Here’s the radio interview
Introduction
Many employers are looking to get people back into the office. Some are making it mandatory, such as law firm AZA in Houston. Partner John Zavitsanos says working in the office yields the best results when trying a complicated case.
JOHN ZAVITSANOS: I had a hearing – court hearing that was held by Zoom. And the opposing lawyer was in bed, like, propped up participating in the hearing in bed. Now, I would dare say that lawyer – there’s no way that person would appear in court like that.
MARTINEZ: Probably not. He recently wrote an essay for The New York Times titled “We’re Kidding Ourselves That Workers Perform Well From Home,” which he says drew anger from some and thank-you’s from others.
ZAVITSANOS: For us, working in the office was the best alternative. But there are many professions and many jobs where there was no drop-off in productivity, no drop-off in creativity, et cetera, working from home. We just happen to be on the other end of the spectrum.
MARTINEZ: All right. Now, for those who have not read that essay, why do you believe that working from the office led to productivity for you and your team of attorneys?
ZAVITSANOS: OK. So we are trial lawyers. We are not litigators. We actually go to trial. In the COVID year, last year, we actually went to trial six times. And that’s an extraordinarily high number for a firm our size. It is just not possible to have the kind of collaboration and to have the kind of seamless progression in the way you try these cases with everyone participating from home. It just can’t be done.
Read listen at https://www.wvtf.org/post/houston-based-law-firm-insists-employees-return-office#stream/0
