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23 February 2024 / Nathan Peart
Issue: 8060 / Categories: Features , Profession , Career focus
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Navigating office returns & rebellions

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Nathan Peart explores the challenge of encouraging workers back to the office
  • Post-pandemic, law firms now want employees back in the office.
  • This creates a challenge as some employees resist.
  • Junior lawyers gain from mentorship and learning opportunities in the office.

After several attempts to find a new normal over the past few years, the current climate represents a shifting pattern in workplace culture. The office is increasingly resembling pre-pandemic life, which comes as a reality check for junior workers who have been used to a hybrid way of working. Law firms are a great example of these changes, where traditional values of client work first and a five-day office week seem to be making something of a comeback.

Amid a challenging economic climate and uncertain deal flow, corporate directive makes clear that executive leadership wants workers at their desks. Clients are asking what they are paying for in their service fees, and there is a strong emphasis that presenteeism will underpin a successful and sustained company culture. Meanwhile, there are continued mass layoffs and restructurings as businesses weather the turbulent

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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