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Law firms have a reputation as being somewhat serious workplaces where people need to adhere to an office dress code. Some law firms relax for Casual Fridays, and most law firms do not require attorneys to wear suits to the office anymore so long as suits are kept in their offices for the unexpected trip to court. However, very few law firms relax dress codes for Halloween or other similar occasions when people might want to dress up in costumes or other garb, and that can impact office morale.
I am a longtime fan of “The Office,” and pretty much every season had a Halloween episode that shows all of the characters arriving to work in costumes. When I first started my career, I thought — based on what I saw on TV — that people dressing up for Halloween in workplaces to have a little fun and learn something about their co-workers was commonplace. When I started practicing law around a decade ago, I came to realize that dressing up for Halloween was rare at law firms.
I worked at four law firms before starting my own shop around four and a half years ago. Only one firm had a Halloween tradition that involved costumes. At that firm, all of the first-year associates needed to dress up in a themed holiday costume during Halloween. Some people might think that this practice qualifies as hazing, but it was actually a solid team-building exercise. All of the first-year associates needed to meet up and decide what they should dress up as and delegate work to each other to ensure that everyone had the appropriate costumes at Halloween.
Around Halloween, the first-year associates changed into their costumes at work, and I think that the firm planned a Halloween party geared around the first-year associates showcasing their costumes. I do not think that anyone else at the office wore costumes except for the first-year associates. The entire display of costumes around the office was a fun way to break the monotony, and this definitely had a solid impact on morale at the office.
None of the other law firms at which I worked had any policy on employees wearing costumes around the office. Sometimes, an administrative employee would wear a small costume. However, there was never a wholesale acceptance of Halloween costumes or any other type of plan to celebrate the season.
More law firms should allow employees to wear costumes to an office on Halloween or otherwise celebrate the holiday. Due to hybrid work schedules, workers might not even be working in an office during Halloween, but if they are in an office, law firms should let people wear costumes. Some might believe that allowing workers to wear costumes might look bad — if, for instance, clients or other stakeholders to a legal matter visit an office when this is going on. However, clients rarely, if ever, visit offices in person anymore, so that fear might be overstated. Even if such an event were to occur, it could be interpreted positively, since law firms might garner more respect if they lighten up for holidays.
Allowing costumes and other celebrations for Halloween might positively impact a law firm in other ways. People do not generally want to return to offices since everyone learned during the pandemic that remote work was sufficient to accomplish most legal tasks. Allowing people to wear costumes to an office might give people a reason to show up for work since they get to show off their costumes, see the costumes of others, and celebrate the holiday in a group setting. Moreover, permitting Halloween costumes and other celebrations around Halloween sends a positive message to employees. This policy shows workers that the law firm does not take itself too seriously and understands that certain practices at the firm should be relaxed once in a while so everyone can have a little fun.
Even though this article will be published after Halloween this year, hopefully more law firms will be encouraged to permit costumes for Halloweens in the years to come.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
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