Maptician’s 2025 Law Firm Workplace Trends Survey reveals an industry in transition: more agile, technologically enabled and intentional than in prior years, but still grappling with the structural and cultural complexities of modern work.
Utilization across major U.S. markets sits between 55% and 60% on average, far below the 90%+ occupancy firms saw pre-pandemic. Tuesdays and Wednesdays continue to peak, while Fridays reach historic lows. This uneven pattern requires firms to rethink not only how much space they need, but what kind of space best supports attorneys when they are in the office.
Across the survey data, one theme is clear: Leading firms are no longer managing offices — they are designing environments. They are shifting from seat maps to strategy, using space, culture and technology as interconnected tools that support performance, mentorship and well-being. The results point to a new definition of what a “strong law firm environment” looks like in 2026.
People: Redefining Presence With Purpose
For years, return-to-office discussions centered on compliance like mandates, monitoring and attendance benchmarks. In 2025, the conversation has matured. Firms now recognize that presence happens when people have a reason to show up. The survey data reinforces this: 62% of firms use in-office events and perks to encourage attendance, while only 15% tie presence to compensation.
This shift reflects an emerging truth that attorneys respond not to mandates, but to meaningful experiences. Mentorship, team rituals, partner connectivity and client interactions remain the strongest drivers of in-office engagement. In fact, firms with structured team-based anchor days — or those that intentionally align presence around collaborative work — report stronger mid-week attendance, more predictable patterns and greater enthusiasm for in-office time.
Mentorship, team rituals, partner connectivity and client interactions remain the strongest drivers of in-office engagement.
The people component of workplace strategy has become deeply cultural. Firms are intentionally rebuilding belonging and connection after years of fragmentation. They are pairing flexibility with expectations around mentoring days, reestablishing social glue through practice-group rituals and creating norms that give presence a clear purpose. Without this cultural infrastructure, flexible models can quickly devolve into disengagement and inconsistent participation, one of the biggest risks firms face today.
Place: Designing Offices That Support How Attorneys Actually Work
If the last decade of law firm real estate was defined by efficiency, the next decade will be defined by intentionality. The 2025 survey shows significant shifts in how firms allocate space — changes that reflect attorney behavior more closely than legacy norms.
Over 58% of firms increased flexible seating such as hoteling, while fewer than 20% expanded assigned seating. Nearly half reduced their seat-to-professional ratio. These adjustments signal the industry’s increasing recognition that legacy one-attorney-one-office layouts no longer match hybrid work patterns.
Yet the most striking real estate shift is the growth of collaboration space. Respondents reported an average 6.6% increase in square footage dedicated to meetings and group work. Peak-day congestion, rising cross-functional teams and the evolving needs of partner collaboration and business development are driving this investment. The office is becoming a collaboration hub rather than an individual workspace.
Conference rooms are the most in-demand reservable spaces, followed by dedicated offices and huddle rooms. Corner offices and lounges — once the status symbols of legal culture — rank significantly lower. This change reflects a powerful cultural evolution: Attorneys now value utility over prestige and gravitate toward spaces that enable teamwork, not hierarchy.
When designed intentionally, physical environments can strengthen mentorship, promote knowledge sharing and support meaningful attorney development. But when collaboration spaces are mismatched to behavior, or when seating models lack structure, firms risk creating confusion, bottlenecks or underutilized square footage. Matching space to real patterns of work is now a strategic imperative.
