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Law firm Dechert’s Philadelphia lease is only for the short-term and will remain that way while the firm considers new markets.
The firm has extended its lease for 109K SF at Cira Centre in University City for four more years. It will allow its office lease at 1735 Market St. to expire later this year, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Dechert LLP intends to consolidate its staff under one roof but has not made a long-term commitment yet, and it could relocate, though it likely will not go out to the suburbs, co-Chair David Forti told PBJ.
The firm had once discussed a move to the newly developing Schulylkill Yards in University City back in 2020, but it did not pan out. That hotly contested relocation would have placed its local base in an opportunity zone, where it would qualify for tax breaks.
It is also considering its real estate options for new markets, as Dechert has asset management clients relocating to southern Florida, where the firm does not have an office, as well as Texas, where the firm has an Austin office, Forti said.
Philadelphia is the base for back-office operations at Dechert, where 260 nonlawyer professionals work to help the national firm run smoothly. Currently, lawyers and staff work Tuesdays through Thursdays in-office, plus partners go on Mondays.
There are 173 lawyers working at Cira Centre, down from 304 when it moved to the location, Dechert told Bisnow. The office is the firm’s second-largest office overall behind New York, where 264 attorneys and 134 support and paralegal employees work.
Dechert has been struggling on the asset management client side since the Federal Reserve interest rates impact its services. Services for company public offerings, debt, securitizations and fund formation have all been impacted, Forti said.
The firm laid off 5% of its workforce firmwide in 2023 and shuffled leadership. Forti as well as Mark Thierfelder in New York replaced Chairman Andy Levander, and Vincent Cohen Jr. and Sabina Comis succeeded Philadelphia-based CEO Henry Nassau last summer as co-CEOs.
Dechert finished the year with $1.3B in gross revenue, an increase of 0.8%, but it fell to No. 39 from No. 36 in the annual AmLaw 100 rankings of the highest-grossing U.S. law firms.
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