Law Firms Are On A Historic Office Binge

Law firms signed for their highest volume of office space on record in the first half of this year, leading the corporate charge that has finally started to chip away at the ocean of available U.S. office space.

Businesses in the legal profession signed leases for 12.2M SF of office space through June, a 17% year-over-year jump, following a record 7.3M SF in the second quarter alone, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield. Expansions by leading legal practices made up the majority of the deals signed, with demand spilling out of New York City and Chicago into smaller markets.

Leasing activity by the legal sector accounted for 14% of total demand in 10 of the biggest office markets tracked by Cushman & Wakefield's second-quarter report, which linked the number of deals inked by law firms to artificial intelligence firms’ voracious appetite for growth...