The Diverging Values of Law Firms: Tech Advancement vs. Back to Office

A Tale of Two Trajectories: Law Firms and Flexibility

The technology supporting the legal world continues to advance at a skyrocketing pace. From AI-powered research to automation, cloud services, and security tools, law firms now run more efficiently than ever. Among the many benefits, these tech advancements have something very specific in common: they support remote and hybrid work.

As legal tech moves ahead toward digital flexibility, many law firms are heading in the opposite direction, calling their employees back to the office and anchoring in a more traditional workplace model. Meanwhile, attorneys seeking new job prospects are putting remote or flexible options on the top of their new firm wish lists.

This growing disconnect between the tools firms invest in and the cultures they cultivate raises an important question: what kind of progress do law firms really value?

While it doesn’t seem like a rebellion against technology and innovation, it is a complex push and pull of tradition, mentorship, control, and growth. This is a fascinating divergence in how law firms define progress in practice.

The Legal Industry’s Push Back to the Office

Over the past year, remote hiring has taken a dip across the legal industry. What was once considered a progressive, even necessary, solution has begun to decline. According to Smokeball’s State of Law report, only 24% of law firms hired remote staff in the past year — a notable drop from the previous year. Supporters of the back-to-office movement cite various motivations, including mentorship, culture, and collaboration. Many feel that it’s about ensuring junior associates gain in-person mentorship opportunities, and others are hoping to see higher productivity through proximity.  

As we see instances like JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon states that he believes return to office policies foster innovation and career development, it’s clear this isn’t unique to law alone. However, it’s especially pronounced here, with a 10% year-on-year increase in firms operating fully in-office. But while firms double down on in-person culture, the software they invest in tells a different story. tells a different story.

Meanwhile, Legal Tech is Running in the Opposite Direction

In contrast, the legal technology sector is continuously optimizing for a distributed workplace. Modern practice management systems are designed with mobility at their core, enabling seamless access to documents, communication threads, calendars, and case files from virtually anywhere. Firms are increasingly adopting these platforms that emphasize digital collaboration: video conferencing integrations, cloud-based document sharing, secure messaging tools, remote case tracking, and more.

Most law firms understand that embracing tech is no longer optional, but essential for expanded services, growth and competitiveness, and increasingly invest evolving capabilities. So, it raises the question: if these tools are built to support flexibility, should firms not also consider embracing the same working model?  

With these remote supported functions, the technology ecosystem is clearly gearing toward decentralization, despite the back-to-office mindset of law firms.  

The Cost of Divergence  

Why are law firms walking one way while their tools sprint the other? The divergence likely stems from a mix of factors:

• Deep-seated tradition and visibility culture
• Concerns around confidentiality, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance
• A strong belief in in-person mentorship and development

It’s true that hybrid technology doesn’t fully replicate spontaneous collaboration or nuanced learnings that can occur face to face. But the question remains: what is the cost of not adapting to it? The disconnect between what firms say they value (innovation, growth, flexibility) and what they enforce (face time, visibility, tradition), risks alienating new talent, particularly young associates seeking more autonomy in a modern hybrid work environment.  

In fact, Stacey Dugan, a law attorney-turned-therapist notes that "return to office" mandates are one of the top stressors that her clients cite today. When young attorney’s consider a work place, flexibility and technology are key decision makers for them.  

And, purely from an economic standpoint, having remote or hybrid options means less time sitting in traffic (some associates save over two hours of their day by this fact alone) and more time billing.  

Alignment for the Future

Law firms aren’t wrong to value in-person connection, collaboration, or mentorship. But as legal technology continues to evolve toward flexibility and remote access, firms face a decision point. Investing and committing to innovation means more than adopting the best tools; it means aligning those tools with workplace expectations and firm values.

The real challenge isn’t remote vs. in-person work, it’s whether firms can reconcile legacy practices with digital transformation in a way that retains talent, fosters trust, and cultural openness. And like all things, evolution takes time. A hybrid work model may be the happy middle ground for both flexibility and seamless collaboration.