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By Jennifer Wilck Photographs Courtesy KSS Architects; Gibbons PC
Like firms in other professional industries, many law practices are changing rapidly in response to the economy, technology, and quality-of-life issues: downsizing, creating open spaces with quiet and collaborative areas, providing more flexibility and comforts, and promoting greater teamwork. And as law firms grow or restructure, they are frequently redesigning their offices to conform to their new needs.
“We’ve responded to our practice growing,” says Gregory H. Deatz, director of operations at Hoagland in New Brunswick. “We closed on the building next door about a year ago and are evaluating plans to renovate and connect it to this building in order to make better use of our space. We want our public space to be as usable and flexible as possible.”
When Dechert LLP moved its offices within Princeton, it designed its new, smaller space to be more efficient. “Efficiency of space is critical,” says Judith Tellefsen, director of real estate and procurement at Dechert. “When it comes to the complexity of staying and renovating, frequently, when you look at it from a cost standpoint, the efficient use of space is a factor that says you’ll take more space to stay than if you moved.”
Efficiency of space allowed Gibbons PC to pass reduced costs to its clients when it moved its law firm from the Legal Center to Anchor One within Newark—a real plus in a recession. “We saw substantial pressure on firms to hold the line on billable hourly rates,” says Patrick C. Dunican, Jr., chairman and managing director of the business and commercial litigation department at Gibbons. “We were offered a very attractive deal where we could design a firm for the 21st century. We increased the efficiency of the space and translated that into reduced costs for the client.”
Potential business opportunities influenced Saiber’s decision to move its offices from Newark to Florham Park. “It’s a central location that allows us to reach out to every part of the state,” says David D’Aloia, member of the executive committee and chairmen of the lease committee at Saiber. “There is a lot of business and industry in Morris County and the surrounding [area]. We will attract lawyers who are looking for a suburban setting. We have the opportunity to take advantage of that and acquire that space at a reasonable rate, given the economy.”
Time is money, especially for a law firm, so design firms and contractors must minimize disruption to business. StructureTone, which provided construction management services to Gibbons and was involved from preconstruction through closeout, consulted frequently with the firm’s partners. “We did a lot of interviewing and speaking with partners to manage and understand their expectations,” says Ray Donoghy, vice president and director of account executives at StructureTone. “Everything they do is based on hourly billing—if they can’t get in on time, they lose productivity. It was important for us to understand their dates and get them out and in, in the necessary timeframe.”
But practicalities are not the only challenges in designing law offices. “One of the first things we think about is their image,” says Sheila Nall, director of interior design and principal at KSS, which designed Dechert’s new space. For Dechert, that image is kept consistent throughout its offices nationwide. “I think from the standpoint of how we express that design standard in our space, while it has the same feel [as the other offices], we make it better.”
In contrast, when Gibbons had the opportunity to return to the offices the firm had occupied 15 years ago, the design was entirely individual. “[Dunican] had a very strong hand in the vision here,” says James Phillips, founder of TPG Architecture in New York City, who designed the new Gibbons offices. “His concern was that people would view the move as a step backwards.”
TPG and Gibbons created a 21st-century, state-of-the-art law office with five and a half floors—four practice floors, a half floor for service amenities, and a client floor with a conference room, board room, attorney lounge, and moot courtroom. “I’ve likened it to a BMW, which is a luxury performance car at a reasonable price point,” says Phillips. “We built a performance machine. There are no corner offices—we divided them with a 45-degree angle to make unique offices at every corner. It’s efficient, and took away the status and ego associated with who gets the corner. They are not only talking the talk but walking the walk about leadership in the law business community.”
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