b'Local Government Lawyer 5Table 1: To what extent have each of the following been issues when working from home?good internet is the next expense they would (General survey) like to see covered. At a time when energy costs are ballooning, the cost of heating could eat a large chunk of home working lawyers Lack of face to face client contact 13% 34% 53% earnings.One lawyer said: I have two decent monitors, and have installed software for my 16% 37% 46% own home printer. I have been given a good Major issue chair, paper, office supplies etc. but I would like a contribution to the extra heating costs, 9% 35% 56% which are substantial.Minor issue8% 26% 66% Giving it 116%Not an issue Improvements to lawyers home working environments dont just benefit them. Happy 8% 38% 54% lawyers appear to be productive lawyers, and as fee-earners report better working conditions, their managers are reporting Lack of appropriate technology 15% 43% 42% greater work output.The quiet of home working is a welcome reprieve from the noise associated with Table 2: To what extent have each of these issues improved or otherwise over the past 12open-plan offices and is behind many months? (General survey) lawyers improved output. [It is] far easier to concentrate, particularly when under demand from multiple sources whereas office would Working successfully as a team 18% 72% 10% be a melee and thus add organisational drag on time taken, one lawyer noted.Lack of face to face client contact 12% 80% 8% Another lawyer who reported being more productive at home said: Our office is very Improved open plan and the building holds upwards of 17% 69% 14% 1000 people at capacity so there are far fewer distractions at home- client departments 17% 77% 6% Stayed the cant just pop in to ask you something when same your attention may be on drafting a complex 17% 78% Got worse document.Avoiding the commute that for many 5% could top two hours of travel time a day has 42% 57% also been cited as a productivity booster by 1% lawyers, although some have felt pressured Lack of appropriate technology 40% 56% 3% to start the day earlier and work later into the evening.Sixty per cent of Heads of Legal surveyed Table 3: What has been the effect of remote working on productivity been so far?noticed that productivity has moderately (Management survey) improved as a result of remote working, and a further 14% said they had seen significant improvements. Meanwhile, just 5% say they 0% have seen a moderate downturn in lawyers work output (Table 3).5% Among the fee earners, 46% of respondents say the quality of their output has improved, 37% said it stayed the same, 21% and 15% said it has suffered. Lawyers also said that they are an estimated 116% as productive when compared to their pre-pandemic output 60% (Table 4).14% Isolated and fatiguedSo after two years of working from home, many tech teething troubles have dissolved, and remote workers are more productive.'