The coronavirus pandemic forced the great majority of American lawyers to work from home for more than a year. Some found the experience miserable, but many others found aspects of it so satisfying that by the time offices reopened, their employers had been persuaded to permit them to work from home regularly on at least a part-time basis. What was it about the experiences during the pandemic that led to this major change in attitudes about working from home?
The University of Michigan Law School is the only law school in the United States that annually surveys samples of its graduates about their work, through a project that dates back to 1967. The questionnaires administered in 2022, 2023, and 2024 were expanded to include questions about the impacts of the pandemic. More than 800 full-time practitioners who had been out of law school for 5, 15, 25, 35, or 45 years responded, and more than half the respondents added comments in their own words. Here, in brief summary, is what was learned.
What has been the overall impact of the pandemic on your…
Impact Level | Productivity | Balance of work and family life | Relations with co-workers | Relations with clients | Income | Work experience overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Somewhat or quite positive | 36% | 60% | 12% | 15% | 30% | 45% |
Neutral or none | 42% | 20% | 36% | 65% | 62% | 29% |
Somewhat negative | 19% | 15% | 48% | 19% | 7% | 24% |
Quite negative | 3% | 5% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Michigan Law graduates practicing law full time during the pandemic, surveyed in 2022, 2023, and 2024 (n=819).
Class of 1979More time at home, which I welcome. Less time with colleagues and clients, which I regret.
Practitioners were asked about the impacts of the pandemic on five aspects of their work on a five-point scale from very positive to very negative. For four of the five aspects—productivity, client relationships, work-life balance, and income—more than three-quarters of respondents reported that the impact had been neutral or positive. Indeed, a full 60 percent reported positive impacts on their work and family life. For the fifth aspect, relationships with co-workers, nearly half reported somewhat negative impacts and five percent reported quite negative impacts. But for all five aspects, including relationships with co-workers, no more than five percent reported that the impacts had been quite negative.
These questions were followed by a summary question about the pandemic’s impact on the practitioners’ work experience overall. Forty-five percent said that the overall impact had been somewhat or quite positive, 29 percent said that it had been neutral, 24 percent that it had been somewhat negative, and 2 percent that it had been quite negative. As a whole, men were as likely as women to report positive impacts, graduates with young children as likely as those without, and those in private firms of varying sizes as likely as those in government or in-house counsel offices.
Regression analysis revealed that practitioners’ views of the pandemic’s overall impact on their work turned primarily on the pandemic’s impacts on their productivity and on their work-life balance. After taking those two impacts into account, the overall impact correlated only modestly with whatever impacts had been reported for co-worker relationships, client relationships, and income. Productivity and work-family balance were also the two aspects of work about which practitioners most frequently reported positive effects during the pandemic.
Over the next few years, do you expect to perform more of your work from home than you did prior to the pandemic?
Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
No | 17% |
Yes, somewhat more | 38% |
Yes, much more | 45% |
Total | 100% |
Practitioners who were not working from home half time or more prior to the pandemic (n=733).
Class of 1998Prior to the pandemic, I didn’t think I could work from home. Now, I can’t imagine going back 100%.
Asked about their expectations regarding working from home in the future, only 17 percent of practitioners planned to work at home no more than they had before the pandemic. The rest all expected to work from home more than before, and more than half of this group expected to work from home much more.
If the experiences of American lawyers in general were similar to those of Michigan’s graduates—and there is reason to believe that they were—it appears that the great shift toward working at home was driven overwhelmingly by practitioners’ discovery that they could get at least as much work done at home as at the office and that their quality of life was improved by spending more time at home, even if it was spent working. In the comments added by respondents, not a single person complained that the pandemic had deprived them of the opportunity to commute to and from an office five days a week.
A full report on the impacts of the pandemic on the Michigan graduates is available online at the website of the Law School’s Alumni Survey Project. It includes much more on the reasons why some practitioners were negatively affected during the pandemic and is enriched by the insights provided in the written comments of respondents. Visit the scholarship repository to read more.
More Alumni Perspectives
“I am more productive, happier, and healthier as a result of the pandemic forcing my employer to permit full or majority telework for my position.”—Class of 2007
“Reduction in commuting time alone saved me three hours per day. That's one more hour of sleep, one hour of exercise, and one more hour of work.”—Class of 1977
“Working from home was terrible while my young children were home full time but has been amazing since they went back to school.”—Class of 2009
“I do not work as well at home as I do in an office setting. I dislike not having a barrier between work and home.”—Class of 2019
“Having kids, I love the flexibility of [working from home]. On a day when I need to pick them up at 5, I can still work a full day and not have to spend time commuting.”—Class of 2008
“I embraced the technology that allowed me to work from home, such as cloud sharing of files and Zoom meetings and appearances.”—Class of 1989
“I miss having everyone working together in an office.”—Class of 1999
“Work-life separation was obliterated during the pandemic by the ‘you’re now always at the office’ approach my firm took.”—Class of 2019
“I don’t have children or caretaking responsibilities and was very isolated. I am happy to return to in-person work.”—Class of 1998
