Open plan debate rages in legal sector

Richard Bertram, head of business development, TSK.

More and more legal firms are moving away from the traditional cellular model for office layouts according to this fascinating feature in a recent edition of The Lawyer.

It is clear that the benefits of more agile working environments have got strong advocates in senior positions in a large number of practices across the sector.

Big-name firms including Addleshaw Goddard, Eversheds and Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) have all embraced open-plan spaces.

However, as The Lawyer’s article points out, there are also staunch detractors – particularly among the ‘magic circle’ and some of the bigger firms in the City.

The two most frequently cited arguments for cellular layouts seem to be first that open-plan spaces aren’t conducive to deep concentration or confidentiality and that having your own office is still a major draw for the best senior talent.

The first of these poses a design challenge – how can we ensure that employees always have access to working conditions that are optimal for the tasks they are carrying out while still reaping the benefits of incorporating open-plan areas?

The answer is to look carefully at the requirements of employees and ensure that the right amount of private and quiet space is created to allow the required flexibility.

As to the second concern, this is understandable as a private office is still arguably essential to the way many senior partners operate. The key point is that activity-based resources will always be a more efficient way to run an enterprise, and it’s clear that an ever-decreasing number of businesses – even in the most traditional sectors – are sticking with a 100 per cent cellular approach.