JLL Legal Trends Roundtable

Staying Ahead of the CurveThe evolution of the workplace environment

and its impact on Atlanta’s top law firms

2010 CommerCial real estate roundtable sponsored by:

john disney

participants in the 2010 commercial real estate roundtable (front row l to r) Gannon shepherd, jones lang lasalle; louise Wells, morris manning & martin; duncan Gibbs, jones lang lasalle (back row l to r) david demarest, jones lang lasalle; Kurt powell, hunton & Williams; mason stephenson, King & spalding; brad armstrong, jones lang lasalle.

Monday, noveMber 15, 2010

2 2010 2010 3

CommerCial real estate sponsored seCtion

G l o b a l r e a l e s t a t e s e r v i c e s f i r m J o n e s L a n g LaSalle (JLL) hosted a roundtable discussion last month with some of Atlanta’s leading

l e g a l m i n d s . T h e p a n e l i n c l u d e d K u r t P o w e l l , managing partner of Hunton & Wil l iams’ Atlanta o f f i c e ; M a s o n S t e p h e n s o n , m a n a g i n g p a r t n e r o f King & Spalding’s Atlanta office; and Louise Wells, managing partner of Morris, Manning & Martin, as well as members of JLL’s Atlanta law firm practice group, Brad Armstrong, David Demarest, Duncan Gibbs and Gannon Shepherd, with Gibbs serving as panel moderator. The discussion included strategy and legal trends as well how law firms are using – and will use – office space and technology.

Gibbs: What are some of the positive developments that you noticed in a relatively challenging 2009-2010?

stephenson: We’ve noticed a real uptick in our transactional practice, which is something we’ve all been waiting on from a demand standpoint. litigation has continued to be strong. obviously, bankruptcy has been strong in this environment. seeing new deals both in the corporate and even in the real estate area has been very encouraging. so far, we think we’re going to have a very strong fourth quarter.

Wells: litigation has been running full-steam-ahead

without regard to the economy. Where we are seeing real progress is within corporate and real estate; of course, that’s quite encouraging. real estate Capital markets, a hybrid of both real estate and corporate, has been acting as a leading indicator as activity in this space has grown exponentially for the past two years. it helps that our international efforts are benefitting virtually every practice, particularly intellectual property, litigation and, increasingly, corporate.

poWell: over the last year i have been surprised at the level of transactional activity. in large part, our clients have made the adjustments and have had cash built up over a period of time. our clients have been able to make the adjustments that they needed to make to be profitable even in this economy. they’re positioned reasonably well.

Gibbs: What are some of the key challenges you see going forward into 2011, both from the perspective of your clients and from the legal-industry perspective? how is your firm working to stay ahead of these trends?

poWell: Clients still are not growing organically as much as anyone would like because it’s difficult to really create growth in this type of an economy. that’s why they’re not hiring, and they’re still uncertain about bringing on a lot of new people.

there’s still a tremendous amount of cost pressure in every organization that we work with from the CFo’s and general counsel’s office, so we continue to see clients

focusing on cost and really how a law firm can provide value to the organization.

the word that we continue to hear out of the mouths of almost every general counsel that we speak to is value. how can you as a law firm deliver value to our organization? they’re looking much more critically at the value proposition a law firm provides than they may have done in the past when the economy was just rolling along without any real issues.

Gibbs: so it’s coming straight from clients’ general counsel office?

poWell: yes, absolutely. every general counsel you talk to wants to know, ‘how can you help us provide value, how can you give a certainty of cost?’ you always need to listen to your clients, but particularly when you’re in a challenging economy, you have to be closer and listen more carefully than you have in the past.

stephenson: Value is a key word. like everybody else and just like our clients, we’re facing the pressures of trying to reduce our overall cost structure and bring efficiencies to the delivery of what our clients want, namely value. We must learn from our colleagues in the construction and architectural world, and that’s better project management -- how you take a transaction, break it down into its various parts and execute more efficiently to deliver value.

the other thing we’re seeing is a lot of client expectation

Staying Ahead of the CurveThe evolution of the workplace environment

and its impact on Atlanta’s top law firms

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see it?

Guest panelists at the 2010 commercial real estate roundtable included managing partners from three of atlanta’s top law firms. From left: Kurt powell, hunton & Williams; louise Wells, morris manning & martin and mason stephenson, King & spalding.

4 2010


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Kurt powellManaging Partner, Atlanta Office

Hunton & Williams

Mason stephensonManaging Partner, Atlanta Office

King & Spalding

not like it today, but in 10 years, that might be the accepted norm.

poWell: that’s true. if you think about our national practices and the way our clients expect us to move sometimes, there are a lot of days that an office is vacant just because the lawyer is on the road.

stephenson: other firms around the country have done this, but another trend we’ve looked at and considered is relocating back-office operations to a different location. back to the technology point, do you need to have your accounting department sitting in the same space and the same building where you are? Could it be in alpharetta or marietta? that’s certainly a possibility. i think you’ll see law firms move toward that.

Gibbs: how is technology impacting your firm’s productivity, and how are you embracing technology?

stephenson: With videoconferencing, we are able to have a firm meeting with virtually all of our offices participating. We use it a great deal for internal meetings between offices. We’ve got a number of practice groups that span multiple offices, and those meetings by video conference are much more productive than the old conference telephone. so that’s one aspect that allows you to build your firm and maintain the relationships among the lawyers, and it’s a lot less expensive than traveling.

Wells: now’s the time to embrace it. We have implemented legal project management, a web-based project management tool, to help provide greater efficiencies and transparency. We have adopted a Crm system to improve our business development capabilities. We are providing clients with extranets and virtual meeting rooms to cut down on costs. We are looking into current video conferencing technology for use between our offices and with our clients. you will never 100 percent replace the need to physically be in the same room as your clients or colleagues. but, you can use technology to augment the interaction.

poWell: that’s where technology really helps facilitate client service, because we don’t practice as a local franchise in the atlanta market. We practice as one law firm across all of our offices, and that’s really done effectively and efficiently and really seamlessly from the client’s perspective through technology.

if you leverage your technology, you can provide that kind of service to clients, accessing all of the assets that you may have as a law firm rather than just those that you may have in a local market.

Gibbs: What’s your perspective on the open work environment? We see so many law firm designs now that have more common areas, whether it’s for entertaining purposes or conferencing purposes. i know the original thought was to create collaboration by bringing the attorneys out of the offices into these areas. is this a continuing trend?

stephenson: our conference center is greatly expanded from our former space. We also added an internal cafeteria, which we didn’t have before, and it’s open to lawyers and staff. people can sit down and eat together in a social environment. it supports collaboration.

the conference center itself has been a great add. it allows us to host clients and meetings, and it also allows us to open our space to community groups and support our partners and associates who are involved in various community organizations and bring people from the community into our offices. We’re a part of that community and we’re trying to give back. that has really helped us establish and maintain our presence in the city.

From the perspective of a pure work environment, we will see more open space in office design. For example, we have an off-site facility, the discovery Center, where we house approximately 200 professionals engaged in document review and electronic discovery. many of those professionals work in more open areas and they see value in it because it gives them the ability to communicate more easily. the space design promotes a team effort. i think we will see more open areas and more common workrooms to encourage collaboration.

Wells: i think it will be a continuing trend. shared work space and common areas will help build a greater sense of

team and increase efficiencies. one specific thing we want is flexible conferencing space. it will help reduce wasted space while increasing our capacity to host small, medium and large functions.

Gibbs: What’s your opinion on the law firm office and work environment as it relates to branding, recruiting and retention?

stephenson: We are going to see more telecommuting, and our lawyers working from remote locations. but one of the reasons we practice together in a law firm is to benefit from the exchange of ideas with our fellow lawyers. number one, you need space where people can gather, can work together, and walk next door, down the hall and ask that question and have a discussion about a legal issue. e-mail and telephones are great, but it’s so much better to be able to discuss an idea in person.

second, our clients expect it. the number of clients visiting law firms may not be as great, but they still expect a law firm to have an office – and an office conveys an image. it conveys a brand that not only delivers a message to your clients but also speaks to new and lateral recruits. When a law firm designs its space, it’s making a statement of who it is. its location matters. it will continue to be important for people when they’re looking to move from one law firm to another, or when they’re in law school looking at which firm they want to join.

Clients may not want a law firm to have the high-end space any longer, but they do expect and demand that their law firms be on the cutting-edge as far as technology and they expect all the bells and whistles, such as video conferencing, audio-visual equipment, that do cost money. When we moved into our new space several years ago, someone commented that it didn’t look like King & spalding. Well, King & spalding has evolved over 125 years.

poWell: think about what our clients do. they spend a lot of money on packaging their brand, and they view that as a necessary expenditure to really sustain their business and improve their profitability and growth. in a lot of ways, it’s no different than the expectation they have that they wouldn’t want to see their lawyer walking into court in jeans or in a shabby suit. there’s at least a certain level of minimum expectations that they want to see in the office space their lawyers occupy. so i agree, not extravagant, but highly functional, efficient, and to a certain extent a perception or image that’s going to be consistent with the services that are being provided as a professional service provider.

Gibbs: With the abundance of legal talent on the market today, what are you doing or planning to do as it relates to recruiting efforts?

Wells: We are making the same push that many law firms are doing to grow, primarily focusing on lateral growth. although, we are slowly but surely reentering the market of law school recruiting.

Whether they are lateral or law school recruits, they will need office space. they will need to feel as if they belong. and, that they are being supported, in terms of technology, support services, research, et cetera. they need a work environment that will allow them to flourish intellectually, create a sense of team and feel a sense of comfort and belonging.

Gibbs: regarding work environment and career path, what generational shifts are you seeing? how are those changes reflected in the space you occupy and the whole approach to recruiting? how do you position yourself?

Wells: one of the things we are focused on is the term “partnership” in that we are a partnership where we come together to do more than just have an office and only practice law in individual units.

the other thing to witness is that we have multiple generations sharing perspectives, all interesting and equally valid. bringing them together, while challenging, has been fascinating. all perspectives are good perspectives.

stephenson: the younger generation probably does not have the same expectations regarding office space that i did 35 years ago. however, they are more interested in technology and being connected. they want to be able to do their work in the coffee shop or wherever they happen to be at the time. so technology is one of the more important

and demand for highly specialized and focused lawyers and groups. just being an m&a lawyer is not enough anymore. you’ve got to be an m&a lawyer with a focus in a particular industry, whether it’s healthcare or energy, et cetera.

We’re focusing on industries and bringing expertise to bear in response to a client demand for value. at the same time, we’re trying to reduce costs so you can ultimately deliver what’s needed, bringing to the table a complete team of lawyers, tax, corporate and regulatory lawyers, whatever it may be, in various areas.

healthcare is an obvious area of focus for us with the current status of the new healthcare legislation. demand is also strong for our pharma/biotech practice, as it is for our energy practice around the world.

Wells: my colleagues are right. We have been focused on providing our clients ‘value’, going beyond being rate sensitive. We developed legal project management to ensure we can transparently demonstrate the connection between rates, time and value – all while improving reporting capabilities.

While we have maintained our practice areas, we are increasingly focusing our efforts on industry areas. having full-service capabilities within an industry area allows us to offer great value. a few years ago, we looked into the proverbial crystal ball and recognized that certain industries were going to grow – healthcare, sustainability/green, and energy.

the recession was a market reset and we don’t believe many areas, if any, will return to what we viewed as normal. Client loyalties have been weakened. as such, we must be mindful to remain vigilant in our communication with our clients and remain focused on their complete needs. Further, that means a number of prospective clients are in play. i think you will see firms becoming more aggressive in their marketing and business development.

Gibbs: When working to change from that practice-group model to a more vertical focus or concentration on specific industries like energy, how does that change the face of the law firm as you look toward the future?

stephenson: primarily, you must have partners who are willing to work together across practice areas and offices, and that’s critical, to share clients, expertise and relationships. if you can build that kind of environment inside your law firm - something we have been successful at, then you can create this cross-practice group delivery of services. it’s really important because, for example, clients in the energy area need construction, tax and arbitration expertise, just to name a few.

We continue to be organized by practice groups, but we do, just like louise mentioned at morris, manning, also organize across industry lines where you can create a client team of lawyers from all the various specialties. We constantly stress to our lawyers to be responsive to clients in the delivery of legal services, and a key component is having people willing to work together as a team.

Clients are looking for seamless transition across practice areas. When the client calls me with a transaction and needs tax or employment expertise, the ability to bring in the tax or employment lawyer on a seamless basis is important to the client. that’s the sort of relationship you want to establish internally and as well as externally with the clients.

poWell: For clients it’s a minimum threshold that you understand their business. there is an expectation that they’re not going to need to educate you on their business if they’re going to partner with you, nor should they have to teach us about their business.

you really get to know a client’s business through experience in an industry. it ’s not necessarily just representing one client in that industry but a number of clients so that you get exposure over a period of time. Clients are placing much more emphasis on that as well.

then, with respect to the cost component, they are much more data driven in the general counsel’s office than they used to be and are asking their law firms to understand our own cost information and be able to communicate costs to them in a more visual and concise way, much in the same way the CFo’s office has historically reported information. We’re seeing a lot more tracking and dashboards reporting

of costs on an ongoing, real-time basis. i think that’s favorable because it helps us focus on the efficiency of our own organizations in delivering services.

our partners have to be better project managers and better business managers instead of lawyers who just do good legal work and bill by the hour.

Wells: law firms have generally designed themselves around areas of law versus organizing themselves vertically along industry lines, virtually command vs. demand. We can’t do that anymore. We have to think of ourselves in terms of what our clients want now and will need in the future, both in terms of legal services and value. this will be a good thing for the ‘business’ of law.

Gibbs: the work environment seems to be changing. how has the footprint of the everyday law firm changed with regard to that need for collaboration?

stephenson: When we were evaluating our existing space in 2002 and considering our options for office space, it was amazing how much had changed from 1988 when we designed our former office - email did not exist back in 1988. that was a 15-year look back. over the next 10 to 15 years, what we as lawyers have as space today will change radically. What we’re seeing is a lot more open space, working environments that promote and facilitate collaboration.

When we designed our new space at the 1180 peachtree building, we tried to build in flexibility. We’ve got a lot more conference rooms than we formerly had in our old space. Whether it’s conference rooms or workrooms, you’ll see a lot more of that. you’ll see more of an open design.

When you examine how our colleagues in the consulting industry operate and design their space, it’s a much more open floor plan. the atlanta market, for example, still requires law firms to deliver private offices for associates, but i think that will evolve over time, and you will see, especially younger lawyers, beginning their career in work stations at some point. not tomorrow, but over the next 10 years that will be a transition we’ll see in law firm space, which i think they might value over time because it will give them the ability to collaborate on work more than the individual private office.

Wells: it is no secret that we’re in the market looking at office space, so we’re challenged with all of these issues. our architects took us on a tour of competing law firms and showed us one where junior associates were two in an office. initially, i said, “that will never do. i don’t even need to look at it.” but when you take a step back to consider the idea, it provides for a more collaborative work environment. increasingly, i think we are going to see more shared work space and common areas to help foster a team approach. in a team setting, leaders step forward and efficiencies are established.

We are also going to see an increased infusion of technology. We should accept that while technology may initially be expensive, its long-term impact is most likely to lower expenditures.

poWell: in terms of the next 10 or 15 years, technology will continue to have a huge impact on how you use space. most of our younger lawyers do not require very much from their professional assistants. the more you push down that equation and, again, the more efficient technology is becoming to use for even less experienced users, you’re going to have it right there at your fingertips. you’re not going to need as much assistance from a professional assistant. that’s going to affect how space is utilized.

then you’re going to have a lot more associates or lawyers who are going to be telecommuting. in many more law firms, there are flexible work arrangements where you have people who are working from home and only occasionally may come into the office.

if you have four attorneys who are working flexible hours or a reduced schedule, do you need to have an office for each one of them? not necessarily. you might have one office for four staff attorneys or a “hoteling” arrangement. i can see that occurring in the future.

stephenson: if you think about the accounting industry where hoteling is a common concept and the amount of travel that our lawyers do, we could do that. some might

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louise WellsManaging Partner

Morris Manning & Martin

Duncan GibbsManaging DirectorJones Lang LaSalle

that came into our miami office and now leads the firm from our new york office. he became managing partner of the law firm after leaving to go in-house and was general counsel with a client for a period of time.

Wells: and then came back?poWell: and then came back to the law firm.Wells: does he have a term limit?poWell: no, the managing partner position does not

have a term limit. that was a conscious decision on the law firm’s part about how we wanted to move forward in the future and what type of leadership we thought was needed to do that effectively.

stephenson: another area of succession planning is focusing on our relationship with clients, not only firm governance but succession with the clients.

our partners must prepare their own practice or business plan annually to set goals for the coming year. What do i want to achieve? We’re trying to push that down to our younger lawyers so people can focus where i want to be 12 months or 18 months down the road. With our more senior lawyers, we encourage them to transition client relationships.

With respect to firm governance, we do have a young-partner seat on our firm’s policy or management committee. like everyone, we try to bring young partners into leadership roles as soon as possible. even our hiring committee includes associate members. We try to bring them into our management at an early stage.

Gibbs: Give us your perspective on next year’s associates. have you changed your recruitment efforts in this area? how might that play into your vision for the future?

Wells: We are beginning, yes, again, to hire out of law school. the market is still ripe with great opportunities for second- to fifth-year associates from other firms that have been downsized along the way. We have farmed in that field and been very successful in it. again, it’s a balance.

poWell: it’s a tough employment market for lawyers. just like any other sector of the economy, lawyers have been affected. We are continuing to and want to hire directly from law school, but we’re certainly doing a lot less of it than we used to.

Wells: We did put our summer program back into place this year. it was smaller, but it was a lot of fun. it was really nice to do it again, to have young people around demonstrating their enthusiasm for the practice of law.

stephenson: even before the economic meltdown, we started to move away from only hiring entry level lawyers right of law school and had moved more into the lateral market - really as a way to expand our bench strength or to move into new practice areas where we didn’t have the expertise that we needed.

We never ended our summer program but its size was reduced. We’ll continue to hire directly from law schools, but, clearly, the market has changed. there appears to be somewhat of a disconnect between the law school market and the law firm market.

poWell: there are several reasons law school enrollment hasn’t declined as much as you would expect. in this economy, students are continuing their education in lieu of job hunting. additionally, a number of law school students do not plan to work for law firms after graduation.

Gibbs: do you think people that are entering law school have the idea that they want to be a lawyer when they come out, or it’s a tool that’s going to be applied in an entrepreneurial fashion?

stephenson: it varies across the board. When i was in law school, i think most of us thought we were going to practice law. today, i’m guessing only about 50 percent actually practice law, whether in the traditional law firm, public service or the corporate environment. regardless, it’s still a great education.

Wells: but it’s a joint m.b.a./law degree program, too. that lends itself to business and/or law.

poWell: i don’t have any statistics to prove this, but i have a sense that less than half of the people entering law school today don’t go into law school expecting to become a partner in a law firm. they may expect to practice law, but they’re not going into law school at the beginning saying, “i’m going to be a partner in a law firm,” as my career

objective.Gibbs: is that process vetted out as you go through

your associate programs? or are you finding people who are coming in saying, “i don’t really care to be a partner. i just want to be a lawyer within your firm?” are you fully expecting all incoming associates wanting to be an equity partner?

stephenson: We certainly hire our entry-level associates on that basis. When we all started, there were partners and there were associates. now we have partners, we have counsel, we have associates, we have senior attorneys, staff lawyers, project lawyers. there’s a great diversity in the opportunities and career alternatives.

so, yes, most probably come to the firm thinking they want to be a partner. over time they decide maybe that’s not for them. i think the younger generation perhaps values its time more than the older generation and wants some more flexibility that not being a partner allows. With the generational change, you see more people not having partnership as a goal. you have a lot of alternatives. We have a number of lawyers who will be at King & spalding their entire careers but not as partner.

poWell: there are a lot more options. law firms in general, certainly ours, are very comfortable with that and like it.

Wells: although making partner and being a partner still has that really nice cachet. When achieved, it’s nice to have that status.

stephenson: Clients appreciate the fact that they establish relationships with lawyers who know their business and have the needed expertise. that lawyer may not be a partner, but that lawyer is still there to maintain the relationship and get the work done. it’s a positive for the clients as well.

Gibbs: What industries have your focus for 2011 as you align to continue to meet clients’ evolving needs?

Wells: healthcare – the perfect storm between healthcare reform and an aging population means our healthcare and insurance practices will continue to be busy for years to come. We have a firm commitment to growth in this space. We also view energy as a growth industry. however, from our perspective, we are focusing on renewable energy and sustainability. Finally, we view international reach as increasingly important. the global recession reset competition. While the u.s. remains the core economic force, other markets, most notably China, india and brazil, now command and deserve our full attention.

poWell: We do a lot in the energy arena on a firm-wide basis. We certainly have a tremendous amount of practice in the technology arena through both our privacy and our global outsourcing practice.

life sciences is an area that’s of focus for the firm and we see as continuing to be fertile. you’re seeing a lot of transactional activity in the life sciences base. it’s closely tied to healthcare, and it’s highly regulated. it’s always a changing area. it’s the type of area that produces a significant amount of sophisticated legal work.

Wells: even traditional areas have changed. real estate now is so tied in with finance and understanding finance. it’s not just a dirt practice, if you will. it’s a different practice. traditional areas are still busy and active, but they’re active in a different or more complex way, frankly.

stephenson: life sciences is an area of focus for us as well. it spans the regulatory, intellectual property and litigation practice areas. it brings a lot of different groups into focus on a particular industry. real estate still continues to be an area of focus at King & spalding, as well. as louise said, real estate involves, for example, corporate, tax and traditional real estate lawyers. it’s a very inclusive group.

poWell: We should mention financial services. With all the changes that we’ve seen with the dodd-Frank act, we’re going to continue to see lots of changes in the financial services markets. obviously, that was a big part of what created – or was at least regulated – as a result of the downturn in the economy. We’ll continue to see a lot of development there, too.

Wells: the real estate capital markets group covers all of those.

elements for young people.poWell: they’re far more interested in having the right

technology than the right office.stephenson: right. they’re less concerned about

having four walls and a door.Gibbs: Could you expand on that, Kurt?poWell: being completely wireless is one example.

having the capability of being able to work anywhere in the office with your laptop, as well as having all of the technology tools that you need to be able to be efficient and effective, whether you’re sitting in your office, on the road or working from home.

Wells: or your ipad.poWell: We also have whole teams now that essentially

have gone paperless. so there are some good systems.stephenson: then you have the important issue of

managing and organizing all that electronic data.poWell: you have to have a very good, secure system

in place.stephenson: you must also have a system to organize

and file e-mail.Gibbs: Give me your perspective on how baby boomers

and millennials, the two different cultures, are using your office space differently.

poWell: most of the reasons that people come to work at a law firm involve the intellectual exercise, the analytical exercise, but i think the reason they stay is the fun of collaboration and working on a project together even with the high pressure, stress, and long hours. these are all things that have historically come with the practice of law and will continue to be part of the experience.

Where people get enjoyment is, a) from the client relationships and, b) from that collaborative component. boomers and millennials share some common workplace characteristics. For instance, they both enjoy working with smart and creative individuals. it’s fun to work with other bright, hard-working people, and you can come up with great ideas to help solve problems. additionally, both groups are team-oriented and like to collaborate. incorporating work spaces that allow for collaboration and socializing are critical. having that ability, that physical proximity, to work together easily is still important, notwithstanding the fact that you can arguably do it all through technology.

Gibbs: louise, how are you fostering that collaborative environment at morris, manning & martin?

Wells: every new applicant knows that collaboration is one of my big initiatives. you have to make the partnership a partnership at every level. We focus somewhat on the social environment, as well.

We have partners’ meetings once a month. We have industry meetings once a month. We have practice group meetings once a month. so we try to get people together as much as we can. a lot of that is based on opportunity, an opportunity to be in front of a client, to participate. partially because of our size but partially because of our philosophy, we give younger attorneys great exposure to what’s going on in a case or in a transaction.

stephenson: the key thing with all of us, whether you’re a millennial or a baby boomer, is the client. Client service is first and foremost what a lawyer has to provide. Whether you’re doing it downstairs in the coffee shop with your wireless laptop or upstairs with a large team working on a due diligence project, it’s client service. ultimately, that’s what drives all of us, no matter what generation, as far as how we approach the practice.

Wells: the clients’ decision makers have the same generations we have. the decision makers at the clients are all over the place, and they relate to us all over the place as well.

Gibbs: how are the generations within your firm influencing one another as it relates to technology?

stephenson: Well, blackberry is no longer our exclusive mobile e-mail device. millennials moved us towards the iphone very quickly. We discovered in one summer class, none of them wanted blackberrys. they all had iphones. so we now accommodate ipads and iphones as part of our e-mail platform. that’s an easy example of how the younger lawyers have influenced the transition to an open

environment as far as electronic devices go. Wells: it went from desktops to laptops and from

blackberrys to iphones and ipads.Gibbs: are you finding social networks either productive

or not productive for the firm? is the firm embracing or discouraging social networking as a part of the culture of the law firm?

poWell: Certainly, social networking is here to stay. i would say most of our lawyers are engaging in social networking in one fashion or the other. linkedin is certainly a tool that most lawyers are using to various degrees of success. that will continue to develop. i don’t know exactly how that will evolve, but you’ll see lawyers using those tools more effectively in practice development in ways that we may not quite fully understand yet.

Wells: believe it or not, we won a national award from the legal marketing association for our social media efforts. We are active on linkedin and encourage our attorneys to use it as a business development tool. We are very active on twitter. my marketing department tells me we ‘tweet’ once or twice daily and have over 300 followers. john yates has developed a tremendously successful tech-focused blog.

poWell: blogging is certainly a big part of it. hunton has five blogs up and running that cover a number of practice areas. We’re constantly measuring the impact and evaluating how to maximize our efforts. still, it’s almost like the office space question. there are certain parameters that are appropriate and other parameters that our clients might look at and say, “Why are we doing that?”

stephenson: i was in a meeting last week of real estate lawyers, and probably most of them were baby boomers. there was a presentation on social networking and one of the first questions asked was, “i want everybody in the room who’s on Facebook to raise their hand.” there were very few. then they asked, “how many of you are on Facebook because either your children or grandchildren are on Facebook?” and that was the primary reason. Clearly, i think that is a trend. i think law firms will move toward linkedin, Facebook, twitter and other social networks.

We certainly monitor social network sites from a recruiting standpoint. people are looking at that now with new hires. young people should realize that before posting things to the Web. social networking is clearly a trend that we’ll see law firms participating in. however, there are issues. you have to be careful. you must avoid creating a client relationship over the internet with someone you really don’t know. there are some ethical issues that you have to address.

Gibbs: a follow up on your comments related to recruiting and retention. do you have a succession plan? how are you addressing the pockets and voids that may be created as a result of the baby boomers’ retiring?

Wells: We do have a succession plan. We transitioned management last year from our previous managing partner to a new plan that includes an executive committee, a shorter term for the managing partner, and a more defined role for our management committee. as part of that, we are including, or focusing on including, younger partners at every level of management, from committees straight on up through the management committee, compensation committee and recruiting committee. it’s a balance.

you need to have homegrowns and laterals. you need to have a nice mix of both. laterals bring a lot to the table. they bring experience from other firms, ideas that if you’ve been in the same place, as i have, for your entire career, you may not have considered. it’s a learning experience.

if you start your career at morris, manning & martin and end your career at morris, manning & martin, you certainly understand the culture and the fiber of the firm.

poWell: We’ve always had a governing structure that has a built-in role for younger partners on the executive committee and in practice group leadership. then, they naturally evolve. a few years ago we named a new managing partner, Wally martinez, who was originally a lateral. i think he was 38 at the time he took the job. Wally has done a fantastic job of leading the firm through the difficult economic times.

there is still a perception in the market that hunton & Williams is a sleepy southern firm, but Wally was a lateral

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Gibbs: as you look into 2011 at your roles within your organizations, what one thing is at the top of your mind as far as what might keep you awake at night? What’s one thing that you’re focused on, something that you’re excited or worried about?

Wells: my sleepless nights stem from worrying about the balancing act between continuing to provide exemplary client services and the time and expense demands of business development. it’s marrying client demands with demands of our lawyers for greater opportunity.

poWell: looking externally to our clients, we need to continue to focus on the value component.

i was reading a white paper that ibm produced on the CFo, and it was the value-integrator role that CFo’s needed to play in their organizations. they did studies saying that the CFo’s who played that role in their organizations were far more successful. i look at the role that we play with our clients as really being in a similar fashion, and we have to be very efficient and understand the business to help integrate that value into our clients’ organizations. We really need to be very focused on using the right tools to do that.

With technology, again, a lot of our clients are becoming more data driven. We need to be more data driven so that we can not only produce those results but communicate effectively to our clients.

internally, i think everybody has to be a little bit uncomfortable even though all of our respective organizations are doing well in these economic times because there still remains a tremendous amount of uncertainty. uncertainty is always going to create legal issues and legal problems that we can advise our clients on, but the macro is still important.

if our clients are not growing and prospering and the economy is not growing, it has an effect on everybody.

in those times, it is important to focus internally on the

relationships that you have with your people to try to get them comfortable working through an environment like this. one of the disadvantages, especially for our younger lawyers, is that this is the first downturn they’ve been through, and they don’t have the longer-term perspective to know that we’ll get over the hump and that things will change. some of them entered their careers either at or shortly before this downturn, so their view of what the practice of law and what the business world is like is very, very limited. you really have to focus on helping younger lawyers get that perspective and communicate. the tendency of people in tough times is to hunker down when you need to do really just the oppposite.

stephenson: the thing that you have least control over, the economy, would be the thing we’re worried about the most. as long as the economy continues to improve, the market and demand will continue to improve.

First and foremost, we focus on our clients. you must constantly remind your lawyers – client service, growing that relationship, maintaining that relationship, expanding the relationship. We’ve got to focus on delivering value and being more efficient in how we practice law.

and your people are important. your assets ride up and down the elevator every day, and that’s your number one, largest expense in the law firm -- salaries and compensation. you’ve got to maintain quality lawyers and staff.

you must retain them – keep those people. you have to maintain the relationships so those rainmakers, if you will, the people that do have those client relationships, will continue to want to practice at your law firm.

Growing demand and maintaining the client relationships, those are the challenges.

poWell: a positive that’s probably occurred a little bit is the stratification that historically has existed in law firms, at least in our environment, is less today. We do a lot more

communication in just gathering with our staff and lawyers in part because it’s a more difficult economy and we want to try to create bonds across the firm. We’re spending more time focusing on our staff in addition to our relationships.

Gibbs: that’s a good point. how do you see that day-in and day-out as far as that’s concerned?

poWell: really it’s more just event-based. Fifteen or 20 years ago, you had lawyer events and you had staff events. maybe once a year you would do something together. a lot of our events, probably the majority at this point, really mix, at least during-the-day events. our staff is very involved in the philanthropic things that we’re doing, and community service is integral to our firm’s core values.

our firm is very active in the pro bono and the charitable and community service realm. our staff really takes a leadership role with respect to those types of things. We encourage it and we have a lot of fun with it. recently, we held a Wii bowling and a Wii boxing tournament fundraiser, again another use of technology in the workplace. during the tournament, i was boxing with one of our it people and it was some of the most fun we’ve had.

stephenson: another element, too, is the diversity in professional expertise. We talked about the various categories of lawyer and the alternative career paths. today, we also have people who are professionals, but they’re not lawyers. they’re experts in foreign trade. they’re pension actuaries. they’re nurse practitioners who assist our litigation groups. you have a whole range of people, and the traditional law-firm model of just lawyers and staff has totally changed. now you have these other professionals who are experts in their field who aid and assist the client.

Wells: that’s true at our firm. as an example, our China practice has 15 mandarin-speaking people, most of whom are not attorneys but rather patent agents, technical advisors or business development professionals. §

by john sikaitis and lanie reajones lang lasalle americas researchspecial to the daily report

twelve months ago, the world was a different place. From the law firm side, firms were shedding jobs and space at fast clips as business and billings firm-wide were down significantly. many law firms from the real estate perspective were adding excess blocks of space to the sublease market if they had locked in longer terms. in contrast, firms with near-term expirations were in many cases doing short-term extensions if they were uncertain about their business prospects or locking in long-term extensions (blend and extends) if they wanted to take advantage of the depressed market environment. today’s office market presents firms with a different perspective in many markets around the world; however those perspectives vary greatly depending on the local market dynamic.

AsiA pAcificin asia, rents across the region were down substantially

in 2009 due to demand levels plummeting and speculative construction adding vacancy across several markets. in hong Kong, rents had fallen 43.4 percent, while rents in beijing, tokyo and mumbai fell 17.1 percent, 25.0 percent and 36.4 percent, respectively. the market has shifted quickly though in asia due to substantial economic growth across various markets spanning the region. in the current market, tight supply levels driven by limited development and increased demand and take-up due to steady economic growth, have driven rents up significantly since the end of 2009. relocations and upgrading of space have driven overall leasing volumes higher region-wide, however, expansions and growth of firms have yielded tighter market fundamentals in hong Kong, singapore and other primary markets throughout China and india. With hiring picking up across sectors in asia, we expect demand levels to increase, which will drive pricing upward and options for occupiers down. rents have moved most and are expected to continue to increase at faster rates in markets such as hong Kong, shanghai and singapore where growth levels are projected to be highest.

europe AnD MiDDle eAstoffice markets across the region are witnessing upturns in

demand; however, activity has been predominantly driven by portfolio churn rather than expansion. the increase in activity levels has caused prime rents to largely stabilize with growth now evident in a number of markets leading the cycle. markets with the most significant increase in rents over the past 12 months have been moscow, london and paris with annual increases of 14.3 percent, 13.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. soft spots do remain though as rental ranges between prime and secondary product have continued to widen as secondary rents continue to soften and second-hand space continues to be released into many markets, causing elevated vacancy in that segment.

From the core perspective, however, the pipeline of high-quality office supply remains limited in many markets. london, paris, berlin, Warsaw and luxembourg, among other markets, have demonstrated vacancy levels in the single digits. these tight conditions will lead to diminished

options and increased rents over the near- and mid-term throughout many parts of europe.

AMericAsdepressed employment markets throughout the

united states have kept market fundamentals in the office sector relatively stable over the past few quarters. While law firms and other private sector tenants are no longer shedding space at the clips they were in 2009, growth remains limited to atypical office-using sectors, including education, healthcare and government. Vacancy levels have declined from cyclical peaks and occupancy rates have begun to creep up, but leverage remains firmly with occupiers. stronger demand levels for core-located, Class a and trophy product have driven rents upward in numerous segments of the market across new york, san Francisco, Washington, dC and toronto, among a handful of other markets. With employment markets still lagging the overall economy due to confidence issues among both consumers and businesses, law firms and occupiers, overall, will have enhanced leverage in the marketplace throughout 2010 and well into 2011

AtlAntAatlanta’s downtown and midtown submarkets have

traditionally housed the majority of top tier law firms, but 2010 has seen much of the activity in this sector extend north in the Central business district to buckhead, where nearly 2.0 million square feet of trophy office space delivered in the past two years. With office fundamentals bumping along the bottom of the market, concessions are

varying more with each individual building than by overall submarket. landlord willingness to compromise net rent is entirely dependent upon the loan-to-value ratio of that particular building. this approach is a real departure from pre-recessionary times, when landlords looked to see what each other was doing and concessions tended to trend collectively by submarket. law firm tenants have been able to capitalize on this. Whereas tenant improvement allowances of $55.00 per square foot used to raise eyebrows, record-setting, build-out allowances of $75.00 to $90.00 per square foot have been garnered since the economic downturn. With plenty of the premium space typically required by law firms available, many of these tenants are shopping the market well in advance of their lease expirations to leverage current conditions.

bostonboston was not immune to the economic downturn and

many law firms have faced significant layoffs resulting in reduced office space needs. legal services employment in the boston metro area was down 9.5 percent from peak-to-trough between july 2008 and may 2010. in recent months the sector has shown signs of stabilization recovering approximately 500 of the 2,500 total jobs lost during the recession.

despite unfavorable economic conditions, law firms, who comprise 12.2 percent of boston’s overall office market, were quite active over the past twelve months with 16 tenants leasing a combined 905,304 square feet in the boston Cbd alone. lease expirations and proactive firms looking to lock in favorable terms drove leasing activity in the market. additionally, more than 80.0 percent of these

Global Law Firm Office Market Perspective

Favorable conditions remain for tenants across the Americas and Europe

Searching for the right location? We know Atlanta's buildings inside and out.

For a complete Atlanta Skyline building analysis, contact Duncan Gibbs at [email protected]

One Atlantic Center

1,100,312 s.f.

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Alston & Bird

Carlton Fields

DLA Piper

Schiff Hardin

Thompson Hine

Holland & Knight

Bryan Cave

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Peaking Market Falling Market

Bottoming MarketRising Market

Houston, Miami

Los Angeles, St. Louis

San DiegoChicago

ATLANTA, Philadelphia

Boston, Silicon Valley

Dallas, New York, San FransiscoTorontoWashington D.C.

Hong Kong, London

Atlanta Legal Office Market is Tenant-FavorableLegal Office Property Clock. The Jones Lang LaSalle office property clock demonstrates where each market sits within its real estate cycle as of Q3 2010. Markets sometimes move clockwise. The Atlanta legal market is comprised of Buckhead, Downtown and Midtown. Source: Jones Lang LaSalle Research

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Bottoming MarketRising Market

Houston, Miami

Los Angeles, St. Louis

San DiegoChicago

ATLANTA, Philadelphia

Boston, Silicon Valley

Dallas, New York, San FransiscoTorontoWashington D.C.

Hong Kong, London

Atlanta Legal Office Market is Tenant-FavorableLegal Office Property Clock. The Jones Lang LaSalle office property clock demonstrates where each market sits within its real estate cycle as of Q3 2010. Markets sometimes move clockwise. The Atlanta legal market is comprised of Buckhead, Downtown and Midtown. Source: Jones Lang LaSalle Research

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firms chose to renew in their existing space. many were able to “blend and extend,” reducing their footprint while realizing in many cases a lower cost per square foot than their previous lease term.

17 law firms are currently seeking 685,600 square feet in the boston Cbd representing 16.6 percent of total tenant demand. looking ahead, nearly 40.0 percent of boston Cbd law firms face lease expirations between 2012 and 2014.

chicAGotrends gleaned from recently executed or currently active

law firm deals have shown that stability and growth plans vary from firm to firm, regardless of size. in this economic cycle there has been no norm. the Chicago Cbd has seen new entrants to the market along with shuttered doors due to acquisition; sublease space added to reduce costs as well as pre-commencement takes to allow for future growth; firms bolstering certain practice areas, while phasing out others. the single over-arching theme has been a keen focus on costs and real estate remains a top three expenditure along with personnel and technology.

active requirements can be categorized into two distinct groups; the sizeable users (50,000+ square feet) with somewhat limited options and the small- to mid-sized firms (10,000 – 50,000 square feet) which enjoy a wider range of choices. the larger firms are faced with an ever-diminishing supply of desirable blocks as few high-quality, view spaces exist and new construction is not expected for at least three years. the presence of global, regional and local law firms is highly concentrated in the Central loop and West loop submarkets of the Chicago Cbd. however, during the last development cycle, Kirkland & ellis anchored a tower in river north, joining jenner & block and Foley & lardner as major law firms along the north bank of the river. as options decline further, we may see more examples of firms willing to move from the traditional area south of the river and west of state street.

DAllAsthere is a current lull in the law firm sector in dallas market.

over the past few years, several large firms have signed new leases from older locations to newly constructed properties. the next wave of leasing activity for the law firm sector is expected to take place between 2012 and 2016 as lease expirations come up. For the most part, the majority of these law firms are in 1980s vintage Class a buildings in the

dallas Cbd. these existing locations have high finish-outs and lots of private offices, which are generally considered inefficient by current standards. these old layouts create a great potential for downsizing at the current location or moving to newer, but more expensive properties in uptown or other adjacent submarkets.

of those tenants that have renewed or signed new deals in recent years, most have decreased their footprint through a combination of downsizing and utilizing more efficient floor plans (less space needed for record keeping, smaller offices for partners, and conversion to cube environment for support staff ). in the next few years, there will a lot of churn in the law firm sector as many law firms have leases expiring in the 2012 to 2016 timeframe. the dallas Cbd could be drastically negatively impacted if the law firms continue to migrate to uptown and other submarkets as their existing space is not well suited to general office uses without extensive tenant improvements.

houstonmany office tenants in houston continue to benefit

from the soft market characterized by ample supply and aggressive competition amongst landlords. houston law firms have a surprisingly limited number of attractive choices, especially when it comes to built-out law firm space. this is because the houston legal market has not experienced significant downsizing during the national recession; in fact, the sector has fared better than its peers around the country because of its diversified client base.

For some firms, renewals represent the best alternative in today’s market, while relocations from Class a to Class b buildings (a drop in quality) tend to be of interest for smaller firms shifting into expansion mode. another option for the legal sector is the sublease market which continues to be aggressively priced, especially in downtown; however, some of these availabilities will require expensive redesigns to make the space fit. aside from these dynamics, it’s also worth noting that law firms – typically not perceived to be strong “credit tenants” because they lack significant tangible assets – are negotiating leases carefully at a time when landlords are especially sensitive to the financial stability of their tenants.

los AnGeleslos angeles’ weak economic recovery continues to

adversely impact the demand for legal services. many

law firms saddled with excess space are reducing their occupancy by placing surplus space on the sublease market, particularly in the los angeles Cbd. the large number of contiguous blocks of space available on the market today offers law firms ample alternatives to trade up the quality of their space and/or obtain more favorable lease terms.

Greater los angeles vacancy within all classes of office space rose to18.1 percent at the end of the second-quarter, up from 15.6 percent a year ago. the los angeles market continued experiencing negative net absorption, but much less than during the first half of 2010 versus the first half of 2009, indicating that the market maybe close to reaching bottom. Full service rental rates declined three percent through june, less than the 10.0 percent reduction in 2009, affirming that rents have commenced stabilizing.

much of the leasing activity has been centered on renewals, with larger law firms committing to 10-year or longer transactions. “rightsizing” and “blend-and-extend” remained preferred occupancy strategies for law firms throughout the los angeles basin, who continue to seek to capture favorable rents and available concessions by remaining at their current location, and avoid costly relocations. other law tenants took advantage of sublease opportunities, with significant remaining term and high-value existing improvements.

MiAMidespite consolidation and associated downsizing in the

legal industry, law firms continue to be among the most significant tenants, with their occupancy totaling nearly 26.0 percent of miami’s Cbd’s prime office towers.

of Florida’s top five law firms, three have a headquarters’ office in the miami Cbd with the remaining two also having a Cbd presence. the south Florida business journal ranks Greenberg traurig as the state’s largest. Greenberg is one of the new trophy tower’s anchor tenants (in-market relocation for 150,000 square feet). also included among the top five is Grayrobinson, the largest law firm currently touring with a 35,000 square foot Cbd requirement. of the Cbd’s two delivered trophy towers this year, law firms now comprise nearly half of the tenant base.

the delivery of new office product (over 1.3 million square feet in the Cbd), has driven the vacancy rate up to record highs. in addition to strong financial institutions, law firms are among the most sought after tenants for owners of office buildings in the Cbd. low lease rates, significant free rent, and high tenant improvement allowances make relocation into new office space an appealing option for most law firms.

neW YorKleasing activity among legal services has remained

unchanged in this latest downturn as stable tenants have taken advantage of favorable terms. law firms occupy 12.0 percent of manhattan office space, but accounted for 19.0 percent of the leasing activity in 2009, and two of the five largest transactions in 2010, year-to-date. this is typical of the new york market: activity among legal services also peaked in 2004, near the previous trough.

the market is still on the tenant’s side. Class a asking rents are down more than 30.0 percent from the peak and net effective rents have been nearly halved. While many law firms have entered the market, the majority chose to renew in place, with few expanding. tenants are finding current landlords to be generous with free rent and work allowances, making renewals very appealing. a decline in construction costs has allowed tenants and landlords to maximize value without increasing the dollar amounts.

these incentives from the landlord, along with tenants desire not to spend approximately $200 per square foot out of pocket for a new interior fit out, have resulted in a significant increase in the number of firms renewing in their current premises. small to mid-size firms have been fortunate to take advantage of built-out sublease space from larger firms. however, the number of built alternatives has decreased significantly, limiting firms’ options to relocate and save capital.

For a complete copy of jones lang lasalle’s fifth annual Global legal market perspective, which includes an analysis of the 14 largest u.s. legal office markets, please contact duncan Gibbs at [email protected]. §

by bailey Webbspecial to the daily report

technology, economic factors and a heightened commitment to client service have dramatically altered law firms’ approach to real estate and the workplace. exotic wood paneling and other costly accoutrements as well as expansive personal offices are giving way to a more connected, collaborative environment where idea and information sharing flourishes, whether it’s with the partner next door or peers on the other side of the world via videoconference.

still, the 21st century law firm conveys an image and culture and style, just in a different manner and with different tools. that workplace transformation forces firms to look ahead decades and balance the needs of current associates who have an eye on partnership, long-term partners, staff and future hires. the workplace equation involves more than just an office building’s location, interior build out and technology but also big picture questions that must be confronted – who are we and who do we want to be?

in order to smoothly and properly execute an office relocation or a renewal, which may require extensive renovations, law firms need real estate advisors who understand their business, come to the table with local expertise and global capabilities; understand landlords’ and buildings’ financial strengths and weaknesses in terms of operations and capital; and can provide project management services ranging from interiors upgrades to shell build outs.

“it’s a once-in-15-years decision that brings the firm together, and it drives a whole host of issues that we as real estate professionals have to grasp,” said duncan Gibbs, managing director and a member of the law firm practice group at jones lang lasalle (jll). “real estate is such a large decision for those who have a vested interest in the economics, culture and future of the firm.”

increasingly, law firms’ workplace strategies are determined in a more democratic process with an exercise in consensus building that takes into account input beyond the managing partners’ suite.

“the decision makers have a direct stake in the economic, technological and cultural ramifications, and they report to peers who have an equal stake,” said brad armstrong, managing director and member of jll’s law firm practice group. “Working with law firms, we’ve evolved from a transactional approach to a more consultative stance. We’re dedicated to helping them succeed at several dimensions of their business, whether it’s recruitment and retention or top-line revenue.

“it involves a lengthy, complex process that goes far beyond real estate, and it’s up to us to test and challenge their preconceived notions and lay those against the firm’s cultural foundation,” armstrong said.

Client-service focus informs law firm real estate and workplace decisions. Clients expect law firms to serve them across a number of specific practice areas, so office space involves more functionality and collaborative environments, whether that’s conference and work rooms or the ability to teleconference with coworkers anywhere on earth. to provide better, more profitable service, the m&a team has to collaborate with the tax-law team, or perhaps the intellectual property practice combines with its cohorts who specialize in international trade and the regulatory environment.

While many lament decreasing face-to-face interaction with clients and peers, cost pressures and technology dictate more electronic interaction. Closings are rarely performed in person in the firms’ offices anymore, but, ironically, more open and collaborative spaces, including meeting and gathering areas, have created a community asset for law firms that can be used toward philanthropic and social uses, not to mention work.

the virtual, mobile workplace more and more plays a role, as well, as attorneys need to be able to work from anywhere at any time. technology and a vibrant, collaborative workplace also impact recruiting and retaining the best and the brightest.

“associates are drawn to a collaborative workplace because it shortens their learning curve and allows them to build relationships within the firm,” said Gannon shepherd, vice president and a member of jll’s law firm practice group. “law firms have realized that interaction among their attorneys is good for the client, and for the firm’s morale.”

law firms are an integral force in atlanta’s office market, and often play a make-or-break role in determining the success of new

development or viability of existing properties. law firms are key tenants in nearly every atlanta trophy office building, with 26 firms occupying more than 50,000 square feet. the industry’s captured significant savings amidst a down economy in some of the biggest office leases of the past two years, including Kilpatrick stockton’s renewal for 206,140 square feet at 1100 peachtree, Greenberg traurig’s relocation for 110,000 square feet at terminus 200 and Weinberg Wheeler’s relocation into 63,980 square feet at 3344 peachtree. although law firms occupy 3.5 percent of metro atlanta’s 140 million-square-foot office market, they comprise 11.4 percent, or 893,000 square feet, of active office requirements in a market that’s 22 percent vacant.

market conditions continue to create nearly unprecedented opportunities for law firms, too. average atlanta Class a asking rates are $23.52, half of new york and Washington, d.C., rates and more than $10 per square foot cheaper than rates for houston’s top-shelf office space. atlanta occupiers are achieving significant discounts on negotiated rent transactions and sublease spaces.

Current levels of free rent average 10 to 20 months for new transactions and renewals. tenant improvement (ti) allowances for current deals range from $45.00 - $90.00 per square foot but have been much higher for some tenants. not all buildings have the access to cash or capital reserves to fund allowances of these

magnitudes indefinitely. “the buildings with limited access to cash will ultimately begin to compete more aggressively with even lower rental rates and escalations.” armstrong said.

understanding these factors is a minimum, basic requirement for law firms and their advisors, and, increasingly, real estate services firms’ capital markets expertise and ability to understand a building’s capital structure figures into the equation. an owner’s financial position and ability to provide tenant improvements and basic services has to be a major consideration in any location decision.

“the total economic package that a landlord can offer in rent and concessions is largely dictated by that building’s capital situation,” said shepherd. “this dynamic has created a market of outliers, and we have seen a wider range of economic offerings across similar buildings as compared to the pre-recession market.“

sublease space, especially law firm space that’s already built out to one degree or another, creates an interesting scenario for start-up and growing small- and mid-sized firms. buckhead, midtown and downtown have sublease space totaling 819,603 square feet, with sublease rates ranging from $14 to $27 per square foot in buckhead, $10 to $20 downtown and $13.50 to $27 in midtown.

“existing law firm space creates a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the inherent value it presents,” Gibbs said. §

Embracing the Future The 21st century law firm adapts to changing workplace environment and clients’ needs

Source: Jones Lang LaSalle Project & Development Services

Total potential cost savingsfor extensive reuse of 2nd generation space

*for 40,000 sf space

Existing DrywallSaves $5.00 psf

Existing ElectricalSaves $5.00 psf

Existing Ceiling Saves $3.00 psf

Existing FurnishingsSave $5.00 psf

Existing HVAC & FPSaves $6.00 psf

Professional FeesSavings $1.00 psf

Advantages of 2nd Generation Office Space Vs. Shell Build-Out

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Central Business District Q3 2010 Average Class A Asking Rent RatesSource: Jones Lang LaSalle Research

12 2010

Can you see it?

Without boundaries there are limitless possibilities.

Following the herd can lead to dead ends. Leading your organization toward future growth may require blazing new trails or simply staying the course. Along the way you need real estate solutions that speed your progress.

That’s where Jones Lang LaSalle comes in. We use our knowledge of the changing markets to help our clients evaluate their options and make the right decisions that drive their business forward.

For real estate services that put you on the path to success, go to www.us.joneslanglasalle.com/atlanta

JLL Legal Trends Roundtable

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Transcript of JLL Legal Trends Roundtable