Legal Office of the Future — Reimagined

Many in the legal economy may be asking themselves whether they need office space at all now that everyone has been forcibly migrated to cyberspace. But having experienced work from home (WFH) for several months, there is a newfound appreciation for the office workplace. In fact, after just a few weeks of working from home, a CNBC poll of viewers on April 24, 2020 asking if workers expect to go back to the office found that 55% of people currently WFH expect to return to the office, 20% are not sure if they will be returning, and 24% (up from 9% previously) expect to work entirely/more from home. The past push toward denser and denser space utilization, with the addition of collaborative space options, will now evolve into a space focused on promoting employee health and wellbeing while accommodating agile, activity-based work in a sustainable way. The new legal office of the future may have a more robust remote working staff, with attorneys working from the office perhaps 50% of the time, and remotely 50% of the time, and perhaps some staff working (from home or a satellite/suburban office) remotely the majority of their time. Whether the remote working is through staggered workday shifts, alternating days/weeks in the office, or full-time will depend on the job function and level of social distancing and social interaction that needs to take place in the office.

In addition, there will be a strong desire to incorporate the positive aspects of WFH behaviors into the office with renewed appreciation for the human connections that take place in the workplace environment.