Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 3 s the open-concept office a trend that has no place in a law office? Many a skeptical lawyer would say yes. Until we did a deep look at this trend, I thought so, too. So did a number of lawyers who spoke to Jonathan Kay as he researched our cover story (p. 24). Some lawyers thought the relentless emphasis on collaboration that underpins the open- concept office ignored the importance of solitary work like research and synthesiz- ing documents. One lawyer told Kay that if someone tried to take away her office, "they might get hurt." We both agreed this was worth looking at critically — and asking if the open- concept office had gone too far. What Kay found, however, was not a trendy "one-size-fits-all" approach but a shift that underlined something deeper. The legal profession had already changed, but these lawyers' office space needed to catch up — and the solutions we heard about were as varied as the work they all did. In Vancouver, Miller Thomson rejected the assumption that the windowed law- yers' offices had to be arranged on the periphery of their space. Once that sacred cow had been slain, their architecture firm began interviewing staff and embedding themselves among the lawyers to observe how they worked together. They concluded that "casual collisions" were to be encouraged, not an obsession with corner offices. In Montreal, Fasken organized its physical space vertically in a way that encour- aged staff to leave their departmental bubbles, with a central stairway providing access to unique common spaces on each of the firm's floors. Yet they rejected fully open work spaces, noticing that lawyers in those environments tended to sit with headsets and two computer screens in front of them, totally isolated. Fasken didn't want to encourage that. Kay also visited a small law firm, The Ross Firm, which adopted a hybrid approach. Two-thirds of their office was transformed into a single modern, sunlight- drenched space for clients and the remaining third was left as traditional office space. Perhaps the most compelling rationale for an open-concept office came from the legal department at Sun Life Financial. They found their lawyers spent 70 per cent of an average workday in their offices, which meant they were paying rent on unused space. Moving to shared spaces would make the company more profitable. What all these new layouts and approaches share is one thing: an acceptance that the legal profession has changed. These law firms and departments seemed to have moved on from a world in which legal discussions were conducted only in person or over the phone, where, in Kay's words, "it made sense to create an architecture that acted as a bricks-and-mortar cone of silence." They had accepted that lawyers do their work differently with digital and mobile communications. Lawyers may need space for solitary work, but they need it for many other things as well, including collaboration and clients. Some layouts may not work, and no doubt there will be experiments that fail. The skeptics may say, "I told you so." But the shift in how lawyers do their work is not just a trend — there is no going back. Now the space where this work is done needs to adapt. E D I T O R ' S D E S K @canlawmag tim.wilbur@tr.com Director/Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@tr.com Managing Editor: Tim Wilbur tim.wilbur@tr.com Associate Editor: Mallory Hendry mallory.hendry@tr.com Copy Editor: Patricia Cancilla Art Director: Bill Hunter Production Co-ordinator: Catherine Giles catherine.giles@tr.com Contributors: Jonathan Kay, Kimberley Molina, donalee Moulton, Mark Cardwell, Geoff Ellwand, Jean Sorensen, Marg. Bruineman, Mallory Hendry, Jim Middlemiss, Elizabeth Raymer, Alex Robinson Canadian Lawyer is published 11 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. 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M1T 3V4 RETOURNER TOUTE CORRESPONDANCE NE POUVANT ÊTRE LIVRÉE AU CANADA AU SERVICE DES PUBLICATIONS One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON. M1T 3V4 Circulation/Address Changes/ Subscriptions Keith Fulford Tel: (416) 649-9585 Fax: (416) 649-7870 E-mail: keith.fulford@tr.com Subscription rates: Canada1 year print and digital $102 plus HST, 1 year digital only $99. Outside Canada 1 year print & digital $99 USD, 1 year digital only $99. For all circulation inquiries and address changes send a copy of your mailing label or labels along with your request in writing to Canadian Lawyer, One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON. M1T 3V4 Breaking down more than walls By Tim Wilbur I

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