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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

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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