Consider the law office. It’s sprawling, it’s busy, it’s full of expensive leather chairs and mahogany bookshelves (got to keep the senior partners happy). Private offices are the rule. It’s mired in tradition, and nothing about the layout has changed since—well, since the lawyers who lent their name to the firm were alive.
But law is changing. As artificial intelligence (AI) begins taking over some of the law firm’s basic functions, the very roles of the law firm are beginning to shift, and the old structural hierarchy—secretaries out in the open, paralegals in cubicles, senior partners in the corner office—is becoming obsolete. Money is an issue, too. “Traditionally legal firms could afford to have the grand workplace in the heart of the city,” says Su Lim, founder of Melbourne-based workplace strategy consulting firm Workcollectiv. “Now, pressure on revenue and profits coupled with increasing central business district rentals in major markets have led to legal firms rethinking the need for lavish offices, large legal libraries and traditional heritage finishes.”
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