Spencer Fane Chair Pat Whalen shared a leader’s perspective on the return of in-office work for the legal industry in a recent article by The American Lawyer.
The article – The Office Has Gotten Better for Interaction, but Worse for Individual Work – analyzes the findings of a recent Gensler survey. The report indicates that legal industry professionals are less likely to work in-office than their peers. Speaking with reporter Andrew Maloney, Pat expressed an understanding of why working from home appeals to lawyers.
“I don’t think you can overstate the lawyer’s need for autonomy … folks are constantly scrutinizing their investment of time,” Pat said. “A lawyer is going to be thinking about ‘that hour commute, round trip, is an hour I could bill or do business development.’”
Spencer Fane operates on a hybrid model designed to give attorneys the autonomy to work from home while also capitalizing on the many benefits of in-office work. Its approach is tied to preserving a culture in which collaboration and autonomy are prioritized as values that support professional development.
As the firm has remained committed to these core values, which also include intellectual humility and diversity, equity and inclusion, Spencer Fane has experienced a decade of double-digit revenue growth and national expansion that has earned the firm recognition and a place on the Am Law 200. Pat recently discussed the drivers behind this evolution in The American Lawyer.
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