White & Case Has Built The New ‘Modern’ Law Firm Office — And It’s Awesome

Nope. The traditional rainmaker offices were repurposed into a variety of small conference rooms for teams to use on their practice floors — as opposed to running up to the conference room floor.

Partners should be more than happy with their new accommodations, though.

Oh yeah, that’s a standing desk. All the desks adjust with a simple pull to allow attorneys to stand if they want. Walking around the office, I saw many, many lawyers taking advantage of this. Of course I saw them — all the offices are glass.

The furniture options are standardized — there were color options — to create a common feel throughout. And that common feel is Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The midcentury modern aesthetic brings just the right dash of nostalgia to a forward-looking office design.

And all the glass prevents all the Sterling Cooper office sex and day drinking.

(Or limits it… I don’t want to be presumptuous.)

The conference room floor is understandably home to some of White & Case’s most impressive choices (and toys), given that it’s the only floor that most of the outside world will ever see.

It’s hard to get a great view of the Statue of Liberty from a midtown office, with most sightlines marred by, well, more office buildings trying to get a better view. That’s where White & Case is lucky.

Conference rooms are checked out via an electronic reservation system that glows outside each room. Wires are kept from cluttering the tables with plugs discreetly located in drawers in front of each seat. And a tablet pops off of the wall inside to grant complete control over the room from videoconferencing controls, allowing you to throw your documents directly onto the screen.

While the whole office features captivating art — even the internal stairwells boast pictures from the firm’s offices in other cities to make the simple act of going up and down an industrial staircase a little brighter — the conference floor has some of the best stuff. According to Bell, the art committee faced the challenge of securing a number of new pieces for the office because this space provides more wall space to cover. And this project allowed the firm to inject some philosophy into its choices, focusing on works from local, New York artists to highlight the firm’s roots with an eye toward diversity, while not not shying away from pieces that showcase the firm’s current global presence. Like this piece by Cameroonian artist Boris Nzebo:

Or this mammoth piece from Ian Davenport:

There’s also a dose of firm history — with a bit of a museum look:

Apparently the Kingdom of Bhutan Law School is a superhero’s lair. And they probably still charge too much tuition.

The floor also houses the firm’s trivia championship cup — the Maurice McLaughlin Cup, which is a kind of cool… but no trivia belt.

Finally, let’s take a look at the top floor — the floor with all the goodies, from its impressive gym to the cafeteria…