Opening a New Law Firm

The common space-sharing arrangements are:

• space-sharing with lawyers (by far the most popular);
• space-sharing with non-lawyers; and
• executive suites.

Space-Sharing with Lawyers

One advantage of sharing space with lawyers is that you will have colleagues close by with whom you can bounce ideas around or blow off steam. Another is that space-sharing offices are usually set up to run as law offices, so the staff already know about the ethics of confidentiality, handling trust funds and how to deal with lawyers who are under pressure.

There are two basic types of space-sharing arrangements:

• each lawyer is on the lease as a co-tenant and is responsible for a share of the rent and other expenses; and
• a lawyer or law firm rents office space to another lawyer, a group of lawyers or another firm (usually as a licensee, not a subtenant as the arrangement does not involve exclusive possession).

In the co-tenancy arrangement, you have more security but less flexibility because you are committed to a lease. You will have more opportunity to have input into how the office is run. However, you run the risk that one or more of your co-tenants may consider this arrangement easier to leave.

In the licensor-licensee arrangement, as licensee you do not have security of tenure, but the termination notice periods are usually very short and flexible. Your risk is that your licensor may decide to terminate the arrangement on short notice. You will want to consider these arrangements carefully.

Sharing Space with Non-lawyers

The past few years have seen a proliferation of arrangements where lawyers share space with non-lawyers such as accountants, psychologists, realtors, insurance agents and, in smaller centres, all manner of small businesses with extra office space.

From a practical point of view, you will be operating a sole practice in a rental space. The main difference from normal rental space is that your space is not exclusively for your use. 

Executive Suites

An executive suite is a space in an office building that is subdivided into smaller offices, which are then rented out for various terms to a variety of businesses, consultants, salespeople, marketers, engineers or lawyers. The rent usually depends on the location and prestige of the building, the size of your office, whether you have a window and the ancillary services included in the rent.

Executive suites are usually rented on a month-to-month basis, so they give you maximum flexibility.

Executive suites arrangements usually include a variety of ancillary services, such as reception (usually included in the rent), administrative support (usually charged on an hourly basis), fax and copier (charged on a per-use basis) and meeting rooms (sometimes included in rent, sometimes surcharged). Sometimes they also include basic furniture.