Coworking for lawyers won’t be going away, but how will it look in 2021?
Remote work doesn’t necessarily mean working from home for many professionals, and coworking for lawyers offers an attractive option.
Coworking trending up
You have seen countless news stories about remote work in the wake of the pandemic, and you might have assumed that most remote workers have been at home. While many have made do in a home office or a corner of the dining table, others have found a better balance at a shared office space.
Coworking offers a perfect blend of flexibility and a professional space to focus and conduct meetings. In fact, more Americans have discovered coworking in the past year. According to research from digital coaching firm Ezra:
“In the last year alone, the estimated number of worldwide coworking spaces has climbed by 21%, up 42% since 2018 alone. At the same time, demand has also remained robust, with the estimated number of people using a coworking space up by 27% since 2020 and 49% since 2018.”
Post-Covid, researchers expect that number to increase by as much as 21 percent per year through 2025.
For law firms, this trend has been building for the past several years as well. Office space takes up the vast majority of a law firm’s overhead budget, and shared space alleviates a lot of that burden.
Architecture firm EUA noted this shift in an article late last year, writing:
“This forced divorce from the office, while inconvenient for many and desired by some, has changed the dynamic and expectations of today’s workforce. No one knows what the future holds, but pre-COVID-19, we were already seeing a shift in law firm design towards right sizing – decreasing private office space to increase flexibility and maximize real estate.”
They notes that employee satisfaction would take center stage for law firm real estate decisions. People want the option to work in a more flexible office set-up. Happier people produce better work.
Why coworking makes sense for lawyers
Whether you run a solo law firm or employ dozens of attorneys and staff, coworking could provide the best of both worlds. It allows you and your staff to set customized office hours. The environment also supports productivity, focus and professionalism.
As you seek to balance work and personal life, it helps to create a clear delineation of space for the different facets of your life.
It’s much harder to draw a hard line between work hours and home hours when work takes center stage at the kitchen table. Personal responsibilities beckon midday and work calls at night, leaving no sense of clear structure to support satisfaction in any area of life.
While a dedicated home office (with a door you can close at the end of the day) can help, it doesn’t solve the whole problem. Do you want to meet clients at your home? What about making valuable connections with other lawyers and professionals to grow your referral network? You have to leave your home office for these functions, and a shared office space makes that a much simpler prospect.
Local coworking and specialized coworking
While you will find several national coworking chains in the marketplace, opting for a local and/or specialized option has a number of benefits.
This piece from Obermayer highlights a few:
“The fees of a [national chain] are usually higher than those charged by smaller, local coworking companies and these larger operators often deal with corporate clients. In contrast, many local workshare spaces cater to independent workers or individual entrepreneurs. An advantage to using local companies is that they often have services or events focused on the local business community and they can help to contribute to local economies with training and employment opportunities.”
In our locations, for example, we offer continuing education opportunities for lawyers and industry-specific networking opportunities you won’t find at a chain. Our specialization allows us to create a community that allows Denver lawyers and Las Vegas lawyers to network, learn, support each other and grow their firms.
To learn more about coworking for lawyers in Las Vegas and Denver, contact us. You can also schedule a virtual or in-person tour of our locations.
