Advocacy Matters - Spring 2024

yourself alone and logging into videoconferences
that could have been done in pyjamas. Today,
Goodmans’ lawyers have flexibility on off days
but are guaranteed three days with critical
mass, in-person meetings and bagels.
There are alternatives to return-to-work mandates,
Erin Durant explains. Her firm, formed
in the spring of 2021, has been entirely remote
from the beginning. She notes that her firm
is not alone – Quinn Emanuel, one of the largest
and “most feared” 1 litigation firms in the
world, takes a “work from anywhere” approach.
With the right combination of people, technology,
and a plan for connecting with her team
in place, Erin has built a single cohesive unit of
lawyers and staff across Ontario. She notes that
scalability may be difficult, since remote work
favours team members who can work independently
with less mentorship. Erin does find
her ability to mentor and supervise in a remote
environment is constrained.
Despite different models, David, Tamryn and
Erin enjoy the same vision of a collegial, collaborative
and cohesive firm. Their lessons:
All the good that comes from a physical office
cannot be achieved without critical mass; not
every employee is well suited to work from
anywhere, even if they want to; and working
remote requires tremendous diligence, coordination
and organization to overcome the obstacles
of teams not being physically present.
These lessons are good ones, no matter the
model involved, and perhaps they all point to
that elusive “fit” that firms have always said we
need. Neither model is intrinsically better, but
now more than ever, employees and employers
need to find the right working relationships that
fit their mutual needs and schedules.
Note
1. https://www.quinnemanuel.com/the-firm/news-esvents/quinnemanuel-is-the-1-most-feared-law-firm-in-the-world/
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