Exploring Emerging Shifts in the Legal Workplace
By: Kristin Cerutti
The legal workplace is evolving faster than ever, driven by shifts in client expectations, talent priorities, and the role of technology in practice. In this landscape, design has become a strategic tool — shaping environments that support performance, attract top talent, and reflect the unique culture of each firm. At NELSON, we lead with curiosity, looking beyond the immediate design brief to understand each client’s objectives, operational methods, and culture. This broader perspective allows us to deliver solutions that respond to deep organizational needs.
From this experience, we’ve distilled five core insights that highlight how leading legal organizations are reimagining their workplaces for long-term success.
Let's Connect:
Kristin Cerutti, Regional Design Leader
As a licensed commercial designer with more than 20 years of experience, Kristin serves as a Regional Design Leader across a wide variety of projects throughout the United States. She holds a B.A. in Interior Architecture from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point and is CIDQ-certified, LEED AP ID+C, and WELL AP accredited. Over the years, she has become a leader in amenity, financial and legal workplace design and is based out of NELSON’s Chicago office. Kristin is often asked to write publications, speak on podcasts and give webinars on the topics of the legal workplace, neurodiversity, designing for inclusion and the workplace of the future. Making other people's lives better is what drives her, and her passions lie with being an adviser to and advocate for others. She says, “When we design for those who need us most, it benefits everyone in the process.” Outside of work, Kristin can be found volunteering for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Autoimmune Association, creating fiber arts or traveling the world to be inspired by other cultures and the natural world.
