For many law firm professionals, 2022 was a year of meeting in-person with colleagues they hadn’t seen in years, or, in the case of newly added laterals, at all. But even with a more conservative approach to travel and business development spending, inflation made that expense category comparable to, if not greater than, pre-pandemic budgeting.
For the partners at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, which formed out of the combination between Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton in the months leading up to the pandemic, travel to in-person retreats was well worth the reversal of many of its 2021 cost savings. And while the firm may have a lower number of retreats in 2023, managing partner Tom Cole said Troutman Pepper isn’t pulling away from in-person engagements altogether.
