Among early career lawyers, preferences may be shifting towards in-person work options and away from fully remote schedules. A recent survey of 2018 law school graduates found that satisfaction levels were lowest among those employed in full-time remote positions, as compared to those in hybrid or in-person roles. The National Association for Law Placement’s (NALP) Class of 2018 Study of Law School Employment & Satisfaction is the latest annual effort designed to gauge the experiences of early career legal professionals. It includes responses from nearly 1500 alumni from 30 law schools working in law firms (51 percent of respondents), businesses and corporations (14 percent), and government agencies (13 percent).
Likely due to the longevity of the pandemic and the accessibility of vaccines, the responses from the class of 2018 demonstrate a shift in attitude away from remote work and towards in-person options, relative to 2017 respondents.
The Class of 2018 reported lower satisfaction with fully remote working options than those in 2017. Among those working remotely, 79 percent of 2018 graduates reported satisfaction compared to 83 percent of 2017 graduates.
Both the class of 2017 and the class of 2018 reported the highest satisfaction with a hybrid schedule, although the class of 2018’s satisfaction ticked down compared to the previous class. Among 2018 graduates working hybrid schedules, 83 percent reported satisfaction while 88 percent of 2017 graduates reported satisfaction.
Among lawyers working fully in the office, satisfaction ticked up one percentage point for 2018 graduates (82 percent) compared to 2017 (81 percent).
While many firms expect to continue a hybrid approach with time split between the office and remote, some have returned to fully in-person schedules. And a few have recently announced their intention to allow lawyers to continue to work remotely on a full-time basis.