5 Reasons Some Law Firm Office Spaces Are Shrinking
On average, we are finding that law firm offices are decreasing in overall square footage. Some firms are reducing their work spaces by as much as 20%. As a result, personal offices are reducing in size. In some cases we have seen partners’ offices be reduced to an average of 225 SF while associates are reduced to approximately 150 SF.
While these numbers are not the rule, the overall pattern across the industry is consistent with a reduction in size. Through our experience, we can attribute this reduction to five trending reasons.
1. Technology
Technology is the primary reasoning behind the shrinking size of law firm office spaces, the chief reason being its allowance of staff mobility. With 25% of lawyers now spending part of their work week working away from the office, it’s paramount that technology allow them access to the information they need while also making them easily accessible to their clients. Smart phones, tablets, email and the internet, amongst other technology driven tools, are beginning to replace the need for private and quotidian spaces to practice law.
2. Shift to Digital Libraries
A large area of law firm office spaces used to be dedicated to legal libraries as attorneys need constant access to information and legal publications. However, the allocation of the digital library and its ability to make searching for documents quick has led to if not the elimination of physical libraries, a drastic reduction in their size. Today, the heavy and consuming legal journals and publications are taking up 75% to 95% less space than they did ten years ago, with most remaining hard copies being used primarily for display.
3. Smaller Staff Sizes
In the past it was standard for lawyers to have multiple assistants and secretaries. Today however, one secretary will work for up to six different attorneys, something unmanageable before the digital era. As the need for legal secretaries and assistants thus decreases, so does the need for space. A new design trend of incorporating secretary pods in the place of desks has helped to reduce firm square footage even more.
4. Flattening of the Law Firm Hierarchy
Some call it egalitarian, others say modern, but law firms are starting to abandon the long-standing tradition of rewarding attorneys with larger offices as they move up the ranks of the practice. Many firms are relying on collaboration and interaction between their lawyers. Furthermore, with the increase in time lawyers are spending away from their offices due to mobile technology, these private spaces are increasingly seen as an inefficient and costly use of office space. As ideals and standards change, the size of private offices are naturally decreasing in size while the collaborative spaces are becoming a more integral element of the law firm of today.
5. Lowering Costs
With factors leading to less of a need for space, the driving factor for making the decrease happen is that reducing office size means a reduction in real estate, build out, and leasing costs. These expenses have historically represented a firm’s second-highest expenditure after pay roll. Less square footage has proven to be economical for the law industry and allows firms to put more money into the modern tools that are starting to drive the industry and influence the trending shift to open and collaborative spaces.