Lawyers still working some of the time from home are struggling with the burden of administrative work and taking on extra tasks, new research has found.

Polling of more than 800 lawyers with big firms in the UK and North America found that almost a quarter of hybrid workers are doing more themselves rather than delegating. More than a quarter also said lawyers did not know who to delegate work to in a hybrid world.

The research by legal software company BigHand found that half of firms rely on manual processes for the management of every aspect of support functions, causing support staff to be over or under-utilised and increasing inefficiency. Almost half (49%) of firms believe support staff are used less because of hybrid working, with the implication that lawyers are performing these tasks themselves.

The BigHand report said: ‘There is no doubt that the current hybrid model isn’t working – especially for lawyers who are compelled to undertake more administrative work due to the lack of visibility and engagement with their support function. With clients now demanding complete transparency of resource utilisation and refusing to pay for administrative work undertaken by lawyers, write-offs are inevitable.’

The problem is exacerbated, says the report, when staff want more remote working at a time when 75% of firms in the survey say they have seen a drop in client demand in the last year.

The same survey last year found just half of firms had mandated the number of days staff needed to be in the office, with only 58% of staff complying.

This year, not only are firms encouraging staff to spend more time in the office but 89% confirm that they are now fully complying with their firm’s rules with hybrid policies, underlining firm management’s tolerance for flexible working has continued to decline.

Anecdotally, there is evidence of partners demanding increased associate visibility and linking allocation of work and career development to presenteeism. But in the survey, just a quarter of respondents confirmed that the hybrid policy for partners was four or more days a week in the office, while 31% of associates are expected to be in the office four or more days a week.

More than a quarter (26%) said their firm’s hybrid working policy could be improved by reducing the number of days they have to be in the office. Additionally, almost a third (31%) would also like to have more flexible working hours.

 

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