Aronfeld Trial Lawyers founder and managing partner Spencer Aronfeld in Coral Gables.

Aronfeld Trial Lawyers in Coral Gables moved to a smaller office in the 14th-floor penthouse of a tower with amenities after nearly 30 years of being in its own one-story building nearby.

The downsizing and move to a multi-tenant building reflects the latest trends in law firm offices as U.S. firms opt for less space and more amenities.

The personal injury law firm with a cruise passenger injury niche relocated to 1 Alhambra Plaza from its previous home a mile away at 3132 Ponce de Leon Blvd. on July 1.

“It’s like going from a house to an apartment building,” said founder Spencer Aronfeld. He declined to provide the lease terms and whether he plans to sell the old office.

The new office is smaller than its previous 3,450 square feet yet will accommodate more employees. The four-attorney firm is hiring a fifth lawyer, adding a legal assistant and upping its support staff count to nine.

Generally, law firms are shrinking their footprints from the traditional 800 to 1,000 square feet per lawyer down to 550 to 700 square feet, according to a CBRE  Inc. study released in March 2018.

Aronfeld, who didn’t provide the square footage of the new office, said his firm downsized because it was the best thing to do for the firm, not to follow trends.

“Why do I need such a huge office? For what?” he asked. “I am trying to use the space more consciously.”

Two attorneys mainly work remotely, and meetings often are held at a court reporter’s or a defendant’s office. The changes left offices that often sat empty and an underused conference room.

While the smaller footprint was a necessary change, it wasn’t what prompted the move. The firm opened about 26 years ago at the Ponce de Leon location, and Aronfeld said he and his staff were overdue for a change and needed a fresh setting.

“I needed a different perspective and a different point of view. I needed to have something else to look out the window,” he said.

The new office views stretch to downtown and Miami International Airport. The balcony offers an ocean view.

There also is the novelty of meeting other professionals in the building, striking up a conversations in the elevator and networking, Aronfeld said.

The Alhambra Plaza building also has a concierge, coffee shop and ballroom-type dancing lessons, for which the trial attorneys have signed up. Aronfeld’s first class was at noon Thursday.

“It’s fun and it’s fresh and it’s exciting,” he said. “It’s not that I dreaded going to work. But it’s exciting coming to a new place. It’s exciting getting in my car and driving to a new place.”

Many law firms are reimagining their real estate by embracing same-size offices for attorneys regardless of seniority.

Akerman did it when it moved to Three Brickell City Centre with office managing partner Neisen Kasdin calling it a more “egalitarian” approach. Duane Morris did it when it moved last September to the Citigroup Center in downtown Miami. Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr will have same-size offices when it moves to 701 Brickell Ave. next February.

For its part, Aronfeld Trial isn’t embracing this trend.

“We don’t really follow trends,” he said. “We do what’s best for our office.”

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