Healthcare workers administer doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccination at a drive-thru clinic at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. Hundreds of thousands of Texans will likely get their first doses of the vaccine starting the week of January 25. Photo: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg
Davis Wright Tremaine will require its attorneys and staff to be vaccinated if they are to return to the firm's office, according to firm guidelines announced on Thursday. It is the first Am Law 200 firm to publicly announce such a requirement.
The new policy requires that firm employees provide proof of vaccination "in the coming months" to be allowed to return to the office or attend firm-sponsored events. Those who cannot get vaccinated due to disability, advice of a medical provider or religious beliefs will be asked to contact the firm's Human Resources department to work out "reasonable accommodations."
"DWT continues to place the health and safety of all of our lawyers and staff as our highest priority. As vaccines against COVID-19 become increasingly available, we are adopting a policy to safeguard the health of our employees and their families, our clients and visitors, and our communities," said Davis Wright managing partner Jeff Gray in a statement. "We believe it is our responsibility to do our part, and we need everyone's help to be able to get back to more normalized operations as quickly as we can."
Davis Wright still cautions its employees that returning to the office will still not be possible until a "significant" portion of the population gets vaccinated, adding that vaccinated attorneys and staff are still required to observe health protocols such as mask wearing and social distancing if they do return to the office before the vaccine is widely available.
If possible, the firm said it will set up a vaccination clinic onsite, as it does with annual flu shots, and will cover the cost of vaccination if an employee's insurance, or the United States government, does not.
Most law firm leaders who have spoken to Law.com have said they want to encourage their employees to be vaccinated but have so far avoided saying that vaccinations will be mandated, as Davis Wright has. Many are still in a wait-and-see pattern to determine how accessible the vaccine will be to attorneys and staff. The vaccine rollout in the United States has been mired by inefficiency and confusion as states issue conflicting guidelines, and a new variant of COVID-19 emerging from South Africa has shown to be more resistant to certain vaccines.
But if law firms won't mandate their attorneys be vaccinated, courts may. Texas state court officials, for example, have made it clear that judges, attorneys and court staff will have to be vaccinated for in-person jury trials to resume. Even then, people who will be required to come to court, such as jurors, will need to be vaccinated as well.
"Let's say all the judges, lawyers and court staff were able to be vaccinated in January, February and March. We still wouldn't be able to resume until we saw everyone had access to the vaccine that would be required to come to court. It is still going to be a while," David Slayton, administrative director of the Texas Office of Court Administration, told Law.com in December.
Dylan Jackson
Dylan Jackson writes about the business of law and race. He can be reached at [email protected] or 305-347-6677. On Twitter @DylanBJackson