Firms say proximity to courts, Statehouse, as well as prestige, keeps them in city’s core

Some of Indianapolis’ biggest law firms are digging deeper roots downtown at a time when much of the office market is moving in the opposite direction.

Ice Miller plans to leave its longtime home in OneAmerica Tower in 2028 — not to go to the suburbs but for an 85,000-square-foot building being constructed for the firm in the Bottleworks District.

Barnes & Thornburg and Faegre Drinker have remodeled their downtown offices, and Krieg DeVault is expanding its space.

Those four firms are among the seven largest in Indianapolis, and their investments stand out amid persistently high downtown office vacancies and continued demand for suburban space. The central business district’s vacancy rate hit a record 26% in the first quarter, according to Colliers.

But law firms continue to be among those commercial users who have stayed.

Firm leaders say proximity to clients, courts, the Statehouse and downtown amenities continues to outweigh the benefits of moving their entire operations to the suburbs. They also say offices remain important for training young lawyers and maintaining firm culture despite the persistence of hybrid work.

For Ice Miller Chief Managing Partner Josh Christie, the firm’s future home also provides something less tangible: visibility.

“It will be exciting for us because Interstates 65 and 70 go right by there,” Christie told The Indiana Lawyer. “People heading into downtown Indianapolis, one of the first things they’ll see is our name and logo on the top of the building.”

Finding a place

Christie said that Ice Miller’s lease in OneAmerica Tower is nearing its end and that the firm typically considers its options as a lease expires. For roughly four decades, the firm chose to stay put.

But then the Bottleworks District became a downtown hotspot.

“As we were going through the process of looking at our options, we looked at some space over in the Bottleworks District. It wasn’t completely built, but it was well on the way to being completely built,” he explained. “We saw an opportunity to go to a new developing section of downtown.”

Faegre Drinker also has invested in making its downtown space more useful for collaboration and client gatherings. Managing Partner Brian Garrison said the firm remodeled its 130,000-square-foot office in 2019, adding a larger town hall space for hosting clients and events.

Garrison said having access to amenities and developments including the Mass Avenue corridor and the soon-to-open Signia by Hilton were attractive.

“Our leaders have a vision for what downtown needs to be, and having some accessibility to that I think has been really valuable,” he said.

Barnes & Thornburg also has invested in its downtown office. Managing Partner Brian Burdick said the firm converted an old bank vault into a conference and event space with a bar, kitchen and videoconferencing equipment.

The space can accommodate about 30 to 35 people for casual gatherings and can be reconfigured for more formal meetings, he said.

“It’s all wired up with everything you would think you would need for modern video conferences and all that kind of thing,” Burdick said.

Krieg DeVault, meanwhile, has added space to its two-floor office at Indiana Square. Managing Partner Mike Messaglia said the expansion is part of a broader strategy to add space as particular practice groups grow.

“We have a large banking group. We have a large health care group. We have a large benefits group,” he said.

The north side draw

The continued investment by large firms comes as other law firms have found advantages outside downtown.

Lee Christie of Christie, Bell & Marshall said several midsize and smaller firms have relocated to Indianapolis’ northern suburbs or reduced their office footprints.

“If you looked at where most of the lawyers live, most of them live north,” Christie said. “I think the north side is looked at as a little more upscale now.”

Remote work has reduced the amount of office space some firms need, he said, while suburban locations can offer conveniences such as free parking.

John Vandenbark, managing director for JLL, a Chicago-based real estate services provider, said downtown Indianapolis tenants like law firms often cite a lack of “livability” as a pitfall of being downtown, especially since the pandemic.

“You had a lot of people who went away, and some of the downtown retail has not come back. It’s difficult to find a lunch spot,” he said. “A lot of them have not reopened, or there’s not as many options as there once was for that downtown lunch crowd.”

For larger law firms, however, a downtown address can carry advantages that are harder to replicate in the suburbs.

Lee Christie said national and international clients often expect large firms to maintain a prominent central-
city presence.

“Their clients, national and international, expect a firm that’s right in the middle of downtown,” he said. “I think they [big firms] like to promote that.”

Pride, proximity to power

The nature of legal work itself also helps keep large firms downtown.

Government relations practices benefit from being close to the Indiana Statehouse and state offices, while litigators have ready access to federal and state courts.

Burdick said Barnes & Thornburg’s downtown presence also reflects the firm’s broader connection to Indianapolis.

“We’re very connected to the community through our civic engagement,” he said. “Indianapolis is the driver of economic development in the state and business, and we’re absolutely committed to being here.”

Garrison said Faegre Drinker likewise benefits from being close to courts and regulatory agencies.

“We have vibrant practices in all those areas,” he said. “Having a downtown presence is important to provide accessibility both for lawyers and clients.”

For some firms, downtown’s appeal is also tied to the concentration of clients and businesses in and around the central city.

That helps explain why large firms continue to invest in downtown even as hybrid work has changed how often lawyers and other employees are in the office.

The office still matters

Barnes & Thornburg, the city’s largest law firm, does not have a formal remote-work policy, Burdick said. But lawyers are strongly encouraged to work in the office.

He compared learning to practice law to an apprenticeship, particularly for younger attorneys who benefit from working alongside more experienced lawyers.

“You’ve got to be physically together to learn,” he said.

Burdick said partners need to be present with younger lawyers so they can participate in meetings, working-group discussions, document review and research. It’s “the ‘iron sharpens iron’ aspect of what happens with the professional practice of law,” he said.

He also acknowledged that law long has been a flexible profession because attorneys frequently are in court, meeting with clients or otherwise away from their desks. Even before the pandemic, he said, Barnes & Thornburg’s downtown office was about 70% full on a typical day.

Ice Miller requires employees to be in the office three days a week, Josh Christie said, and the firm views its physical space as an important part of building relationships.

“We really feel like our space is critical for facilitating that kind of relationship among people in the office,” he said. “People want to be around each other. I think we’ve seen a shift more toward that in the last couple of years than we saw coming right out of the pandemic.”

Christie said employees appear to have settled into a balance between remote work and time together in the office.

Garrison said Faegre Drinker sees the office in a similar way.

“In-office connectivity is a really important part of our firm culture and the legal industry generally,” he said. “The downtown office for us has always been a hub for that.”

About 120 lawyers work in Faegre Drinker’s downtown Indianapolis office, Garrison said. The firm traces its Indianapolis roots back roughly 160 years.

For Lee Christie, whose firm maintains a 12,500-square-foot office along Delaware Street, the reasons for remaining downtown go beyond proximity to government or clients.

His firm does little lobbying, he said. Staying downtown is a statement about its connection to Indianapolis.

“I feel proud of the city, proud of being a part of this city by keeping an office downtown,” he said. “It feels good to be part of the downtown area.”•