January 2, 2009 12:13 PM CDT by Dan Heilman Associate Editor

When you call Edina family lawyer Bill Casey, a friendly woman answers the phone by saying, “William Casey Law Offices, how can I direct your call?” If you ask to be put through to Casey, you’d never guess that she isn’t sending the call down the hall to his office, but rather to his cell phone — which might be miles away in his home or car.

Casey is one of a growing number of attorneys who practice from home, but still want to maintain a professional appearance, prompting them to contract with offices that offer such amenities as conference rooms, fax and copy machines and reception staff on an hourly or monthly basis.

“I decided to go with this because I think it gives me the best presentation to the outside world,” Casey said of the space he uses, located at the Centennial Lakes Building in Edina. “It looks, for all anyone knows, that I have an office there.”

The space Casey rents is owned by Regus, an international provider of meeting spaces, virtual offices and other similar facilities for professionals who can’t, or would rather not, pony up the rent for a real office. Regus offers space in five office buildings in the Twin Cities’ western suburbs and downtown Minneapolis, by the day, half-day or hour.

But other attorneys use such spaces made available by business offices that have simply have room to spare — often, small law offices.

“I started renting space from the Guyton Law Office in St. Paul about six months ago,” said St. Paul wills and estate planning attorney Teresa Patton. “So far, I think it’s terrific. I plan on using it several times a week in the future.”

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A money-saver

The practice of renting office space in such small chunks can be traced to the confluence of two trends: The slumping economy, and the growing acceptance of attorneys, especially solo practitioners, who work from home.

“I’m trying to keep my overhead low because I like to serve middle-class clients, people who don’t have a lot of money to spend,” said Patton. “If I keep my space cost low, I can offer my services at a more reasonable price.”

Casey said he adapted his practice to rented space when he had to leave the firm where he worked, Walling, Berg & Debele, because of health problems.

“I couldn’t keep up with the pace that my law firm was expecting of me, but I couldn’t afford to quit my practice and didn’t want to quit my practice,” he said. “So when I decided to go out on my own, I wanted to limit my overhead as much as possible with an eye toward limiting my hours as much as possible.”

Patton said she pays $100 per month to the Guyton office for access to a conference room, copier, fax and reception staff. Reserving the conference room is a simple matter of reserving it by fax or phone.

“It’s bright and clean and organized,” she said. “The other lawyers who practice there are very friendly. It’s a good deal all the way around.”

Casey pays Regus a flat rate per month for access to an office two days per month, an available conference room, fax and copier machines, reception service and mail-forwarding service. If he chooses, he can pay for help from administrative staff or further office hours on an a la carte basis.

“I just use what I need and pay for what I need,” he said.

That arrangement is good for the parties offering use of its own space, too. Minnetonka family attorney Steven Schechtman recently made space available for short-term use in his firm’s office, and said the response has been positive so far.

“It’s great for people who want a place to meet and greet clients, but can’t afford all the infrastructure that goes with having your own office,” he said. “I know there’s a need for spaces and services such as this.”

Meet me anywhere

Some attorneys see these types of virtual offices almost as a way of weaning themselves — and clients — away from the traditional office set-up.

St. Paul attorney Susan Minsberg’s practice was located for 10 years at the Commerce at the Crossings building in downtown Minneapolis, but when she shifted to a home-based practice a few years ago, she worked out an agreement with the building’s landlords by which she could continue to occasionally use a conference room for client meetings.

“I’ve used it just a few times,” she said. “But it’s nice to know it’s there.”

Minsberg, who works in commercial litigation, employment law and family law, is working on getting her clients used to the idea that real, official law business doesn’t necessarily have to be done in an office of any kind.

“I usually meet clients at a coffee place or at their business,” she said. “The clients don’t care, and the truth is, they sometimes prefer it. If I meet them somewhere like a coffee shop near my house, I don’t charge them for drive time. They’re happy about that, and it’s a more relaxing environment.”

Casey, who also does mediation work, agreed that renting office space in small chunks might be a step toward a more flexible, possibly office-less law practice.

“I advertise my practice as being a mobile law office,” he said. “I do a lot of evening and weekend work, because I want clients to know I’ll come to them. It’s a nice selling point, because meeting with lawyers can mean a lot of lost employment time for clients.”

Patton said she wouldn’t be surprised to see such hybrid law practices become the norm in the future, especially considering the cost savings they bring to both lawyers and clients.

“A lot of law practices are pretty self-contained by now,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to do my litigation work like this because for that you need support staff and a war room when you’re preparing for trial.

“But for work where it’s just you and the client, a situation like this is ideal.”