Philadelphia-headquartered law firm Blank Rome has signed onto a 16-year lease for its Center City office space that would allow the Big Law tenant to downsize its square footage within that 16-year period by up to 50%, as the firm looks to answer a question looming over firm leaders in 2021—how much space do we need to accommodate a hybrid work model?

Blank Rome’s new lease with landlord Brandywine Realty Trust, which goes into effect in February 2022 after the January expiration of its current lease, provides the Am Law 100 firm with the flexibility to modify how much office space it needs as attorneys and associates split their time between at-home and in-office work, Grant Palmer, managing partner and CEO of the law firm, said. Palmer said firm leadership is in the process of surveying its workforce to gauge its attitude toward the future of in-office work.