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Conversely, I basically issue no laptops.

Sorry, but I don't see how you can say both "I need dual monitors to do my job" and then "I need a laptop". They are both just a status symbol and mutually exclusive.

To be honest, I can't justify a laptop for anyone, but I get overruled (always for the most senior staff, always for the ones who use the computers least, always for the ones who conveniently don't have a PC of their own at home...).

At home, I have a gaming laptop because it's a monster and does everything - it's a luxury I couldn't afford for many years and is now getting on to 8 years old. I get my money's worth out of it, and it's portable because it comes on holiday with me, goes round mate's houses, etc. all the time. It's the "best compromise" between a powerful PC, a portable device and something to watch a movie on on a plane and load up to quickly check Facebook. But in work, I only ever use a real PC, or a remote session to a real PC inside the network from such a device.

For work, I can't justify the expense, the fragility, the cost of repair, the potential of theft, the performance hit or the screen-size/docking station/extra mouse/extra screen on top of the cost of the laptop itself. I'm sure there are jobs where portability is required, and I tend to find they are issued Toughbooks etc. for a reason - 1) they look undesirable so there's no status symbol to having one, 2) nobody's going to bother to nick them, 3) when they drop, they usually survive and they are out in the harshest environments where you wouldn't want a flimsy tablet etc. But most office jobs aren't one that needs such access.

You want a laptop? Fine. You get the cheapest junk possible and then in via RD to a real machine inside the isolated network. It's literally an access terminal. Because when you get into encryption, VPN, file sync, offline device/file protection (e.g. people sticking in USB sticks into it) etc. then an offline, disconnected machine is the worst possible thing to try to manage over just "load up the RD app on your iPad/tablet/laptop/PC/Mac/smartphone and go here".

In a lawyer's office, especially, I would not want to manage the logistics of issuing a laptop that goes home with them with all kinds of stuff on it. With DPA case law, you have to be able to PROVE that it was encrypted if it's ever lost, you know - the NHS has been fined for being UNABLE to prove that a disk it sent through the post and lost was encrypted when it left the sender. That's easier said than done especially if some information leak happens in a serious case and the judge is breathing down your neck about it. I'm sure a lawyer understands that. And they use stuff like LexisNexus etc. all the time so they're used to using cloud and website services to get their job done.

Sorry, but if I was a billionaire and owned a company just for fun and gave everyone a staff Lamborghini... you're still not getting a laptop for taking stuff home. I'll give you a way to access work if you need it - a cheap tablet with remote access. But a laptop that travels is the worst idea imaginable. "I want to take all the network home with me on a battery powered device and have it work like I never left the office". Nope. You'll take a screen home with you and look at your computer on your office desk instead.