Latest / The Diversity Career Podcast with Fexingo: Inclusion, Equity, and Underrepresented Professionals / How One Law Firm Made Flexible Work Permanent for All
Transcript
- Lucas: So it's mid-2026 and we're a few years past the big return to office push. A lot of companies have settled into some version of hybrid, but the conversation about who gets to work flexibly — and who doesn't — is still very much alive. Luna: And it's never been a level playing field. We've seen data from McKinsey and Lean In showing that women, especially women of color, are more likely to want remote options, but also more likely to worry it'll hurt their careers. Lucas: Exactly. So today I want to look at one organization that tried to fix that asymmetry from the start: Husch Blackwell, a national law firm with about 800 lawyers. In early 2022, they announced that flexible work was a permanent, firm-wide option — not just for high performers or senior partners, but for every single employee. Luna: And a law firm is a really interesting test case, because the culture has traditionally been about face time, billable hours, and the partnership track. How do you square flexibility with that? Lucas: Right, that's the tension. What Husch Blackwell did was formalize what they call 'Flex Work.' It's not a one-size-fits-all policy. They identified five distinct models: fully remote, hybrid with set days in the office, hybrid with flexible scheduling, compressed workweeks, and reduced hours. And each employee, from associate to partner, can choose a model — with their team's input — and it's reviewed annually. Luna: So the choice is real, but it's not unilateral. The team has to be able to function. That seems like a reasonable middle ground. Lucas: Exactly. And the key is that it's not a perk you have to negotiate. It's the default. The firm published a detailed guide — I think it's something like 30 pages — that lays out expectations for communication, availability, and career development under each model. They wanted to remove the ambiguity that usually makes flexible work feel risky. Luna: Because when it's ambiguous, the people who are already marginalized tend to opt out. They don't want to be seen as not committed. Lucas: That's the equity piece. Now, the interesting thing is how they handled the mentoring and sponsorship question. One of the biggest fears about remote work is that junior staff lose the informal learning that happens in hallways and after meetings. Husch Blackwell addressed that by explicitly requiring that managers schedule regular one-on-ones and check-ins with remote team members, and they trained partners on how to mentor virtually. Luna: I've read that one of the biggest failure points in remote work is that managers just don't know how to do it well. They assume because they're good at their job, they'll be good at managing remotely. But it's a different skill. Lucas: Totally. So they invested in manager training — not just a one-hour webinar, but ongoing coaching. They also created a 'Flex Champions' network of partners and associates who model best practices. And they tied a portion of partner compensation to how well they developed junior talent, which is a pretty direct way to signal that mentoring still counts. Luna: Let's talk about the results. I've seen some numbers from their annual diversity reports. What happened to retention? Lucas: So in the two years after the policy went live, they reported that voluntary attrition among women lawyers dropped by about 20 percent. And among lawyers of color, it dropped by roughly 15 percent. Those are significant in an industry where the average associate turnover is around 18 to 20 percent per year. Luna: And what about promotions? The worry is always that people who choose remote will be passed over for partnership. Lucas: Right. They've been transparent about that. In 2023, they promoted 22 lawyers to partnership. Of those, 41 percent were women, and 23 percent were lawyers of color. That's above the industry average. And about a third of the new partners worked a flexible arrangement. So the data suggests it didn't hurt them. Luna: It's still early. But the fact that they're tracking it and publishing it is a big deal. Most firms don't even measure who's using flexible work, let alone tie it to outcomes. Lucas: And that's the thing — this kind of policy only works if you actually monitor it. A lot of companies announce a flexible work policy, but then managers informally penalize people who use it. Husch Blackwell did engagement surveys specifically asking whether employees felt their flexibility choice affected their opportunities. And they acted on the feedback. Luna: We talk a lot on this show about how one company or one firm can move the needle on inclusion. And this feels like a case where the structural change — making flexibility the default instead of an exception — is what made the difference. It's not about charity, it's about redesigning how work gets done. Lucas: And that takes resources, time, and a willingness to question long-held assumptions. Which brings me to something we don't always talk about on the show. This podcast is ad-free. We don't run commercials. And that's a choice we've made because we want this conversation to be about the content, not about selling you something. Luna: Yeah, and that only works because some listeners choose to support us directly. If you've ever gotten an idea from an episode that helped you at work or in a career decision, that's the kind of value we're trying to create. Lucas: So if you want to keep this ad-free, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just appreciation. And now back to Husch Blackwell. Luna: One more thing I want to dig into: the impact on caregivers and neurodivergent staff. Because flexibility often matters most to those groups. Lucas: Absolutely. Husch Blackwell found that their reduced-hours model was especially popular among lawyers with caregiving responsibilities — both for children and aging parents. And they've also started offering what they call 'focus time' — blocks where no internal meetings are scheduled, so people can do deep work. That's a simple change, but it helps everyone, and it's especially valuable for neurodivergent employees who need uninterrupted time. Luna: It's almost like universal design. When you design for the people who need it most, everyone benefits. Lucas: Exactly. And the key takeaway for me is that Husch Blackwell didn't treat flexibility as a concession to individual employees. They treated it as a strategic decision about how to attract and retain talent in a competitive market. And they invested in the infrastructure — training, compensation redesign, measurement — to make it work. Luna: So if I'm a manager at another professional services firm listening to this, what's the one thing I should take away? That it's about systems, not just policies? Lucas: I think so. You can write a policy in a week. But if you don't train your managers, if you don't track outcomes by demographic group, if you don't tie compensation to inclusive behavior — it's just words on paper. Husch Blackwell spent about a year designing the framework before rolling it out. They piloted it with a few practice groups first. That's the kind of deliberate implementation that makes a difference. Luna: And they kept the human element. Flexibility isn't just about where you sit. It's about whether you feel you can succeed without sacrificing other parts of your life. Lucas: Right. And that's the real inclusion challenge. Not just letting people work from home, but making sure that working from home doesn't mean working alone — or being forgotten. Husch Blackwell's Flex Champions network, the required check-ins, the mentoring training — those are the things that make flexibility equitable instead of just convenient. Luna: It'll be interesting to see if this holds over a full partnership cycle — say five to seven years. Will the partners who came up through flexible arrangements be as committed to it when they're the ones making decisions? Lucas: That's the million-dollar question. Institutional culture is sticky. But by baking flexibility into their operating model and compensation, they've made it harder to reverse. And the data on retention and diversity is going to be a powerful argument for keeping it. Luna: Great case. Thanks for bringing it to us. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. That's it for today on The Diversity Career Podcast. We'll be back next time with another story of how one organization is making inclusion real.