‘Cavernous' Partner Offices Left Behind in Law Firm Moves
Several law firms in the Washington, D.C., area are moving to new digs, lured by good deals and the convenience of moving rather than renovating.
Law firms are downsizing, going from 800 or 900 square feet per lawyer to spaces configured to provide about 600 square feet per employee, according to Thomas Fulcher Jr., co-branch manager of tenant advisory firm Studley in Washington, D.C. He spoke to the Washington Post about the trends he has observed.
“It’s ‘Can I live through a big renovation here?’ or ‘I can move over the course of a weekend,’ ” Fulcher told the Post.
Squire Sanders & Dempsey will be leaving behind “big cavernous partners’ offices” when it moves to its new building in Washington, D.C., the office managing partner John Burlingame told the newspaper. The firm will have at least the same number of lawyer offices in its new LEED-certified building for a lot less square feet. A “big impetus was starting from scratch and being able to design the law firm of the future,” he told the Post.
At its new office, Hunton & Williams is devoting less space to libraries, files and secretarial support, according to office managing partner Andrea Bear Field. “How you’re going to configure the space for the next 15 years is very, very different,” Field told the newspaper.
The story also identified these D.C.-area law firms as planning or currently in the midst of moving: Fried Frank; Novak Druce and Quigg; Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; Perkins Coie; Arent Fox; and Williams Mullen.
Recent coverage of law firm office trends:
ABA Journal: “Changing Spaces: Law firms (slowly) respond to egalitarian trends in office design”
ABAJournal.com: “Law Firms Shop for Deep Office Space Discounts, Possible Shark Tank, in Buyer’s Market”
ABAJournal.com: “Law Firm Trades Walls & Doors for Roof Deck, Coffee Bar, Comfy Sofas & Flat-Screen TVs”
ABAJournal.com: “Inspired by ‘Legal Rebel,’ Solo Opens Chicago Legal Café”
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