(Reuters) - Cross-border law firm travel will likely get a boost now that the United States has eased international COVID-19 travel restrictions. But industry experts say not to expect a quick return to corporate law's jet-setting ways.

Law firm travel volume is now at 30% of where it stood in 2019, said Michael Steiner, executive vice president at Lawyers Travel, which says it counts more than half of the most profitable U.S. law firms as clients. That's up from about 20% before President Joe Biden’s October announcement that vaccinated travelers from Britain, China, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere could enter the country beginning Nov. 8.

But the recovery will likely be slow, and international trips may require greater justification even after the pandemic. Lawyers Travel is projecting that 2022 will end at 65% of 2019's travel volume.

The idea that law firm travel will ever return to its previous level is a "pipedream," said recently retired Altman Weil law firm consultant Tom Clay, adding it all boils down to client expectations - and budgets.

"They know they are paying for those travel costs and found out that Zoom has worked just fine in most instances," Clay said in an email.

Cutting down on travel is one way law firms reduced overhead expenses during the pandemic and bolstered their profitability. Still, partners at UK firms, in particular, have been itching to come to the U.S. and spend time in their offices there, Steiner said.

“We’re already seeing bookings coming across from the UK," he said.

Law firms are now in the process of hashing out their travel budgets for 2022, with most planning for increased international and domestic travel, Steiner said. Larger firms are taking a more cautious approach then their smaller counterparts, he said, and firms are prioritizing client-related trips. But he has seen an increase in travel related to lawyer recruiting.

Kent Zimmermann, a law firm consultant with the Zeughauser Group, said more firms are getting partners together in person, spurred by widespread vaccination and online meeting fatigue. Law firms need to work across offices and practices to serve clients, and partners need to have relationships with each other to make that happen effectively, he said.

“To build trust, there’s no substitute for getting together,” Zimmermann said.

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Source: Reuters

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