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The challenges and benefits of remote and hybrid working.
Professional services have undoubtedly changed since COVID-19, but there are wide variations in different sectors and within legal services. Colleagues working in finance tell me that their sector is pretty much back in the office, but the picture in the legal sector is much more mixed. Legal Futures found that 58 per cent were hybrid working, 13 per cent fully remote and 29 per cent in the office full time.
1‘Economic uncertainty “taking its toll” on lawyers’, Legal Futures, 24 July 2023. The majority of lawyers preferred hybrid or remote working. A poll of the group attending a workshop on this topic at the Legal Aid Practitioners Group annual conference on 9 November 2023 confirmed that their experiences were similar.
During the pandemic, The Law Society’s
Junior Solicitors Network became concerned about the impact that remote working was having on its members. It developed some useful guidance, which has been updated.
2Supervision: good practice for remote supervision of junior staff and trainee solicitors, The Law Society, last updated 27 July 2022. The guidance shares helpful examples of how practices can avoid pitfalls and make the most of the flexibility remote/hybrid working can offer. It emphasises the importance of junior staff communicating regularly in person when possible, and using video conferencing software (such as Teams) and telephone calls as well as the ubiquitous emails. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has also developed guidance, which includes examples of arrangements that it thinks represent good practice as well as what to avoid.
3Effective supervision – guidance, Solicitors Regulation Authority, 23 November 2022.Many people have developed new routines that are better for their work/life balance and they are reluctant to go back to their old ways. A study by the American Bar Association found that young lawyers feel so strongly about remote working that 44 per cent of respondents said they would leave their current jobs for a greater ability to work remotely elsewhere.
4Roberta D Liebenberg and Stephanie A Scharf, Where does the legal profession go from here? Lawyers tell us how and where they want to work, American Bar Association, 28 September 2022, page vi. BigHand found that almost as many would leave if they had to attend the office more than three days a week.
5Dan Bindman, ‘Lawyers “will walk” if hybrid working demands not met’, Legal Futures, 26 July 2022. However, it also found that around 40 per cent of solicitors’ firms wanted staff to increase their days in the office, due to the challenges presented by managing staff remotely and a perceived drop in productivity. However, this may be due to innate conservatism by mangers, as two-thirds of respondents said they were equally productive when working remotely.
The Legal Aid Agency has changed the contract specifications to make them more flexible and appropriate for hybrid working. From 1 November 2023, it changed the
Standard Civil Contract 2018 to make it consistent with the
Standard Crime Contract 2022. However, practices now need to be able to justify a decision not to provide face-to-face, in-person supervision. Practices may decide to adopt different systems for people with different levels of experience so that more experienced people receive less face-to-face, in-person supervision compared with less experienced members of staff.
Standard Civil Contract Specification 2018 amended text para 2.21 (pages 18–19)
6The wording is the same in the Standard Crime Contract Specification 2022, where the relevant para numbers are 2.17 and 2.19.Arrangements must be in place to ensure that each Supervisor is able to conduct their role effectively including but not limited to:
(a) designating time to conduct supervision of each Caseworker;
(b) designating at least one day per calendar month to be in attendance at each Office at which they supervise staff where you determine that this is required (which must coincide with attendance by staff supervised); and
(c) ensuring that the level of supervision provided reflects the skills, knowledge and experience of the individual Caseworker (new wording in bold).
Standard Civil Contract Specification 2018 amended text para 2.23 (page 19)
Where a Caseworker undertakes Contract Work in a location other than where their Supervisor is based, the Supervisor must conduct, as a minimum, face to face supervision at least once per calendar month with the parties present in the same physical location where you determine that this is required (new wording in bold).
Developing a system that works for your practice
Remote/hybrid working is here to stay and successful practices will be making the most of the flexibility it offers, having worked through the most common issues:
•data protection and information security;
•providing the right tools;
•clear processes so that people know when their supervisor is available;
•clear targets for performance and ways of measuring it; and
•support to prevent overwork, stress and burnout.