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

06 WO R K P L AC E C H A N G E S

• It is also noteworthy that mentoring has dropped down the importance list for associates , which may be due to the reduction in mentoring and information training that younger associates have experienced with the increase of remote work. Partners, however, still widely champion the importance of mentoring and believe associates hired in the past three years may not know what they are missing. Associates that do come into the office stand to benefit from an additional 40 minutes of mentoring and another 40 minutes of additional training, learning, and professional development, as recent research shows. 12 • Given that most lawyers spend half or more of their time doing focus work, private, dedicated offices are still the norm , but with tweaks in structure. The legal sector continues to leverage private offices to a greater degree than most industries. Attorneys’ offices are still most commonly on the perimeter with

What does this all mean for law firm space and workplace design? We have already discussed how firms are shrinking their square footage per attorney. However, space reduction and cost management are not the only factors in workplace strategy. To gain a deeper understanding of legal occupier workplace strategies we’ve consulted with our internal project & development services team and four third-party design firms serving the legal sector. 11 • Flexibility and balance are extremely important to associates. When asked frequently followed by work/life balance, flexible work schedules, and remote work flexibility. Flexibility and autonomy over when and where to work have grown in importance during the pandemic. Having a private office, a traditional status symbol for attorneys, came in last of the ten importance factors measured in the Bright Insight Associate Survey . to rate the most important factors, associates cite compensation most

17% of firms expect partners to work remotely 4+ days per week and another third see partners working remotely three days per week.

11 Cushman & Wakefield is grateful for insights provided by Gensler, Interior Architects, Perkins + Will, and TPG Architecture. 12 WFH Research as reported by Bloomberg.

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