need to maintain large offices is reduced. Already some law firms have terminated their lease and moved to a virtual operating model. If your legal office is located in a high traffic area, more marketing expenditure may be required to keep your brand in front of local consumers.

Third is the cost of hiring legal talent. With legal expertise available globally, working remotely opens your legal hiring to the world, including countries where legal talent is less expensive. Remote workers do not need to be in a similar time zone. This also opens the opportunity for a workplace with extended hours. Clients would have the ability to chose when they want to access legal services, which is a significant enhancement to their experience.

The legal industry has existed for centuries. There are many years of traditional rules, behaviours and business structure that has been reinforced by this lengthy history. Larger firms can sometimes have a tendency to view their employees as a resource as opposed to a human being with needs and personal commitments.

Possibly one positive outcome of the current pandemic is that the need for virtual meetings has seen law firm management exposed to the private environments of their employees. To some extent, they have had a "humanising" impact on the perception of their employees.