With a cellphone, laptop and WiFi access, your office can travel with you anywhere you choose to go. Justin Horrocks / iStockphoto.com Click here to see full sized version.

Technology and pressures for a better work-life balance have opened up possibilities for lawyers to ply their trade using alternatives to the traditional law office. However, it remains to be seen whether these approaches will ever totally catch on as viable business models for law firms.

Many companies now offer alternative work arrangements for their employees through such options as telecommuting and “hotelling,” where employees no longer have assigned desks or cubicles, but instead work through laptop computers and use temporary office space at their company as needed. The Globe and Mail reported recently that IBM is moving to such a model for its 19,000 employees in Canada, freeing up the 60 per cent of employees who still have their own desks. The article noted that many IBM employees already work from home and communicate with each other virtually.

Canadian law firms have also followed this trend, with many offering flexible work arrangements to their lawyers. One firm which has embraced this approach is Toronto-based Cognition LLP, which provides a range of legal services in the corporate and commercial area. Its lawyers usually work from home and only occasionally will visit the firm’s office, which is an open concept space without cubicles or offices, according to partner Rubsun Ho.

Technology such as laptops, cell phones and Internet access has driven this change, according to Ho. “It’s so much easier to communicate with clients now compared to even five years ago,” he noted, adding that many of his firm’s clients are technology companies that are more used to such flexible arrangements.

Nonetheless, he does acknowledge that working at home can be isolating and that people need the “collegiality” that comes through interacting with other lawyers, as well as the opportunity to collaborate with others. To this end, his firm encourages all of its lawyers to get together and socialize every few months. “Some people have no idea who others are and this allows them to find out more about their practice,” said Ho.

Ho also acknowledged that such work approaches are not necessarily ideal for all legal work, noting in particular that it may not be that useful for projects that are paper-intensive, such as significant due diligence.

With commercial rents as high as they are, such approaches would appear to make some financial sense as well. According to law firm consultant David Taylor, “it’s a landlord’s market,” with rates in prime buildings increasing approximately 50 per cent in the last two years. He noted that many professional service firms are eschewing larger offices, including partner’s corner offices, and moving to such things as standardized furniture and smaller offices.

In law, another factor appears to be a desire by firms to offer a better work-life balance for lawyers. According to a recent study by Catalyst Canada, work-life balance considerations outstrip law firms’ typical retention strategies of offering competitive compensation and the opportunity to advance. The study showed that both men and women expressed their desire for an environment more supportive of family and personal commitments and more control over work schedules, although there are some gender differences. “There is a clear gender gap in perceptions regarding work-life balance: male partners perceive that their firms provide effective leadership and visible role models for work-life balance. But other lawyers, especially women associates, don’t agree,” according to Deborah Gillis of Catalyst, a research and advisory organization working to advance women in business.

As a result of this desire for a better balance, the Catalyst study indicated that 85 per cent of participating professional service firms in the U.S. and Canada had flexible work policies in place and one in four Canadian law firm lawyers reported using a flexible work arrangement, which could include part-time or reduced work options and the option to telecommute from home.

However, according to Gillis, most of these lawyers also “see this as a career limiting move.” She added that these feelings are compounded for women lawyers, who had more negative feelings about participating in flexible work arrangements. For example, their study showed that more than half of the women who used flexible work arrangements said that participation limited their professional development and made them appear less committed to their firms, while only 21 per cent of men felt the same way. Cognition’s Ho acknowledged this pressure, noting that, flexible options aside, face time at the firm is still vital. “The reality is that firms might offer flexibility, but it is still important to show up in the office.”