Clash of Culture: Differing Types of Professionals In A Shared Office Space Can Work Against You

By Stephen Furnari - January 15, 2015
Clash of Culture: Differing Types of Professionals In A Shared Office Space Can Work Against You

Being an attorney means you have very specific needs as a professional. A particular shared office space may not be the right environment for you in the long run.

Attorneys are a very specific type of professional that is meant to adhere to specific ethics and codes of conduct. If these guidelines are not followed, it is very likely that loss of license as an attorney can result. Messing up as an attorney is not an option.

Like minds typically benefit productivity in a shared office space.

shared office spaceThe work habits of an attorney reflect this truth. If you ever take notice, attorneys require long hours, privacy, quiet time, and so forth. This is imperative as what is being handled may be incredibly sensitive.
Professionalism is key and plays itself out in almost every aspect of an attorney’s work. Even clients are expected to demonstrate a similar demeanor when meeting an attorney.

This is attorney culture at its finest.

It is not uncommon for attorneys of polar opposite practices to share an office space. For example, immigration and taxes are mutually exclusive in terms of practice area, but you can find tax attorneys and immigration attorneys coexisting in a shared office space on many occasions with little to no issues.
This cannot be said for attorneys and various other types of professions.

It’s about your needs and what you want in a shared office space.

shared office spacePicture yourself enjoying a nice cup of Bigelow green tea and drafting a document that needs to be finished by 9:00 A.M. the next morning. Suddenly, you hear rambunctious noises obviously from a foosball table game and annoying cheers because the guys next door decided to take yet another break. Could you imagine?

It is not uncommon for executive office centers to be greatly varied where you have multiple types of professionals because the center does not cater to a particular type of client.

As long as no one is doing anything illegal or there are no bodily fluids involved, you can potentially rent an executive office suite. This may be great for the random professional who is not a lawyer, but for a lawyer, it means potential hindrance of his or her career because it is like taking a gamble and you don’t have time for that.
Although it may be interesting to have a psychic, match maker, salesman, producer, or fashion designer next door, it does not mean it will benefit your career as a legal professional in any sense.

Each profession has a different business culture, some of which may clash with yours.


 Choosing the right office culture can lessen the stress of an office move.

Check out our eBook “The Ultimate Checklist For A Stress Free Office Move.”

About Stephen Furnari

Stephen Furnari is a self-employed corporate attorney and the founder of Law Firm Suites, the operator of coworking spaces for law firms. Through Law Firm Suites, Furnari has helped hundreds of attorneys launch and grow successful law practices. He is the author of several eBooks, including “7 Deadly Mistakes that Prevent Law Practice Success” and “An Insider’s Guide to Renting the Perfect Law Office”. Stephen has been featured in the ABA Journal, Entrepreneur, New York Daily News and Crain’s New York. Connect with Stephen on Twitter (@stephenfurnari).

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