Today’s partner office (or certainly one
from the past) typically had space for a
couch or a small side table that would seat
three or four people. This space was justified by the fact that lawyers needed to hold
staff meetings. In the past, depending
on the practice group and the seniority of
the partner, the support staff might have
been extensive. However, as technology
has increased and the way law is practiced
has changed, the number of staff per attorney has shrunk. Shrinking with it is the
imperative for every office to have its own
de facto conference space.
This shrinking of a conference room
requirement is compounded by the fact
that such a high percentage of offices are
vacant on any given day. The efficient solu-
tion is to move the conference space out of
the office (where at best it is used 75 per-
cent of the time, though likely significantly
less than that) to dedicated conference
rooms—with tables, chairs, projectors,
whiteboards, conference call speakers,
video conference capabilities, all built into
the infrastructure. To be sure, not all law
firms will need an equal amount of confer-
ence space. Great care must be taken by law
firm architects in determining the right mix
of office space and conference space. But
the result of this kind of study will yield
significant cost savings and very likely
increased productivity.
Assuming the changes discussed here
are reasonable probabilities, it is also reasonable to suggest that a typical lawyer
could be just as productive and just as
comfortable in an office that is 10'
5
10', as
opposed to the model of 1985, where the
norm might require two to three times that
square footage. For a comparison, view the
images of an office as it might have been in
1985 and another as it might be in 2020
(or sooner).
There are significant benefits to embracing the coming change. First and foremost,
there will be substantial savings in terms of
rental expense. This money may be used to
benefit the firm in pure economic returns,
perhaps reinvested in new technology that
will enhance productivity (for example,
going paperless). It may be used to take a
smaller footprint in a more upscale building, which may yield better recruiting and
www.azbar.org/AZAttorney
CAN THE CREDENZA
Own or Lease?
BETH JO ZEITZER is the Owner and Designated Broker of R.O.I. Properties, a full-service
real estate brokerage firm focused on working with business owners, investors and property owners regarding the management, marketing and sale of commercial and residential
properties, including office, industrial, retail, multi-family, hospitality and land assets. She
can be reached at 602-319-1326 or bjz@roiproperties.com.
BY BETH JO ZEITZER
As our market recovers, with historically low pricing
and interest rates, many attorneys and their clients
ask whether it is better to own or lease their
building. From a pricing perspective, in 2008,
owner-occupied office, industrial and retail product
averaged $252 per square foot. Pricing steadily
declined, and the average owner-occupied building
was $125 per square foot in the third quarter of
2013 (according to 2013 Co-Star data), with plenty
of opportunities below this price range, as well. This
current pricing is discounted 50 percent from 2008.
And current average lease rates are only 30 percent
less than the 2008 averages.
LAW FIRMS
DECIDE
retention of talent—especially young talent
who likely will be unconcerned by the size
of their office and appreciate the more
green approach taken by your firm.
There may be considerable resistance
from older attorneys. When you grew up in
an age where importance was measured in
the size of your office, convincing that part-
ner that all offices should be equal sized
(and likely smaller than the office used by
their paralegal of old) is an uphill battle. But
once upon a time we all used travel agents
and went to bookstores for our books;
change is part of life. Most change is for the
better, even when it must be adopted in the
face of some kicking and screaming.
The key point to keep in mind is that the
office space you lease today is likely to be
an asset of your firm for at least the next
decade. Or, if planning is poor, it may ham-
per efficiency, economics and competitive-
ness well after today’s senior partners and
executive committee members have retired.
Great care and consideration should be
taken in law firm choices, and how one
chooses the team to advise you through this
process.
BY BETH JO ZEITZER
AZ AT
—continued on p. 38
