Opening a New Law Firm

If you do decide that you need a physical office, how much space do you need? Where do you want to be located? Different areas of practice may also impact where you want to be. With a litigation practice, you may want to be close to the courthouse or near public transit to make access easier for you or your clients. If you are focusing on transactional legal work, you may choose to establish your office where your clients work or live.

There are various options for a physical office. You can lease space from an executive office suite or business centre, establish a more traditional office in a commercial building or share an office with another lawyer or firm. 

You need to determine if there will be a meeting room available, kitchen or break room, and room for an assistant if you need one. If you do not have access to a meeting room, you might consider meeting your clients at the courthouse, at the client’s home or business, or at another location that affords privacy. You may also be able to make arrangements with lawyers or other businesses to rent their conference rooms on an as-needed basis. There are many creative solutions to this and no single right answer. 

Think in terms of square feet when considering office space. Determining how much space you need is not an exact science. If you are working from your home, your space needs are different than if you are renting space elsewhere, and where you will be meeting with clients will influence this decision as well. 

If you plan to meet with clients in your office, it should be larger than if you will meet with clients in a conference room or other location. If you plan to have an assistant, consider how many square feet should be reserved for this person and what their work station will look like.

You also need to remember that your costs will generally be based on the amount of space you use, so the larger the space, the higher your rent will be.

No matter where you practice, you need to ensure that you are able to protect your clients’ confidential information. The measures you take will depend on whether your practice is virtual or mostly virtual versus a paper-based practice. If your files are mostly physical, you will of course need to factor in the space required to store your files. Check the Code of Conduct (Rule 3.3-1 and its commentary) to understand your obligations with respect to protecting client confidentiality and read on in this module for more context and practical applications.