My Office Situation

For the past two years I have rented office space in Oak Park (at 1101 Lake Street).  However, my lease ends on July 31, which means that a move is in order.  After looking at a lot of other office space, and doing a lot of thinking about my needs and the needs of my clients, I've decided not to go with a formal office arrangement.  The reasons are fairly simple:

1. I don't have a lot of client visits.  I neither have nor seek walk-in traffic, and I interact with my clients a lot via e-mail and telephone.  It seems a little silly to maintain a permanent office when I probably have one client meeting per week.

2. I have always made "house calls," and I think that's one of the things clients -- especially elderly clients, and clients with small children -- like about me.  I'll continue to do that.

3. The rents for the office space I looked at were almost double what I am currently paying in rent.  I'm not willing to eat that increase myself, and I'm reluctant to pass it on to my clients by raising my rates.

4. I was able to work out a virtual office arrangement with a company called HQ.  This allows me to schedule client meetings at what will be my main office (One Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 300, Westchester, Illinois 60154).  I can also schedule meetings at other Chicago-area HQ offices (and there are a lot of them).

My biggest concern in getting rid of my office is that it creates an unprofessional look for my practice.  I don't want to be perceived as "the lawyer who works out of the back of a van," or some such thing.  On the other hand, I'm not interested in spending "money for nothing" just so I can create a certain image for myself -- I'm more concerned about doing good legal work.

Comments

[Grant Griffiths]

Joel-
I have worked out of my home office for 1 1/2 years now and I love it. You can work when you want. If you want to get up early and work in your favorite sweats, whos to know. I have never had a client complain that I work out of my home. I almost never meet clients in my home either. There are plenty of places to do that. And best of all, not much overhead. I would be glad to visit if you want.

[jeremy]

Do you have any support staff? If so, how do you handle (or plan to handle) not having an office?