It’s becoming more and more obvious that Biglaw firms want associates to be stationed behind their desks. One by one, leading law firms have been rolling out attendance mandates that up the ante for time spent working from the office. It now looks like yet another top law firm will be issuing a four-day directive for across much of the globe.
Cooley — a firm that brought in $2,152,017,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 24 on the Am Law 100 — recently announced that it will increase its in-person attendance policy to four days each week. This new requirement is set to begin on January 1, 2026, and will affect all attorneys working in the U.S. and Europe. Happy New Year?
Maybe Cooley associates shouldn’t complain about the new policy just yet. As noted by the American Lawyer, some of the firm’s lawyers are spending even more time in the office:
Though the change at Cooley affects European and U.S. offices, some of the firm’s offices in Asia have already been working in the office five days a week, a source familiar with the firm noted.
Quite a few Biglaw firms are now requiring four days in the office firmwide, including the likes of Davis Polk; Latham; Paul Weiss; Ropes & Gray; Simpson Thacher; Skadden; Vinson & Elkins; Weil Gotshal; WilmerHale; White & Case; Sidley; Hogan Lovells; A&O Shearman; Covington; and DLA Piper (corporate associates). Sullivan & Cromwell has taken its attendance policy one step further, requiring attorneys to work from the office five days each week.
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Cooley Mandates 4-Day In-Office Policy in 2026 [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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