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In the United States, lawyers often name their businesses The Law Offices of So-and-so, in the plural, even when they are solo practitioners, working out of what would be regarded as just a single office, according to the criteria that govern the use of office in other contexts.

Admittedly, in some cases, the lawyer may have an assistant, whose workspace is in a physically separate room, but that hardly seems to justify the plural in the name of the firm. As lawyers are subject to the rules of professional responsibility that prevent them from stretching the truth in promoting themselves (in the ways that may be tolerated in other businesses), it is hard to believe that the use of the plural in these cases would be as widely accepted if it were just a shameless lie.

So, is there something in the history of the word office that could, even arguably, justify the use of the plural in these cases?

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  • I can't recall ever seeing this.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 0:37
  • It seems unlikely that any lawyer would only ever do work within one particular room. Would they refuse to think about a case unless they were in what you judge the singular office?
    – Stuart F
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:13
  • Is this a hypothetical or do you have specific law practices in mind? A good answer to this would include both what the rules are for lawyers -and- a data-driven comparison of what the names are and how many offices they have.
    – Mitch
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:17
  • @Mitch, it's definitely not a hypothetical; the practice is widespread, and generally tolerated.
    – jsw29
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:27
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    Where is your proof? google.com/… I work with lawyers all the time and have never seen the plural for just a single lawyer.
    – Lambie
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:48

2 Answers 2

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"Office" has a somewhat dated usage that refers to a service or function. From Oxford Languages:

Office - a service or kindness done for another person or group of people.

"rescued through the good offices of the Italian Ambassador, he was returned safely to England"

With this meaning, the sign is not referring to the physical building or its rooms, but is synonymous with "Law Services of So-and-So". It need not imply the existence of multiple physical offices, but may refer to the offering of multiple services related to law.

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  • law services of so and so? No way. Sorry. Maybe in the text of a website.
    – Lambie
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:49
  • I suppose that it would be very difficult to conclusively prove or disprove that this meaning led to the naming practice at issue. But, yes, this is a plausible and illuminating hypothesis about its origin.
    – jsw29
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:52
  • @Lambie A simple search for "law services of" finds that the phrase very widely used.
    – Nuclear Hoagie
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:59
  • Yes, but not as a title. "Elder law services" yes. Estate law services. Like this practice: Estate & Elder Law Services of Delaware. But otherwise: legal services.
    – Lambie
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 16:02
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The plural, offices, may imply that you have more than one business location.

The baseline rule, per the ABA's Model Rule 7.1, is that a lawyer "shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services." So, dropping the plural "offices" when you only have one location might fall under that broad rule.
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How far does the nitpicky rabbit hole go? Ethics opinions even warn against using "and Associates" when you have no associates.
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So would the bar really care if you said "Law Offices" when you only have a singular office? Maybe.

But hell, maybe you have a home office. Maybe there are multiple independent rooms in your one bigger law office, each of which counts as an office. It's a nitpicky point, albeit a humorous one. For what it's worth, Googling "law offices or law office" turns up a number of firms that have one location but use the plural form.
William Peacock; "Are You the 'Law Office Of' or 'Law Offices Of'? " (2019)

office (n.)

A room, set of rooms, or building used as a place for commercial, professional, or bureaucratic work.
The New Oxford American Dictionary

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  • Yes, the plural 'may imply that you have more than one business location' and so might fall under the rule against false advertising. But does it? That is the question. The discussion quoted is just a restatement of the question that is being asked here; it does not answer it. The fact that the practice is generally accepted makes one wonder whether there may be some justification for it, after all; hence the question.
    – jsw29
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 15:43
  • @jws29 The linguistic justification for more than one lawyer calling their single location or their practice offices is right there in the definition of the word. Whether a one-lawyer practice with just one location is violating legal or ethical rules by using offices is a legal question not suited to this site.
    – DjinTonic
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 16:33
  • Can you explain how you see the dictionary definition to imply that the plural can be used for one 'room, set of rooms'? That is not obvious.
    – jsw29
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 19:20
  • @jsw29 Yes, it would be a stretch to call single room offices, but more than one room could be offices, could it not? Are we talking about a lawyer opening a broom closet door, making a sweeping gesture with his arm and saying "And here are my law offices" as he points to a tiny desk? :) My point is only that the word is used to mean different things as the definition I cited above attests. The article I cited supports the idea that offices may not have a strict legal definition and there is leeway how it's used.
    – DjinTonic
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 20:54

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