The majority of family law practitioners do not expect to rush back to the office post-Covid, according to early findings of a survey on future working arrangements.

Family law group Resolution has been surveying members during its annual conference this week. Although the survey has yet to close, Resolution member and family solicitor Thomas Brownrigg told a ‘Working life after Covid’ workshop yesterday that at least 50% expect to work from home.

Those attending the workshop were asked how they want to work post-Covid and how they think they will be asked to work. ‘What everyone here is saying is that’s very much the same in terms of how they want to work. How they expect to work is 50/50 [in the office],’ Brownrigg said.

Solicitor-turned-barrister Rachel Cooper, of Coram Chambers, told the workshop that ‘this is an amazing opportunity to have a radical rethink of our working practices’.

Should everyone be allowed to return to the office after 21 June – the fourth and final stage of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown - Cooper said some will be excited to return while others will not be able to bear the thought of the daily commute ‘because of the idea of what it will take them away from’, such as school pick-ups.

Highlighting the need to trust colleagues whether they are working from home or the office, Cooper said practitioners will need to understand that someone logging off at 3pm to pick up their child from school will be logging on later - while those logged on at 3pm might, for instance, be in the pub later.