Legal Office Trends: DFW vs. Houston
As the nation’s most renowned law firms expand and relocate to Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston compete to host the most. DFW is home to 44 firms on AM Law 200’s list and Houston is home to 72, according to new data from CBRE Research.
The AM Law 200 ranges from firms with 150 to 4,000 attorneys and profits from $85M to $2B. Together, DFW and Houston account for just under half of the firms listed on the AM Law 200.
As technology advances and rents increase, many law offices face pressure to downsize their real estate. The average U.S. law firm has reduced its footprint by 22.2% per lawyer from historical averages. Many firms are reducing space by keeping law libraries digitally and ditching dedicated offices.
In Hines’ 609 Main at Texas in Houston, law tenants such as Kirkland & Ellis account for 38% of the leased office space.
In Dallas, a new submarket has prevailed as the law hot spot: Uptown. As many firms relocate to Uptown, law execs opt for more walkable and amenity-rich neighborhoods in replacement of more space. Crescent’s McKinney & Olive recruited its anchor tenant, Gardere, by allowing the law firm to downsize its footprint by 40% from its former office in Downtown’s Thanksgiving Tower.
Law firms all over are ditching the notion that office space means closed corner offices and large libraries and embracing the idea that open concept design facilitates collaboration, according to CBRE research.
