Moore in ‘The American Lawyer’ in “For Now, Few Firms are Committing to Mandatory COVID Vaccination”

Chicago Partner Mimi Moore was quoted Feb. 24 by The American Lawyer concerning the prospect of law firms requiring mandatory vaccination. As the legal industry gears up to return to the office by the second half of the year, Moore noted that only one law firm of the Am Law 200 firms has announced that it is requiring that their attorneys and staff get the COVID-19 vaccine. Moore said companies and law firms feel as if it’s too early to come out definitively for or against mandatory vaccination. “We’ve drafted some mandatory policies for consideration, but none are at the point where they can implement the policies, in part because of the shortage of vaccines,” Moore said. She also noted that “there are also questions around the vaccine’s efficacy against the new COVID-19 variants as well as the side effects of each vaccine” and “that many health care providers, most of whom require employees to get annual flu shots, have not mandated COVID vaccines either.” And even if law firms don’t mandate their attorneys be vaccinated, Moore commented that some courts may take the decision out of their hands. 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. Since this would only affect litigators, government policies like this one could lead to bifurcated policies in law firms, Moore said. “At some point in time, they are going to require in-person contact at law firms. For the people who are doing litigation and trials and taking depositions in person, the firm may require those individuals to have a vaccine. I can see that as a possibility down the road.”