Forget Tech — Law Firms Are Driving Manhattan Office Leasing

The largest office lease of May was an open-and-shut case.

Global law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s 916,000-square-foot deal at Extell Development’s upcoming 570 Fifth Avenue tower not only beat out every other Manhattan office deal last month, but it also exceeded every other transaction by the legal sector over the past roughly six years, according to Seth Schiffman, a senior analyst at Cushman & Wakefield (C&W).  

While the artificial intelligence-fueled tech leasing boom has dominated real estate headlines, New York City law firms like Simpson Thacher have quietly taken an increasing share of this year’s office market momentum. 

Legal services has so far represented 17.1 percent of overall Manhattan office leasing volume in 2026, according to Savills data, marking one of its highest shares of market activity since 2018. That share increased from 11 percent in all of 2025. Legal services is gaining on the technology, advertising, media and information sector, which held roughly steady at 23 percent of leasing volume. 

The spring, in particular, saw a flurry of activity. In addition to Simpson Thacher’s megadeal, law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton inked 475,000 square feet at Brookfield Properties’ One Liberty Plaza in April, and Baker McKenzie expanded to 122,000 square feet at Property & Building Corporation’s 10 Bryant Park in May. 

The city’s law firms have accounted for 14.8 percent of office leasing so far in the second quarter, according to Savills, coming in just under the ever-dominant financial services sector’s 15.1 percent.

An obvious appetite for expansion has brought Manhattan’s legal sector well beyond the post-pandemic recovery narrative. New York City law firms have already leased over 2.7 million square feet of office space this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. A new era of office leasing, with an increasingly limited supply of suitable space for the nation’s most prestigious firms, is reshaping the legal sector’s white shoed footprint on the city. 

“In years past, we’ve looked at the 3 million-square-foot mark as an annual total,” Schiffman said. “If you could eclipse the 3 million-square-foot mark, you’re having a very strong year. So, the fact that, through May, we’re at 2.7 million square feet speaks a lot to what’s happening in the legal market right now.”

Law firm footprints have experienced a growth spurt this year, too. Through May of this year, the legal services sector accounted for 21.4 percent of new Manhattan leases at or above 10,000 square feet, according to C&W. Compare that to the same period in 2025, when it accounted for just 10.4 percent.

The name of the game, it appears, is renewal and expansion. Simpson Thacher leads a pack of roughly two dozen law firms with lease deals exceeding 10,000 square feet this year, and 19 of those deals involved expansions, according to Schiffman.

Latham Watkins expanded by 131,000 square feet at RXR’s 1285 Avenue of the Americas in February, just months after signing a 12-year, 120,000-square-foot lease in the building. In May, Willkie Farr & Gallagher expanded by 53,000 square feet at CommonWealth Partners’ 787 Seventh Avenue.

Tightening office supply in Manhattan is among the drivers of this renewal activity, said Lori Albert, director of tri-state research for C&W.

“The high-end supply is so constrained, there’s not a lot of opportunity, so that’s why there’s a lot of renewing and expanding in place,” Albert said. 

“If space within your building becomes available, you might not have another shot at getting that space for the next 10 to 15 years,” Schiffman added. “So it just makes sense from a logistical standpoint for companies to take floors one by one, or however they’re coming available.”

Another motivating factor is the sector’s picky nature. Lisa Kiell, a director for JLL’s tenant representation group, explained that law firms want Class A space with prestige, and enough windowed offices to satisfy their partners. Earlier this year, Kiell assisted Linklaters in expanding by 48,000 square feet at Vornado Realty Trust’s 1290 Avenue of the Americas. That’s the same address where she relocated science law firm Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone to 43,000 square feet in the same month. 

“There’s vacancy, and then there’s vacancy that’s appropriate for law firms,” Kiell said. 

Even a 60,000-square-foot office on the first floor of an Avenue of the Americas building won’t cut it, Kiell explained. Law firms look for high floors with minimal interior space and lots of windowed offices, as technology has done away with many of the traditionally centrally located secretarial positions and libraries the profession once relied on.

The stress of dwindling options has been further compounded by overall sector growth and stricter attendance requirements –– 93 percent of major law firms are reporting in-office attendance quotas of at least three days per week, according to a C&W report, exceeding finance and tech sector averages. Nationwide, law firms leased 31 percent more space over the last four quarters than they did in 2019, according to the report.

“All of my law firm clients, and my friends and colleagues who represent law firms, are all saying the same thing, which is that law firms are increasing their headcount,” Kiell said.

The industry’s leasing momentum may also be brewing up a change in geographies. Historically, the stately towers along the Avenue of the Americas have been the default home of Manhattan’s lawyers. With space even more limited than usual along the avenue, however, the Grand Central neighborhood has emerged as the new hottest submarket.

In addition to attracting Simpson Thacher, the Grand Central submarket is expected to host a roughly 150,000-square-foot lease from McDermott Will & Schulte at BXP’s upcoming 343 Madison Avenue, CO reported in April. Gallet Dreyer & Berkey also relocated to 14,000 square feet at 685 Third Avenue in May.  

The jury is still out on how New York City law firms’ current real estate hustle will stack up against the sector’s impressive 2025, which saw a 41.6 percent increase in its leasing activity year-over-year, according to JLL data. But one thing’s for sure: Law firms’ current appetite for growth has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Emily Davis can be reached at edavis@commercialobserver.com.