FOCUS INTERVIEW
Danielle Tonks, Business Development Manager and Law Firm Specialist
for &%5( *lobal :orNplace Solutions, oƚ ers )0- some Yaluable insight
into the changing worNplace patterns for the legal sector
With lockdown restrictions
beginning to ease and workplaces
being primed to reopen there is a
growing debate on how the post-
COVID o ice landscape will develop,
particularly within the professional
services sector. Danielle Tonks, Business
Development Manager at CBRE,
strategically supports firms in shaping
their hard services and wider facilities
management solutions. Danielle
regularly evaluates client’s workplace
strategies to help support them shape
their FM solutions, and crucially given
the impact of COVID, help them prepare
for di ering patterns of work.
40 JUNE 2021
In this exclusive Q&A session, she shares
some valuable insights into how legal firms
are emerging from the disruption and
planning for a brighter future.
Q: How far do you think COVID-19 has
accelerated existing trends in the legal
sector? For example, health and wellbeing,
activity-based working, flexibility and the
drive for better space utilisation?
“As the legal sector has historically been
fairly traditional in its workplace strategies,
it is now being forced to contemplate one of
the greatest workplace transformations of
any sector since the start of the pandemic.
With patterns now starting to form, we
see some radical adaptations underway,
which may become templates for other
professional services firms. However,
although changes are taking place, it is
clear from our research with law firm
clients that the oˆ ice remains a staple
feature of the working environment for the
legal sector.
In the market, we’ve traditionally seen
law firms struggle with desk ownership
allocations, space utilisation and lawyers
embracing flexible working adaptations
and digital technology implementation.
Now we are seeing many of our law
firm clients adopt an agile working
environment, with some firms indicating
that their employees will work from the
oˆ ice two to three days per week. Some
of our clients have indicated a complete
radical overhaul of working patterns,
encouraging their employees to decide
on their working pattern, guided by their
circumstances.
Although COVID-19 has accelerated
change regarding space utilisation, flexible
working and digital technologies, retaining
LAWFUL CHANGE