Technology to impact space needs of Florida's law firms

By Lynn Koller

Reprinted from: Florida Real Estate Journal - July 1, 2003

"Technology has changed the way attorneys practice law," says Andrew Z. Adkins III, director of Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville. The changes in legal practices across Florida -- due to everything from the broadband revolution to the time-worn word processor -- have changed the amount and type of office space that firms need. And it is not about feng shui.

Lawyer supply

Attorneys who may have initially resisted the technological revolution are seeing the benefits of gizmos, gadgets and circuitry, and this is affecting their physical space. For the most part, they need less than before. But, developers and building owners need not fret about a diminishing supply of lawyer tenants. With over 72,084 Florida Bar members ‹ though not all are active or reside in Florida -- there is no shortage of attorneys. In fact, the number will likely grow. Florida has a total of eight law schools and two on the way. Paul Hendrick, dean and professor of law at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, says that his school has approximately 490 full time students, up from 60 students in 1996. "We¹ve had more than 3,500 applicants this year for just over 230 openings," Hendrick says. The overall increase in attorneys recently entering the marketplace is less dramatic. The Florida Bar Examiners report that 2,250 first-time takers passed the bar exam in 2002, compared with 2,139 in 2001 and 2,214 in 1998. This does not reflect which of the candidates passed the "fitness of character" examination by the Florida Bar.

Changing concerns

Building owners may begin seeing a trend toward smaller law practices and sole practitioners, according to some experts. While hi-tech expertise is often associated with the young, experienced attorneys who previously could not change a typewriter ribbon are asking technologically-savvy questions when selecting and establishing their offices. "Now they really want to know, 'What¹s your fiber capability?', 'What can you do for me on the rooftop for satellite?'," says Tim Prunka, executive director at Insignia/ESG in Miami. Prunka says that Internet and satellite connectivity, back-up power generation, 24/7 air conditioning for equipment rooms, and electrical systems are prime concerns for law firms. Attorneys and staff need more power at the desktop. Networked desktop computers, backup systems, and Internet connections all have various power and wiring requirements. "Twenty years ago, a lawyer might have a calculator and dictating machine at his desk," Prunka says.

Square footage

Prunka says that law firms rent space based on square feet per attorney. He sees anecdotal evidence that space requirements have shrunk. He still calculates approximately 600sf per attorney, but found that before the last few years, attorneys were actually taking up to 680sf. Now they have moved back to about 600. Different types of practices use varying amounts of space per attorney.

"Heavy litigation firms have different ratios because they need more support," Prunka says. "Transactional firms use less space. Plaintiff¹s lawyers use even less, until they win a big case." Leslie Larkin, professor of law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale for the past 15 years, says that more students are becoming interested in transactional work than litigation. Also, she sees more students getting a law degree with no intention of becoming a lawyer, but rather using their degrees for other careers such as real estate, accounting and even careers in the entertainment industry. Attorneys fresh out of school are even more likely to take advantage of space-saving technologies, and require less support staff than in the past. If they do end up in a law office, it may be without a dedicated secretary. With many attorneys creating their own documents and communicating electronically, the need for a one-on-one ratio of attorney to secretary has diminished. Shared administrative staff is a significant cause for reduced space requirements.

Conferencing

Another change has been the increased use of teleconferencing and video conferencing.

"Lawyers teleconference much more than they used to for depositions and meetings," says Larkin. "When I practiced law 15 years ago, you got on a plane and you went somewhere." Several of Larkin¹s students report to her via weekly teleconference from firms located in New York, New Jersey and California. Prunka says that lawyers are designing conference rooms differently than in the past. In addition to network connections and video/teleconferencing apparatus, law firms want conference rooms close to the reception area, with their own kitchen services and other amenities nearby. The reception area has gotten smaller, and visitors are being seated in the conference area.

Sole practitioners

The very smallest law offices across Florida may offer the best examples of efficiency. Adkins says that sole practitioners and small firms are the pioneers in legal technology. "These are the guys who are really pushing technology," Adkins says. "They¹re not committee-ized. If they see something they want, they go out and get it." Richard Georges -- sole practitioner in St. Petersburg, technology author, and gadget guru -- employs an impressive array of technological systems. He is one of the pioneers about whom Adkins speaks. Georges uses a desktop computer with a wireless network, and travels with a Dell notebook and a Palm I705. He uses DisplaySoft, a document assembly program for real estate closings. He recently purchased DoubleTime, an application promoted by Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund Inc., that integrates with title information obtained through the Web. Amicus Attorney is Georges' case management program, and he uses the PCLaw application for time-tracking, billing and accounting. All information is synchronized through his Palm I705, which also allows him to handle e-mail and browse the Web. Finally, Georges uses GoToMyPC.com, a remote access Web-based system, to access his office network server through the Internet from any location. He can view his calendar, phone messages and other communications from his secretary -- a human -- through any online PC via the Amicus Attorney program. If Georges wants documents for a trip, he scans them to his laptop for review. He also uses eFax.com, a service that converts faxes to emails, to receive paper-based documents from his office. Aspiring lawyers are now inculcated with technology in law school. Larkin says that for about six years, Nova has required that its students own laptop computers. To take advantage of these computers, Nova made the entire campus wireless. Students can connect with the Internet and e-mail in classrooms at all times, and some professors accept assignments as e-mail attachments.

"The students all type and produce their own work. They¹re very adept at cut and paste, and they prefer to do the work themselves," says Larkin, pointing out that in the past, many students used typing services to transcribe assignments.

Redundant systems

While technology has caused many changes, the legal field is steeped in tradition, and sometimes attorneys are left with redundant systems. One example of this is the now uneconomical law library -- the hard copy version. Electronic legal research has largely replaced searching through books. This effectively eliminates the need for the vast shelves of books supported by reinforced steel beams and found in large firms. "In a big firm, you might have 3,000 square feet of library, and that need has virtually disappeared," Prunka says. However, Georges points out that large firms still maintain large libraries and books, even though all research is done on CDs or via the Internet. "Most firms still have the books; they¹re not going to throw them away," Georges says. "We¹re not saving space yet." E-mail is another area that might be a space saver, but it often falls short of saving paper or space. While e-mail is prevalent and popular among attorneys, many attorneys end up printing every e-mail and attachment for the case file. Georges, who uses an impressive number of electronic systems, still prints e-mails for the file, rather than using electronic storage exclusively. In the same vein, paper files are nowhere near extinction, despite the space-saving potential. File storage has always been a major space requirement for law firms. Major law firms can manage thousands of active case files simultaneously, and attorneys hold onto closed files for years. Many lawyers save every scrap of paper even remotely connected with a case and do not abridge the file at its close.

"Lawyers are running into storage problems with their files. Most have off-site storage for older files, yet very little is done to clean out the file before sending it to storage," Adkins says. "From lawyers I¹ve talked with who do clean their files, they often end up with only twenty-five to thirty percent of the original file. The rest is insignificant to the case," Adkins says. Streamlining could potentially save attorneys a lot of storage space, as would storing documents electronically, but lawyers worried about malpractice liability want to take no chances. "We¹re going to have paper files forever," says Georges. "In this regard, I am not as efficient in file storage as I should be." Despite the reluctance to change traditional storage practices, electronic documents are becoming a big part of the law practice. "We¹re not only creating work product using word processing software, we¹re also receiving work product via e-mail and attachments," Adkins says. "The problems lawyers face are primarily in information management. Where do they store the documents and how do they find them?"

Finally

Ultimately, Florida attorneys are still going to need places to put themselves, their clients and their files. Changes in technology will mean that professionals matching space to law firms will have to learn answers to new questions. "It¹s not just about filling up space," Prunka says.