Even DC's law firms are trimming their office space--and getting good deals.

A recent Washington Post article highlights a recent CoStar commercial RE management firm report noting that four of Washington's law firms--the type of firm that covets large private offices--are either keeping their current office space size or cutting down the space they occupy in recent leasing actions.   And, in the process, they are getting deals on rent and renovation.  This table from the WaPo article shows what these four firms are doing:

 

Law firm	Previous SF leased	New SF Leased	Net SF Reduction
Hogan Lovells	413,959	413,959	-
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius	298,296	250,799	47,497
Latham & Watkins	236,577	232,099	4,478
O’Melveny & Myers	160,958	101,739	59,219
Total	397,535	584,637	111,194

Overall, these new leases comprise a 28% reduction in office space.

We do not know if the staffing in these law firms was also reduced, but it is unlikely that it was reduced by the same amount as the space it leased.  The staffing could have, in fact, increased.  After all, this is Washington, DC!