Vinson & Elkins Cuts Remote Work to Monday or Friday

Vinson & Elkins is requiring lawyers and staff to work in the office four days a week, joining some Big Law peers who have made the move.

The “four-day model” will start Sept. 11, according to an internal email from the executive committee viewed by Bloomberg Law. Employees must use Monday or Friday as their remote day. The memo noted that those with pre-approved remote work arrangements are unaffected.

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Ropes & Gray have previously announced they will require lawyers to be in the office four times per week.

Vinson & Elkins had adopted an in-office policy three days per week since March 2022. “In recent months, the legal and professional services market has shifted with a growing number of firms—as well as clients—moving to a four-day model,” the firm said in the email.

“We also continue to hear from many of you that some of the connectivity that we highly value is jeopardized when a substantial number of our people are away from the office on any given day,” the email said. “As has always been the case, we support remote flexibility when the situation calls for it and ask that you use your best judgment in consultation with your team.”

Other firms have stepped up enforcement of a three-days-per-week rule. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sidley Austin have threatened to withhold associate bonus money from those who do not show up on the required days.