Meredith Connell in CBD drift

An artist’s impression of 151 Victoria St West, new headquarters of Meredith Connell and NZME.

Meredith Connell is exiting Auckland's legal block on Shortland Street for a new office as part of the "CBD drift".

About 200 staff from the law firm, which prosecutes serious crime in Auckland for the Crown, will move to a new building at 151 Victoria Street next March.

They are currently spread across five floors of Forsyth Barr Tower on Shortland Street. Other major law firms such as Bell Gully, Russell McVeagh and Simpson Grierson are also based on this street.

Meredith Connell managing partner Steve Haszard said there was a "CBD drift" away from the firm's current side of Queen Street down towards Wynyard Quarter and the western part of the central city.

"We don't necessarily see the advantages for us and for our branding and what we're about in the market as being in Shortland Street. We wanted to be a bit more expansive in our thinking than that," Haszard said.

The new building - where Herald publisher NZME. is also moving to in November - is further away from the Auckland High Court but a bit closer to the District Court, Haszard said.

"Litigation is still a big part of our practice, but it's not as dominant as it used to be. So although adjacency to the court is important, it's not super-critical."

The move also means the entire Meredith Connell staff can work on the same floor.

The planned shift across town follows Meredith Connell rebranding.

The firm is also planning to vie for more contestable work from Crown entities and Government departments.

This work brings in revenue over-and-above the annual fees which the firm receives for prosecution work, which this year was estimated to be worth around $5.67 million.

Prosecution work accounts for about 20 per cent of Meredith Connell's business and the remainder is either commercial or contestable work for the Crown, awarded through a tender process.

In April, the firm was re-appointed as the office of Auckland's Crown Solicitor, which means it will continue to run prosecutions in the city.

It has held this role since 1922.