Big Law’s Return-to-Office Wave Puts Junior Associates Back at Their Desks First / 大律所返工潮：先被按回工位的，是初级律师

A U.S. litigation firm known for “work from anywhere” put a new condition on that freedom in 2026: newcomers must first spend a full year working on-site at the office before they may even discuss remote work. Sending junior associates back to their desks is no longer one firm’s self-correction; the whole industry is re-deciding how the next generation of lawyers should be trained.

一家以“在哪里工作都行”闻名的美国诉讼律所，2026 年给这份自由加了一道门槛：新人先在办公室现场工作满一年，才有资格谈远程。把初级律师重新按回工位，已不是某一家律所的自我修正，而是整个行业在重新确认新一代律师该怎么培养。

Return-to-Office Shifts from Isolated Rollbacks to an Industry Reversal

返工潮从个别收缩变成行业逆转

Return to office is becoming a clear move among large U.S. law firms in 2026. Sheppard Mullin became the latest firm to issue a return-to-office mandate — requiring employees to work in the office four days a week, with the new rule taking effect January 1, 2027, covering its lawyers and staff in the United States.

返工（return to office）正在成为 2026 年美国大律所的明确动作。Sheppard Mullin 成为最新一家发布返工令的律所——要求员工每周到办公室工作四天，新规 2027 年 1 月 1 日生效，覆盖其在美国的律师与员工。

An earlier pivot came from Quinn Emanuel. This litigation firm, famous for “work from anywhere,” closed off the remote freedom it had long allowed. New hires must first complete a full year on-site at the office, and junior associates need at least two years of practice experience before they may apply for remote work; total eligibility for remote participation is capped at three years, and each year they must return to the firm’s office in person for at least six days. The slogan changed too: in 2021, founder John Quinn said, “Lawyers should work where they do their best work.” By 2026, the internal messaging had become “we are at our best when we are together.”

更早的转折来自昆鹰（Quinn Emanuel）。这家以“工作哪里都行”（work from anywhere）闻名的诉讼律所，把沿用多年的远程自由收了口。新人须先在办公室现场待满一年，助理须有至少两年执业经验，才能申请远程；远程的总参与期压到三年，且每年须回本律所办公室现场至少六天。口号也变了：2021 年，创始人 John Quinn 说过：“律师应该在最能发挥水准的地方工作。”到 2026 年，内部口径成了“我们在一起时状态最好”。

The most striking part of Quinn Emanuel’s new rule is the separate limit placed on “newcomers.” Lawyers already in the remote program are exempt from the new restrictions. The rule is plainly aimed at “the next generation of Quinn Emanuel lawyers”: whether fresh from law school or laterals from elsewhere, they must first learn how this firm does things inside the office setting.

昆鹰新规里最显眼的，是对“新人”的单独设限。已经在远程计划里的律师，不受新规矩限制。规则明显是冲着“下一代昆鹰律师”来的：无论法学院新人还是从别处转来的律师，都要先在办公室场景里学会这家律所的做事方式。

The change is not confined to the United States. The U.K. firm Addleshaw Goddard recently tied days in the office to partner performance reviews; one lawyer noted that “mandatory attendance is changing my expectations for work-life balance going forward.” The U.K. firm Pinsent Masons requires trainees to be in the office at least three days a week, precisely on the ground that “the more time in the office, the more they learn from the team.”

变化不止发生在美国。英国所 Addleshaw Goddard 近期把到办公室天数与合伙人绩效评估挂钩，有律师提到“强制到岗正在改变我对未来工作生活平衡的预期”；英国所 品诚梅森（Pinsent Masons）要求实习生每周至少到办公室三天，理由正是“多到办公室，才能从团队里学到东西”。

Remote freedom has not vanished in the U.K. either, but the youngest cohort is asked for the longest in-office attendance.

远程自由在英国也没有消失，但最年轻的那批人，被要求的到岗时间最长。

Chinese law firms never had a “remote-first” model to begin with, so there is no reversal to speak of; they gather people together by another route. Firms such as Huiye, Zhonglian, and Zhonglun W&D have in recent months posted reports on their websites about young-lawyer training camps: gathering young lawyers from branch offices nationwide at headquarters or another location for several days of immersive training, taught by partners and emphasizing lateral exchange and cultural transmission.

中国律所本来就没有“远程优先”这一套，谈不上逆转，它们用另一种把人聚到一起的办法来传承。汇业、中联、中伦文德等律所近月在官网发布青年律师训练营的报道：把全国各分所的青年律师集中到总部或某地，做数天沉浸式训练，由合伙人授课，强调横向交流与文化传递。

Why Target Newcomers Specifically

为什么偏偏对准新人

Taken together, these changes show the center of gravity in the return-to-office wave shifting: from “do senior lawyers come back to the office” to “do newcomers show up first.”

这些变化放在一起看，返工潮的重心正在移动：从“资深律师回不回办公室”，转向“新人先到不到办公室”。

Why do the changed rules target newcomers? The ABA Young Lawyers Division’s paper “The First Firm Effect” offers an explanation: the earliest environment in a lawyer’s career shapes how he views mistakes, receives feedback, and builds professional relationships, and those habits stay with him for the rest of his career. The environment at the very start teaches a lawyer whether to read “asking questions” as diligence or as incompetence; a heavily edited draft may be just part of growing up — or it may convince him he is no good.

为什么规定改变主要针对新人？美国律师协会青年律师分会那篇《第一所效应》给了解释：律师职业生涯最早的环境，会塑造他如何看待出错、接住反馈、搭起专业关系，而这些习惯会一直伴随其之后的职业生涯。刚入行时的环境，会教一个律师把“提问”当成勤快还是当成没本事；一份被改得很多的草稿，可能只是成长的一部分，也可能让他从此觉得自己不行。

Andy Rossman, managing partner of Quinn Emanuel’s New York office, framed the adjustment as “bringing participants into closer contact with the firm and setting them up for continued success.” The firm’s internal documents put it more bluntly: remote work may weaken mentoring and relationship-building among colleagues, and in turn affect new lawyers’ contribution to firm culture and their business development.

昆鹰纽约办公室管理合伙人 Andy Rossman 把调整说成“让参与者与律所联系得更紧，为持续成功做准备”。律所内部文件写得更直白：远程工作可能影响带教与同事间关系建立，进而影响新律师对律所文化的贡献和业务拓展。

Remote work can deliver text but cannot teach real skill. Mentoring, immediate feedback, sitting in on trials and client meetings — these happen only in person, and they are a lawyer’s essential capabilities.

远程能交付文本，却教不出真本事。带教、即时反馈、旁听庭审与客户会议，这些只能在同场发生的环节，是律师重要的能力。

What firms truly care about is the transmission of the craft, not the line-item office cost. When junior associates stay away from the office for long, mentoring develops a vacuum and talent shows a fault line; what is ultimately affected is promotion and succession — who takes the next baton. As AI takes over part of text production, firms care even more about the remaining part that needs people teaching people — judgment, client relationships, cultural identity — and all of that can only be formed at the desk. The return-to-office wave aims at newcomers because what it wants to keep is this generation of lawyers’ professional habits still taking shape.

律所真正在意的，是传承而不是账面上的办公成本。初级律师长期不在办公室，带教出现真空、人才出现断层，最终影响的是晋升与接班，也就是谁来接下一棒。当 AI 接手了一部分文本生产，律所更在意的是剩下那部分需要人带着人练的能力——判断力、客户关系、文化认同，而这些都只能在工位上养成。返工潮对准新人，要留住的是这一代律师还在成形中的职业习惯。

Office First, Remote Later

先到办公室，再谈远程

Quinn Emanuel did not abolish remote work entirely; it only reordered the sequence: office first, then remote.

昆鹰并没有完全取消远程，只是把顺序调了：先到办公室，再谈远程。

This compromise may become the template. After Sheppard Mullin’s four-day return-to-office mandate lands in 2027, newcomer return-to-office will likely move from “one firm’s flexible rollback” to “the default clause of large firms.” If more and more firms make “office first, remote later” a precondition for newcomers’ onboarding, remote freedom stops being a benefit given on day one and becomes a right unlocked only after a few years of work. For junior associates, entry and unlocking are split into two steps: first build fundamentals and relationships at the desk, then years later earn the freedom to arrange one’s own work location. Remote work has not disappeared; it has simply been moved further back in the career.

这种折中或许会成为范本。Sheppard Mullin 的四天返工令 2027 年落地后，新人返工很可能从“个别律所的弹性收缩”变成“大律所的默认条款”。如果越来越多的律所把“先到办公室、再谈远程”定为新人入职的前置条件，远程自由就不再是一入职就给的待遇，而是工作几年后才解锁的一项权利。对初级律师来说，入场和解锁被拆成了两步：先在工位上把基本功和人际关系练出来，几年后才换来安排自己工作地点的自由。远程没有消失，只是被放到了职业生涯更靠后的位置。

Chinese law firms need not copy this return-to-office mandate. Yet in recent years many firms have gathered young lawyers at headquarters for training camps, pointing to the same proposition: a young lawyer’s skill is passed on only through shared presence, and the convenience of remote work cannot replace that inheritance. More worth noting than “which firm added a few more days of in-office requirement” is the line behind this wave: some things can only be taught when people are together.

中国律所不必复制这套返工令。但近年多家律所把青年律师集中到总部做训练营，指向的是同一个命题：青年律师的本事，靠同场浸润才能传下去，远程的便利替代不了传承。比“哪家律所又加了几天到岗要求”更值得留意的，是这场返工背后那句话：有些东西，只能在一起的时候教。

Sources: Law.com (November 6, 2026); Legal Cheek (2026-27 Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey); Above the Law (October 13, 2026); ABA Journal (October 14, 2026); ABA Young Lawyers Division, “The First Firm Effect”; Huiye Law Firm website (October 2026), Zhonglian Law Firm website, Zhonglun W&D (Changsha) Law Firm website (October 2026).

来源：Law.com（2026年11月6日）；Legal Cheek（2026-27 实习与初级律师调查）；Above the Law（2026年10月13日）；ABA Journal（2026年10月14日）；美国律师协会青年律师分会《The First Firm Effect》；汇业律师事务所官网（2026年10月）、中联律师事务所官网、北京中伦文德（长沙）律师事务所官网（2026年10月）。