Blanca Commercial Real Estate’s Post

Despite trends showing that many law firms are reducing their office space, our data shows that 70% of firms in the Am Law 200 that signed new leases in New York City in the last year-and-a-half moved to similar or more space. Check out this article, along with the full Am Law Firm report on cresa.com by Gregg Cohen - Corporate Real Estate Specialist and Craig Van Pelt.

Interesting stats below telling a story counter to popular headlines for Law Firms in NYC.

Collectively, law firms in the U.S. leased more office space in 2003 than in years preceding the Covid pandemic. A recent Cushman & Wakefield analysis suggests that law firm usage of #officespace could be indicative of broader trends affecting the U.S. office market. Click to read the article > #officeleasing #officerealestate #commercialrealestate #realestatetrends

In 2023 law firms leased more space than at any time pre-pandemic. Most firms want to be in the top 10% of Class A office space and there is scarcity and competition for the newest and nicest Class A offices. While many firms are moving into nicer buildings, individual offices are shrinking. Many law firms are moving from an average of 225 square feet for partners and 180 square feet for associates to as small as 180 square feet for partners. #CRE #Commercial Real Estate #lawfirms

This might frustrate some younger lawyers who want to work from home for the foreseeable future. HOWEVER, the reality of the first few years of your legal career is that there is a great deal that law school does not and cannot teach you - even if it's a program that emphasizes practical training. This problem is even more pronounced for those who go straight to law school after college. The unpopular reality is that there are aspects of 'being a lawyer' that can only be truly learned by actually practicing law and working with clients, day in and day out. What also gets overlooked is that while working from home is popular and convenient, there are so many conversations, interactions and teachable moments that you miss out on. Those very interactions are foundational to your development as a new lawyer and can't be replicated by interacting with peers/supervisors on Slack, Teams or Zoom. Learning by osmosis is not only vital, but it's really difficult to do if the majority of your work is done from home.

Global law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Akin) has signed for 77,000 sq ft of office space at British Land and GIC’s 155 Bishopsgate in London. British Land and GIC were advised by CBRE UK and JLL.

➡️ Real estate typically constitutes the largest cost for law firms after compensation and benefits. ➡️ The resiliency of remote work has prompted large law firms to rethink their real estate footprint, shedding space even as they bulk up their head count. ➡️ The rule of thumb used to be 1,000 square feet per lawyer, but the new benchmark is closer to 600 square feet per lawyer. https://lnkd.in/gPZveph2 #law #futureofwork

Another great Cushman & Wakefield insight by my colleagues John McWilliams and David C. Smith. The legal sector continued to significantly drive office demand thus far in 2024 as in-office-work gains momentum. More than one third of law firms who leased space in Q1 2024 increased the size of their office while less than a quarter of them downsized.  Click below for the full report on what is driving the legal sector and its impacts on #CRE #RealEstate #LegalSector #OfficeSpace

Interesting Reuters story from earlier this week about a Cushman & Wakefield report saying that law firm office leasing activity hit an all-time high in the ten large cities they tracked. It also represented a significantly higher percentage of all leasing activity in these markets. While not an exact measure, this fits with a story of Biglaw continued growth and probably optimism about transactional activity trending upward in the longer term even if we are entering a world of sustained higher billing rates. You know what else it suggests to me? We are looking at some combination of two things driving this: 1. Large law firms are more bullish on the economy than the large companies that tend to also lease space in these markets. 2. Large law firms are not taking advantage of paper-less technology and remote and hybrid working environments to optimize real estate costs than their clients. I suspect neither cause will end well for large law firms. And for those of you who buy legal services, are your law firms making decisions now that will result in a higher cost structure and thus higher rates in the future? https://lnkd.in/eYyWPGgy

According to Savills’ U.S. Law Firm Activity Report, which tracks leasing activity for offices that exceed 20,000 square feet, law firms aren’t merely maintaining 2023’s leasing momentum, but exceeding it. The first quarter of 2024 ended with law firms leasing roughly 1.7 million square feet across the country, an increase of 47.6% compared to the first quarter of 2023!   https://lnkd.in/eXJxvPtR   #LawOffices #OfficeSpace #OfficeRealEstate #CRE #CREInsights #CommercialRealEstate