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Law360 (September 1, 2020, 9:36 PM EDT) -- Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP will keep its attorneys working remotely at least through the end of the year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the firm confirmed on Tuesday.
With many of its employees "facing significant logistical issues" — for instance, some have elderly parents or school-age children who are returning to virtual instruction in the fall — the firm opted to keep everyone working remotely at least until Jan. 1, according to an Aug. 19 email sent to Schulte Roth staff by co-managing partners David Efron and Marc Elovitz.
Though the firm said it transitioned "remarkably well" to telework, the challenges facing employees remain as the novel coronavirus continues to spread, according to the email, which the firm confirmed on Tuesday.
"Our SRZ community has pulled together during these challenging times and we are grateful to be a part of it," Efron and Elovitz wrote in the email.
Schulte Roth ranked 140th on the annual Law360 400 list released in June, with 330 attorneys including 74 partners. It has offices in New York, Washington, D.C., and London, according to its website.
Unlike at other firms, employee pay at Schulte Roth has not been affected by the pandemic, a spokesperson told Law360 on Tuesday. In May, the firm confirmed that it had scaled back this year's summer associate program to five weeks, with the associates to be compensated for the 11-week program as it was originally planned.
Reed Smith LLP also confirmed to Law360 on Monday that it will let its U.S. employees continue to work remotely at least through January,
"More than 90% of Reed Smith lawyers and professional staff continue to log in remotely each workweek," a firm spokesperson said. "We are serving our clients well without skipping a beat and will continue to do that remotely into 2021 in light of the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic."
--Additional reporting by Xiumei Dong, Natalie Rodriguez and Jacqueline Bell. Editing by Alanna Weissman.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
