Lawyers in telework

a study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lawyers work in the state of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This paper analyzed the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for lawyers, based on empirical research conducted with 4437 professionals in the state (de-identified) at the end of 2020. Telework was treated as a kind of home-based work as classified by the International Labor Organization. The study showed that the profession started to be exercised mostly in an improvised way at the lawyers' homes, with the use of several technological tools. The lawyers had an ambiguous feeling regarding telework. There was an increase in work for some and a reduction for others, whose economic consequences are also felt in differently, being mostly self-employed professionals. The absence of displacement to work was pointed out as a positive point. Negative aspects related to the sensation of worsening health and the lack of contact with colleagues were highlighted. Some professionals have already returned, at the time of the research, to perform the activities in person, but still keep part of the functions in telework, which may indicate a trend for the post-pandemic period. The advocacy prefers the adoption of a hybrid regime at the end of the health crisis. The conclusion of the research is that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the legal profession hard, either in economic terms, bringing crisis to the majority and advantages to the few, or in relation to the way they perform their professional activities, carried out almost entirely home-based, or even strongly affecting the perception of physical and mental health of the category.