A growing number of law firms looked to expand their office footprints in 2025 compared to the prior year, according to a new survey from commercial real estate brokerage CBRE, a sign that the contraction in law firm real estate that began with the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to an end.
Some Am Law Second Hundred and midsize firms have opened Delaware offices since the start of 2026 with the help of lateral bankruptcy partners, while other firms have added on partners in litigation and IP practices.
With law firm leasing staying strong during the third quarter of 2025, the legal sector accounts for 10.5% of total U.S. office leasing for the first three quarters of the year, more than double the level in 2018, showing the strength of the legal leasing market, a new Savills Q3 report finds.
Law firm leasing grew significantly during the first half of 2025, posting the highest square footage total since 2018, according to a recent Savills report.
As Big Law grows in New York, several Am Law 50 firms this year have been seeking additional office space in Manhattan, backing up a trend seen nationally of booming leasing activity in the legal industry.
As law firm employees continue to spend far less time at the office than they did before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, firms are responding both by reducing unused office space to save on overhead while concurrently expanding the amount of space dedicated to collaborative work.
Law firms are navigating a paradigm shift in how they approach office space. With the rise of flexible workplaces, firms are finding that when their attorneys do come into the office, the main goal is to connect and collaborate with peers — and this shift has transformed how law firms address their real estate needs.
Overall this year, law firms have been more likely to leave their current spaces and relocate, but they continue opting for smaller spaces.
As Big Law firms push a return to the office, law firms continue downsizing their physical footprints, in line with a trend of fitting lawyers and staff into less space.
Many firms are shifting to a hybrid work model, where lawyers and staff will divide their time between in-office and outside-the-office work, making management and leadership tasks more challenging.
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