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26 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / September 2019 The Modern Law Office: People, Process, Place A hierarchical culture steeped in tradition and mystique, hefty hourly fees and op- erating standards that generated huge file rooms of paper are on the way out. In their place, law firms are introducing standardized offices, dig- ital files, fixed fees and greater transparency in both their procedures and environments. At the same time, a confluence of disruptors, rang- ing from artificial intelligence to outsourcing, vastly lowers the cost of delivering legal services, changing the paradigm of law firm operations. Firm leadership, now often in the hands of business executives instead of managing partners, is under pressure to deliver prof- its in a highly competitive, greatly accelerated business environment that commands deep industry expertise. Mergers and acquisitions can help firms not only ex- pand geographic and/or practice reach, but also secure an industry niche distinct enough to sustain a practice. In the meantime, law firms’ top two expenses – peo- ple and real estate – keep rising. To gain efficiency, firms seek alternative ways to deliver services and cut fixed costs. Lowering the cost of occupancy presents an op- portunity to not only improve the bottom line, but also to create a modern work environment for the future workforce. To create that optimal workplace, three things must be in balance: people, process and place. Knoll conduct- ed research and spoke to more than a dozen leaders who plan and design law firm offices to learn about challenges and planning strategies for balancing these three elements in the future workplace. The below summarizes the key takeaways from the in-depth re- search paper. • People. Competition for talent is high. Law firms compete not only with each other, but also with the technology and financial services sectors for a smaller pool of talent (law school enrollment is down nearly 25 percent since 2010). The practice of law is mentoring-in- tensive and office environments must support the face- to-face interaction required to groom the next genera- tion of talent. Also, of note: Shifting forces related to legal industry talent include shifting demographics, changing support ratios, distributed work and new teammembers. • Process. Despite technological advances that have eliminated labor-intensive tasks and digitized entire file rooms, the practice of law remains tradition-bound. Yet, power has shifted from lawyers to their clients, putting downward pressure on fees and forcing firms to seek greater efficiencies in their practice and real estate. One of the most significant changes in law is the shift of power from lawyers to clients. In the past, legal profes- sionals had knowledge and skills that laymen did not understand. But in recent years, law has been demysti- fied and legal consumers have become savvier. Legal work is increasingly collaborative and team based (though automation has reduced the size and makeup of teams) and requires an environment with choices, including options for privacy, which is integral in the legal sector. However, not all work processes have changed. One constant in law: focus time. Attorneys spend about twice as much time as other professionals doing reading, writing and other activities that require concentration. Labor-saving technology and software-as-a-service is increasingly employed for practice management, client intake and document management, and artifi- cial intelligence software used for document review, saving time, boosting bottom lines andmeeting client objectives for reducing expenses for lower-level work. • Place. From the “golden era” of law up through recent years, space represented status; and office loca- tion and size were highly symbolic. Law firms remain as dominant users of top-tier office space in prime city locations, occupying two or three times as much space per employee as banking, insurance or tech- nology firms. This approach is under increased client scrutiny. Onward, firms are gradually adopting more pro- gressive, efficient designs that offset the cost of ren- ovation and higher real estate costs, and better serve a cohort with different values and work preferences than its predecessors. Public spaces in the modern law firm are decidedly less grand, luxurious and cer- emonial than in the past. Instead, a clean, modern aesthetic prevails, communicating success in a subtly understated manner. Offices are becoming smaller in size and modular in format, with space savings allocated to a greater number and variety of shared amenity spaces. Ripe for a change, public areas are re-imagined to serve multiple functions and audiences throughout the day and evening as firms focus on the experience factor for both clients and employees. Décor leans to- ward subtly elegant expressions of the firm’s brand and values. Individual workspaces are being streamlined, and Jenny West Transformation Leader, Knoll Moving Forward Corner offices are being replaced with team areas well-equipped with both technology and white boards preferred by young attorneys for planning and strategy sessions.