Growth-minded firms have been moving into emerging markets at a rapid clip, flooding into cities like Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City; Nashville, Tennessee; Denver; Phoenix; and Miami in search of new opportunities. The launches are overwhelmingly client-driven, either directed by work for existing clients in an emerging market or fueled by the lure of work from expanding industries.

But the lower overhead also offers opportunities to firms and clients alike to maximize the value they receive from work done in emerging markets, even after the pandemic has shifted norms around where lawyers work and how they’re paid.