2023 Bright Insight: The 2023 National Legal Sector Benchmark Survey Results

Nearly 90% of Global 100 firms extended leases with a new term shorter than five years in 2022.

Law firm leases were considerably shorter early in the pandemic, dropping from roughly six and a half years in 2018 and 2019 down to five years in the four quarters ending in Q1 2021. In 2022, lease lengths returned to the pre-pandemic range, hitting seven years in the middle of 2022. New leases tend to be longer than renewals, typically averaging six more months in length. In 2022, new leases were nine

months longer on average. 2023 Bright Insight Benchmark Survey respondents indicate that larger firms are leaning into flexibility right now to a greater degree. Nearly 90% of Global 100 firms extended leases with a new term shorter than five years in 2022 as compared to 56% of all law firms. A fourth of all firms extended leases for over 10 years in term length.

What was the lease term your firm committed to when you extended your lease?

Two years or shorter

Three to five years

Six to nine years

10+ years

100%

11%

25%

25%

25%

38%

38%

80%

17%

19%

19%

60%

21%

84%

31%

40%

44%

52%

58%

38%

20%

31%

13%

0%

5%

4%

4%

0%

Global 100 Am Law 1 - 50 Am Law 51 - 100

Am Law 200 None of the above

All Firms

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

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