As more workers telecommute and technology reduces the interaction of lawyers and staff within law offices, firms are learning the importance of coffee rooms as a gathering place. Surveys of home-based workers find the greatest drawback is the loss of routine interaction with peers. In fact a recent survey by California based Office Team found that 40 percent of workers find they are more productive when there is a routine gathering place to bond with co-workers. In law firms the coffee rooms in work areas tend to serve this purpose more readily than do full-fledged break-rooms. In fact, sophisticated law office designers look to create coffee rooms that are convenient to people offices and work areas and where they feel comfortable gathering. According to one administrator, “the key is for the rooms to be slight out of main traffic patterns but not too secluded. And absolutely no places to sit; that limits peoples’ time in the coffee room to a couple of minutes.” Another administrator told us that one of the values of the by-the-cup coffee brewing machines is that it provides just the right amount of interaction time. According to that administrator, people need the opportunity to interact but don’t want to feel they are wasting time or goofing off.