Improving the Indoor Environment to Promote Attorney Wellness

People spend 90% of their time indoors,1 yet conversations around attorney wellness rarely focus on the law firm’s indoor environment. The workplace plays a significant role in the mental and physical health of employees.2 Law firms of all sizes can design their offices to reduce occupational health risks and create conditions that support mental wellbeing. Changes in office design, workplace ergonomics, temperature control, and adding indoor plants are some of the features law firms can implement to promote attorney wellness in their offices.

1. Law firms should introduce “resimercial” design elements to give the office a more relaxed ambience.

Traditionally, law firms have been designed with the client in mind. The large, marble reception desk and the over-thetop beverage carts were installed to impress clients by providing them with an experience as rich as the firm’s hourly rates. But with the rise of technology and the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, clients visit law offices much less frequently. The change has caused a paradigm shift in how firms design and structure their office spaces. Linnea Wingo, a licensed architect at Mayfield and Ragni Studio, says that law firms are now asking the question, “how do we make the office a destination?” Law firms and their architects have answered this question by placing attorney wellness at the forefront of the design process and emphasizing an “at-home” office feel. “For better or worse, the workplace has invaded into our home, and now we are allowing the home to invade a little into the workplace,” says Wingo. The large reception areas of the past are fading out, and communal rooms and lounges are moving in. Law firms such as Wilson Cribbs + Goren are throwing out the commercial style in favor of a “resimercial” design, a design that mixes residential and commercial elements, to promote overall attorney wellness and productivity.3

2. Law firms can integrate ergonomics into the workstation to reduce attorney fatigue.

Attorneys spend most of their time in the office sitting and working at their computer. Prolonged sitting can cause long-term health problems, such as musculoskeletal disorders, obesity, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, and abnormal cholesterol levels.4 Law firms can reduce these health risks by incorporating ergonomics into the workstation. Law firms such as Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Shipley Snell Montgomery LLP have incorporated ergonomics by replacing sitting desks with sit-stand desks, height-adjustable desks that reduce musculoskeletal discomfort.5 The desk upgrade has had a positive impact. “Switching to a standing desk has made a huge difference at work. I am more productive and more comfortable,” says Tien Hunter, associate at Shipley Snell Montgomery. In addition to sit-stand desks, other work- station accessories, such as chairs with lumbar support, height-adjustable monitor stands, footrests, and ergonomic keyboards and mice, can improve workstation ergonomics.6

3. individual or grouped control over office temperature can increase thermal comfort and promote mental wellness. Individual thermal comfort impacts an individual’s level of motivation, alertness, focus, mood, and productivity.7 Offices that are too cold or too hot can cause discomfort, but it is often challenging to ensure that every attorney is comfortable with the indoor temperature. WELL, an organization committed to “people first workplaces,”8 provides some guidance on the matter. WELL suggests that the thermal comfort goal is to create “baseline satisfaction for the largest number of people.” One way to accomplish this task is by providing grouped or sectional temperature control, a feature that Doyle Dennis LLP and Norton Rose Fulbright’s Houston office have incorporated. Grouped temperature control may not be an option for every office, so law firms should consider individual thermal comfort devices, such as desk fans or space heaters.

4. indoor office plants promote mental and acoustic wellness by reducing stress and noise. For small firms, plants are a cost-effective option to promote mental wellness. Office plants bring nature inside and can liven up a space. Studies have shown that interactions with indoor plants are associated with lower reports of stress, reduced sick leave, and higher productivity.9 Plants also have natural properties that reduce indoor noises, making them an excellent choice for firms in a smaller space.10 Adding indoor office plants is an economical way to promote attorney wellness—just remember to water them.

Intentional workplace design can have a significant effect on attorneys’ physical and mental wellness. Law firms can incorporate attorney wellness into the office space by introducing a more relaxed office design, ergonomic workstations, tailored thermal controls, and even indoor office plants. Law firms that want more information on promoting workplace wellness should visit WELL at wellcertified.com 11

Xperanza Uviedo is a second-year associate at Shipley Snell Montgomery LLP where she practices civil litigation.

Endnotes

1. Healthy Buildings, Healthy People- A Vision for the 21st Century, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY https://www.epa.gov/indoorair-quality-iaq/healthy-buildings-healthy-people-vision-21st-century (last updated Jan. 18, 2022).

2. Health, U.S. GEN. SERVS. ADMIN., https:// sftool.gov/learn/about/244/health (last visited Dec. 16, 2022).

3. Manoj Tomar, What is Resimercial Corporate Design and Why Does it Matter More Than Ever for a Modern Workplace?, LINKEDIN (Dec. 23, 2021), https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whatresimercial-corporate-design-why-does-mattermore-manoj-tomar/.

4. Workstation Desktop Ergonomics, FRANCISCAN HEALTH (Sept. 17, 2018), https://www.franciscanhealth.org/community/blog/workstationdesktop-ergonomics.

5. Shuchi Agarwala, Sit-stand workstations and impact on low back discomfort: a systematic review and meta-analysis, 61(4) ERGONOMICS 538, 550 (2018), https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~asrg/ wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Agarwal-2018-sitstand-workstations-meta-analysis.pdf.

6. Office Ergonomics: Your How-to Guide, MAYO CLINIC (Apr. 23, 2021), https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/ office-ergonomics/art-20046169.

7. Thermal Comfort, WELL, https://v2.wellcertified. com/en/wellv2/thermal%20comfort.

8. WELL, https://www.wellcertified.com/ (last visited Dec. 16, 2022).

9. Tina Bringslimark, et al., Psychological Benefits of Indoor Plants in Workplaces: Putting Experimental Results into Context, 42(3) HORTSCIENCE HORTS 581, 586 (June 2007), https://journals. ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/42/3/ article-p581.xml.

10. Kenneth Freeman, How Plants Can Reduce Noise Levels Indoors, HUFF. POST (Feb. 2, 2014), https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ kenneth-freeman/how-plants-can-reducenoi_b_4802876.html.

11. WELL, https://www.wellcertified.com/ (last visited Dec. 16, 2022).

By doSe khan