Time to bring forth the button-down shirts and slacks and nice dresses and skirts again as law firms, like other businesses nationwide, tell staff to return to their offices, at least some of the time. And rather than one hard-and-fast schedule emerging, firms are putting into practice a variety of in-office attendance policies. 

Flexibility seems to be the key. Some firms require attorneys to show up at least three days a week while others suggest that timetable, according to a recent survey of 70 firms from Savills.

On average, about 55% of attorneys are working from their office at least three days a week. And the most popular days to do so are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays—giving attorneys long weekends to work remotely at either end of the work week. The vast majority or 63% of firms don't suggest which day their attorneys must come in, which has become known as an "anchor" or mandated day. But if a firm has such a requirement, it's more likely to be a larger firm with more than 250 attorneys who do so, and that segment equaled 43%. Very few firms suggest or mandate a four- or five-day-a-week in-office schedule.