This is just one of the reasons it was named a Best Law Firm for Women.
The world has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly eight months, creating personal and professional challenges that have made adjusting to our new reality especially difficult for some. Adding to an already stressful situation, many professionals are working parents who are juggling caregiving, virtual learning and other responsibilities in addition to professional priorities. At Faegre Drinker, we recognized the vital importance of quickly and thoughtfully adapting to the changing needs of colleagues–but doing so virtually was uncharted territory for our firm.
Faegre Drinker transitioned to a remote work environment in March 2020, just one month after our firm’s formation through the combination Drinker Biddle & Reath and Faegre Baker Daniels. We have offered colleagues the option to continue to work virtually through at least the remainder of the year and are proud of how well our new firm has adapted to the remote work setting, with more than 2,700 attorneys, consultants, professionals, and operations and administrative staff around the globe working from the firm’s virtual network to serve our clients and collaborate with one another.
Creating tools for collaboration was an early and continuing focus in our virtual environment and as a newly combined firm. Though we miss seeing each other in person, we are thankful for the technologies that enable us to stay well-connected across our global platform including WebEx, Skype for Business and Jabber. Beyond meetings and virtual chats, we look for meaningful ways to maintain our sense of community and offer tips on wellness and staying connected with our colleagues and clients in our weekly Living in a Virtual World e-newsletter. Our “Faegre Drinker Family” campaign encourages colleagues to share selfies of their “co-workers” (including those with four legs). To help those with children at home gain back a few minutes of quiet time, the firm hosted a virtual story time where members of the leadership team read children’s books to Faegre Drinker families across our global platform via WebEx.
The firm’s commitment to supporting colleagues has continued to evolve these past months. Our leadership team consistently seeks feedback on how the firm can help colleagues manage remote work and work-life balance needs. This effort extends beyond working parents to support the full firm. On September 1, we launched a “Thrive Together” campaign including a Remote Resources Fund for all firm employees to help with the purchase of home office equipment–a better desk chair, monitor, sit-stand desk, Wi-Fi booster, etc.–to support more effective remote work. The Remote Resources Fund can also be used for childcare, grocery delivery, tutoring or other unanticipated expenses in our virtual environment.
Working effectively extends beyond equipment to connectivity and productivity. With those focuses in mind, our technology team launched a “Back to School Special” to help colleagues make the best use of the home technology systems as well as students’ virtual learning environments. A short survey helps identify the technology needs of our colleagues or students and connects them with one of our technology experts for a 1:1 session, small group session or written resources to help resolve the technology challenges. To accommodate busy schedules, this tech concierge service is offered during business hours and in the evenings.
And finally, the firm is offering a Bright Horizons benefit service across our full platform to help connect colleagues with nannies, sitters, eldercare, pet care and housekeepers, as well as learning pods and learning resources, test prep, tutoring and more. The Remote Resources Fund can be applied to these services to help colleagues balance the challenges of remote work and personal priorities.
These efforts have been met with appreciation by many colleagues. By continually seeking feedback, listening to different perspectives and focusing on technology and innovation, Faegre Drinker has expanded our support programs these past months and will continue to evolve our efforts in the future. We will keep looking for ways to support our working parents and all our colleagues as we navigate through these uncertain times. While no one can know exactly what the future will bring, at Faegre Drinker we know that we are better together.
Gina Kastel and Judy Reich are executive partners at Faegre Drinker and Jane Koehl serves as the firm’s chief operating officer.
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This is just one of the reasons it was named a Best Law Firm for Women.
Based in New York, New York, Faegre Drinker was named a Best Law Firm for Women.
