Once upon a time, Biglaw meant slaving away in an office for — at a minimum — five days a week. But Covid came and showed everyone the beauty of working from home. And in a post-Covid world, most Biglaw firms are forging a hybrid work schedule, marrying the benefits of in-person lawyering with the flexibility of modern technology.
As reported by Law.com, law firms signing leases is up in 2024 over the same period last year — 41 real estate deals for firms this year versus 32 last, according to data from real estate firm Savills. What’s also interesting is that more firms — 60% of the 2024 leases — are for new spaces, like Covington & Burling that just signed a lease for a brand new space in the Biglaw-friendly Hudson Yards.
“Last year, most of the activity done was by way of renewals. That had to do with return-to-office mandates, but firms were still uncertain about growth in 2023, as a lot of associates were not adhering to the policies,” said Marisha Clinton, vice president of research at Savills.
Because everyone wants those shiny new offices:
“Office visitation rates are, in fact, up and that really has to do with the quality of the space,” Clinton said. “Many companies, in general, are trying to create the best-in-class space with the latest and greatest amenities and technology to encourage people to get back into the office.”
Clinton projected that the ramp-up in leasing activity will continue through the end of 2024. “As more and more law firms do solidify their return-to-office policies, we will see more leasing activity take hold,” she said.
I’m sure the new digs help morale, but more and more firms are cracking down on their attendance policies… which also has a ton to do with the uptick in office visitation.
With new leases are all the rage, Biglaw is increasingly looking for smaller space. “For many law firms, it’s all about efficiency, or space per employee,” said Clinton. “It’s taken some time for legacy law firms to ramp up on the efficiency front, but, for the smaller firms, many have already done so.”
So attorneys get to come to the office less (compared with 2019), and firms get to save on real estate costs. That’s a real win-win.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
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