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Robust Law Firm Job Growth Drives L.A. Office Occupancy
Law firms in Los Angeles expanded their occupancy of office space and the local legal employment generated above average growth, according to CBRE’s 2019 North American Legal Sector Trends Report. Los Angeles continues to be the only traditional legal market experiencing a strong increase in legal sector jobs.
From 2016 to 2018, L.A. was second in the nation for lawyer employment growth at 13.2%, behind only Atlanta (21%). It was also the seventh fastest-growing legal services market in the nation, expanding by 3.8%, well above the national average of 1.6%. Los Angeles had more than 69,000 legal services jobs at the end of 2018, the second most of any U.S. market behind New York.
“Los Angeles has been experiencing significant growth in legal sector jobs, a trend that is extremely unusual across major U.S. markets,” said CBRE’s Stephen Bay. “This growth has been largely buoyed by the expansion of the media and tech industries in our market, which in turn has resulted in more legal professionals servicing those industries.”
Bay notes many law firms today deploy a dual-location strategy, with an office in DTLA, as well as one on the Westside where entertainment and tech-focused companies are based.
For the second year-in-a-row, Los Angeles’ law firms expanded their occupancy on a net basis. Overall, the market recorded 1.99 million square feet of law firm leases from Q3 2018 through Q2 2019, up considerably from the comparable previous period’s 711,532 square feet. The area also saw 210,580 square feet of net absorption in law firm space, second nationally to Dallas.
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