The Outlook On Law Firm Attendance Policies In 2025

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

What’s happening in corporate America bolsters what the leader of a firm wants to happen in their firm. Sometimes they’ll use that to their advantage.

It doesn’t necessarily show up in the policy manual because it didn’t historically. The same way cultural expectations aren’t always black letter law in a firm’s policy guide, there’s an understanding of what’s expected.

— Kent Zimmermann, a law firm strategy consultant with the Zeughauser Group, in comments given to the American Lawyer, on law firm attendance expectations going forward in 2025. Although Zimmerman said that most firms would be unlikely to follow their clients’ policies, the possibility for stricter attendance requirements reminiscent of pre-pandemic norms could also arise.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.