What Today’s Law Firms Need to Make In-Office Count

Across the legal industry, many firms are considering how to make in-office time more purposeful. A recent series of MillerKnoll-hosted roundtables with attorneys in New York and San Francisco revealed how workplace planning is evolving in light of these shifts.

Taken together, the conversations point to a clear set of priorities-what legal workplaces need to do to better support focus, performance, privacy, and development as attorney expectations continue to shift.

1. Protect Focus and Billable Time

In law firms, the ability to work without interruption is an essential function to the job and a direct driver of billable output. Yet many attorneys don't have access to spaces that genuinely support deep, sustained attention, often forcing them into makeshift environments that break concentration and compromise confidentiality. Modern private offices and quiet zones for focused attention help solve this problem by offering predictable, distraction-free places to think, review complex materials, and handle sensitive conversations. Solutions from MillerKnoll brands, such as acoustically tuned private office systems and ergonomically optimized workstations, are specifically designed to support these needs.

Private offices are now less about hierarchy and more about enabling the focus and control attorneys need to perform well. When paired with well-designed collaborative areas, they create a workplace that mirrors the real tempo of legal work-quiet when it needs to be, connected when it matters.

2. Adopt New Technologies without Compromising Confidentiality or Security

Many firms are adding video pods and tech-enabled private offices to better support remote client meetings, virtual hearings, and digital depositions-investments increasingly scrutinized for both performance and ROI. Confidentiality remains a primary driver, prompting firms to pair these spaces with clear guidance around where sensitive conversations should-and should not-take place.

At the same time, firms are beginning to navigate the implications of emerging AI tools in legal work. While many attorneys are experimenting individually with generative AI-39% of legal professionals at large firms say they're using AI in support of legal services and administrative functions¹-broader adoption raises new questions around data security, ethics, and how work is reviewed and validated. As these tools become more embedded in daily workflows, privacy-focused environments and clear governance grow increasingly important.

To meet the demands of high-stakes digital interactions, these spaces incorporate carefully tuned acoustics, high-quality cameras, screens, and microphones, along with reliable connectivity needed to prevent interruptions during testimony or client discussions. MillerKnoll's portfolio includes technology-integrated settings and acoustic solutions that help firms maintain confidentiality while improving the quality of virtual interactions.

3. Give Attorneys Space to Reset and Sustain Performance

As legal offices evolve, many firms are taking a closer look at the kinds of spaces that help people manage the demands of the day. One area gaining traction is the inclusion of spaces designed specifically for short mental breaks, particularly as concern about burnout increases for early- and mid-career attorneys.¹ Their purpose is to provide a calm environment where someone can step away before reentering the main pulse of the floor. These semi-private, individual spaces are intentionally designed to provide immediate relief-promoting quiet, restoring focus, and supporting overall wellbeing at moments when it's needed most. MillerKnoll's research-backed wellbeing solutions-ranging from restorative seating to sensory-calming environments-support attorneys as they pause, reset, and sustain performance.

In practice, this might look like a single-occupancy room equipped with dimmable lights, a comfortable seat, or that naturally softens the feel of the space. The firms adopting them acknowledge that even in high-performing environments, a place to briefly reset and think can help sustain attention, judgment, and decision-making.

4. Make Collaboration Purposeful and Efficient

In legal workplaces, collaboration is rarely spontaneous and often requires a series of structured environments that support different scales and levels of engagement. Enclaves allow small teams to quickly align, while larger meeting spaces support groups of attorneys reviewing documents or coordinating case work. Shared private offices, and collaboration zones within private offices, can also support quick, confidential work sessions like mentoring, small-team huddles, and sensitive reviews without defaulting to a large meeting room.

Conference rooms remain essential for more formal discussions, client meetings, or cross-practice coordination. The most effective offices provide a range of these options, allowing teams to move fluidly between individual focus and group work.

Beyond these meeting zones, workstations arranged to take advantage of co-location can help teams of attorneys move work forward, and workshop areas give legal teams room to spread out, annotate materials, and develop arguments collectively. At a broader scale, neighborhoods bring these elements together, creating a functional ecosystem where attorneys, paralegals, and support staff can collaborate fluidly while maintaining the confidentiality and precision their work demands.

MillerKnoll's planning approach and multi-brand portfolio help firms build these ecosystems, blending privacy, collaboration, and confidentiality within a unified workplace strategy.

Interested in learning more? Explore how MillerKnoll is designing spaces that support focus, confidentiality, and collaboration across.

About MillerKnoll
MillerKnoll is a global collective of design brands built on the foundation of two icons of modernism: Herman Miller and Knoll. The portfolio also includes furniture and accessories for commercial and residential spaces from Colebrook Bosson Saunders, DatesWeiser, DWR (Design Within Reach), Edelman, Geiger, HAY, HOLLY HUNT, Knoll Textiles, Maharam, Muuto, NaughtOne, and Spinneybeck | FilzFelt. Guided by a shared purpose-design for the good of humankind-MillerKnoll generates insights, pioneers innovations, and champions ideas to better align spaces with how people live, work, and gather. In fiscal year 2025, the company generated net sales of $3.7 billion. For more information, visit millerknoll.com.

¹ 2025 Legal Industry Report, American Bar Association
² 2025 ALM Mental Health Survey.