Most in-house lawyers prefer to work from home

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Most in-house lawyers are reluctant to make a full-time return to the office, with many preferring to work from home, according to a survey reported by the Law Gazette.

The survey of 350 in-house lawyers based in the UK and US discovered that 66% would like their employer to implement a permanent work from home policy. According to The Law Gazette, the survey findings were based on “responses from 100 lawyers in the UK land 250 in the US”.

The pandemic has accelerated the working public’s love for working from home because it offers a degree of flexibility they’ve never had before. The benefits of remote working don’t stop with employees – it has also boosted “fully digital law firms, who enable lawyers to work as consultants working remotely – often joining in-house legal teams on secondment.”

Mark Rhodes, managing director of software supplier ContractWorks, which commissioned the survey research, said: “Like most sectors, there is now a real appetite amongst in-house lawyers, both in the UK and the US, to be able to work from home for good.”

Last month City A.M. reported that the majority of in-house lawyers now work from home, “with almost half of Britain’s in-house lawyers working from the office full time”. The article lays out numerous reasons for in-house lawyers preferring the office environment, including “an opportunity to get away from home” and to use “better equipment”.

If you’re interested in the interesting and varied work that an in-house career offers, read this LCN Feature: ‘In-house training contracts and careers’.