Earlier this year Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft renewed 225,000 square feet at their headquarters at 200 Liberty Street in New York City. The firm chose to stay in place but contracted by roughly 34.7%, or 120,000 square feet, giving up several floors. Another renewal in the first quarter was Katten Muchin Rosenman for 204,000 square feet at their headquarters at 525 W Monroe Street in Chicago. They also reduced their footprint, though not as drastically as Cadwalader, by returning 7.3% or 16,000 square feet of space to their landlord. 

These two deals, the largest for the quarter despite the retraction of space, helped to deliver the strongest start to the year for the legal sector since before the pandemic, according to Savills. For the first quarter law firm leasing totaled 1.6 million square feet, it reported – a 45.5% jump from 2022's fourth quarter of 1.1 million square feet, bringing the sector closer to the typical leasing volume of about 1.4 million square feet. 

Before this quarter, leasing activity among law firms had slowed with many putting off major decisions to see what the economy would bring.