# Office Furniture



## oldschool (Dec 4, 2005)

I am upgrading my office and would like everyone's opinion about a new style of desk. Essentially I am looking at a nice quality U shaped 'work center' and I've noticed a common design where the front facing desk is a quasi conference table rather than a more traditional desk.

Conceptually it has a more open, friendly feeling and seems well suited to conference calls and impromptu meetings particularly where data and plans need to be shared. 

The company is a progressive manufacturer and the dress code is, of course, bad casual. In your opinion is this design cool? too new age? or a fad which is going to look silly in about 6 months? 

Thank You


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## Vettriano Man (Jun 30, 2005)

I immediately feel that a 'U' shaped desk would give the impression that you are barricading yourself inside for protection! An important thing to remember with office furniture is that you want your visitors to feel welcomed and relaxed and they will do so if they feel more accessible to you. There is a very old rule like this about not crossing your arms, which gives off a signal of detachment and protection and it is the same with desks. 

My recommendation, (and I learned this twenty years ago from a senior partner I worked with in a major firm of chartered accountants), is to go for a circular table which is both adaptable for impromptu meetings and also offers plenty of space for spreading work out on - this gentleman also had a narrow desk alongside for the computer with storage below for files etc. By the way - his wife designed the concept and he became the envy of the firm as a result of a successful scheme!


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## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

Having attended many meetings in offices where the players are crammed around a little "afterthought" table near the main desk, I'd say a conference style layout would be great for the front section.

But I wouldn't go with a u-shaped desk. Probably a back section behind you with closing cabinets and the conference-sized desk in front. You can move your laptop if necessary from the front desk for meetings.

I think you might feel closed in with a u-shaped setup.

*"Buy the best, and you will only cry once." - Chinese proverb*


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## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

ala this (with a larger front desk and lower back cabinets)


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## wby (Sep 10, 2003)

Law firms are generally moving away from traditional offices and toward "work spaces." Many large corporate firms, when building out new space, are sectioning off offices to be the same size, so that the first-year associate and the named-partner have the same office. The trend is to have more meeting rooms and conference rooms of various sizes. The idea is to just work in your "workspace" and meet in these other rooms. My firm is not exactly like this, but it is also not into showy offices. I don't meet clients in my office. I have some pretty basic furniture. I would like some nice stuff, but my firm is not going to cover it and I have too many wardrobe items to buy to do it myself. I should not have even clicked on this thread, as I now fear that you guys are going to have me spending big $$$ to upgrade my office.


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## Vladimir Berkov (Apr 19, 2005)

As a law student, that is disturbing to hear. Perhaps by the time I graduate there will be no old school, classic firms left. What is the point of being a partner when your office is the same size as the associate who has been working there for two weeks?


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## Trilby (Aug 11, 2004)

My firm is currently experimenting with open plan seating for lawyers. There is a small pilot scheme with one partner and a handful of associates sitting at open plan desks - imagine cubicles in an office, but without any partitions between the desks, so that you are looking directly at several colleagues while you work. They share a small conference room for meetings and conference calls.


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## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

I've worked in open spaces before or offices with hot-desking, where you can log into any available computer to work.

I hate it, frankly. Open spaces can be noisy and distracting and have an air of kindergarten about them. Everyone's different, but I find it hard to concentrate when someone is yammering next to me on the phone. When possible, I always retreated to a quiet corner or empty conference room.

What is the point of all of these open plan offices, to save money on construction or to be democratic? Take a look at your pay stub, compare it to everyone else's, and let me know when the corporate hierarchy no longer exists. 

*"Buy the best, and you will only cry once." - Chinese proverb*


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## wby (Sep 10, 2003)

There will always be some old-school, classic firms - just not as many. However, the firms that insist on remaining traditional do so at great risk to reputation and revenue. Many of the great old names that refuse to change with the times are folding or being merged into non-existence. Of course, no matter how much the first-year associate's office might resemble that of the senior partner's, the income gap is likely increasing, as VS pointed out. Also, as the young associate will spend a lot more time at the office than the senior partner (at most firms), perhaps he deserves an equally nice space. 

I for one am a big fan of the traditional old law office - wood paneling, lots of leather and old books, paintings of old partners, etc. But the wood paneling and leather is now "too stuffy," the old paintings are too homogeneous, and the books are now obsolete. In fact, a few years ago you could build a law library for cheap (or free) as many firms were dumping their books to gain space now that everything is on computer. 

So, Vladimir, you are unlikely to work in a traditional old office, unless you make your own. 

Other things have changed as well. Law firms used to use great stationary, but not so much anymore. It used to be a goal to get your name on the letterhead, but many of the major firms today can barely fit all of their international offices on the letterhead - there is no room for names. Most firms have even shortened the firm name to just one or two names. For instance, Cravath, Swaine & Moore gets shortened to "Cravath."


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## pleasehelp (Sep 8, 2005)

Many years ago Partners and associates actually shared the same desk. If you are lucky you can still find some of these "partner" desks around.

I have yet to see any firms with these "work spaces." There are still plenty of firms in which the partners have nicer offices than the associates.

To answer the first question, I work in a "U" and I like it somewhat. I would prefer a larger front desk in my particular U (it is only 30 inches).


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## Vladimir Berkov (Apr 19, 2005)

That's a real shame. I'll start my own firm, with wool paneling, and leather armchairs, and blackjack and hookers! Well, at least the first two anyway...


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## wby (Sep 10, 2003)

That all sounds nice Vladimir. However, I would settle for a balcony and bar like the one Denny Crane and Alan Shores share on Boston Legal. If you have not seen it, it is one funny show. At the end of each show, the two main characters retire to a balcony to drink scotch and smoke cigars.


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## tom22 (Feb 19, 2004)

The best, most practical desk (and what i used when I maintained a private practice in the law) was a slant front desk either original or repro. As I understand it, this is a furniture shape that was invented in America, and the originals date back to Colonial times (like the one that is the centerpiece of my study. An incredibly efficient design, that still welcomes a flat screen computer, and folds up to give additional space and hide a mess). Cheaper than some industro unit made today. (I am fresh from a NE auction where one went for 600 bucks circa 1780). But that is my style. Maybe not yours.


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## Shania866 (Dec 17, 2005)

That works so well for me, thanks.





-


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## MarcDavidMiller (Mar 1, 2005)

Trilby said:


> My firm is currently experimenting with open plan seating for lawyers. There is a small pilot scheme with one partner and a handful of associates sitting at open plan desks - imagine cubicles in an office, but without any partitions between the desks, so that you are looking directly at several colleagues while you work. They share a small conference room for meetings and conference calls.


After reading this I immediately thought of Satre's line: "L'enfer, c'est les autres" ("Hell is other people"). Did the partner think this idea up, or did the managing partner decide that such a pilot program would force the partner to resign?


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## Beresford (Mar 30, 2006)

Vladimir Berkov said:


> As a law student, that is disturbing to hear. Perhaps by the time I graduate there will be no old school, classic firms left. What is the point of being a partner when your office is the same size as the associate who has been working there for two weeks?


My firm is exactly as described above. In fact we just downsized from two floors to one by giving up half of our library space, employee cafeteria and our file room (we're paperless now). We all have small offices and meet with clients in conference rooms. The point is that partners only get paid from what's left on the bottom line after all employee salaries, benefits and firm expenses have been paid. Rent and CAM charges are a big expense and where I'm at they just kill your profit margin. Cut your space and you have more money to take home at the end of the year if you're a partner. On the flip side, if you have big fancy offices you're going to find that you're primarily working for your landlord, not yourself.


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## Beresford (Mar 30, 2006)

Trilby said:


> My firm is currently experimenting with open plan seating for lawyers. There is a small pilot scheme with one partner and a handful of associates sitting at open plan desks - imagine cubicles in an office, but without any partitions between the desks, so that you are looking directly at several colleagues while you work. They share a small conference room for meetings and conference calls.


This essentially is the traditional Japanese office model. The desks are all in an open space with the ka-choo (chief) sitting at the end with his desk facing the others, so he can see everyone and nobody will slack off.

As far as I know, this office setup goes back to pre-Meiji (pre-modern) Japan days. In the old samurai dramas on TV you can see government officials' offices set up the same way.


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

VS said:


> ala this (with a larger front desk and lower back cabinets)


Nice looking setup.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

Vladimir Berkov said:


> As a law student, that is disturbing to hear. Perhaps by the time I graduate there will be no old school, classic firms left. What is the point of being a partner when your office is the same size as the associate who has been working there for two weeks?


Higher pay
ownership stake in the firm
more control over what you do
more interesting cases
more control over your hours

I've never worked in a firm, but I would consider these to be more valuable than a large corner office with fancier furniture.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

I'm not quite picturing the arrangement you're describing, but I can tell you that in every office I've had since I've been in practice (or at least, for the last twenty-five years) the first thing I've done in setting up the office is to turn the desk around so it's facing the wall. Then, when clients come in, I can be sitting facing them with nothing between us, and my computer monitor not visible to distract me. It's not really an issue now, since I usually meet my clients on the wards at the state hospital where they're being held.

Other essential considerations, in my view, is that you need an adequately large work surface and a lower work surface for ergonomic placement of your computer keyboard; don't try to make do with your keyboard on a standard-height work desk.


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## OddTrousers (Jun 25, 2008)

*Woodward and Bernstein, Attorneys-at-Law?*



> one partner and a handful of associates sitting at open plan desks - imagine cubicles in an office, but without any partitions between the desks, so that you are looking directly at several colleagues while you work.


Remember the chaotic "bullpen" scenes in All the President's Men--phones ringing, people working virtually on top of each other, the shouting, the total lack of privacy? I'm trying to imagine those scenes taking place in a law firm, rather than a daily newspaper.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but these images seem jarringly at odds with traditional notions of the practice of law. Then again, I hear that in some of the white-shoe NY firms, cubicles and chaos have been a way of life for some time now--for the lowly associates, mind you. (By the way, would the typical partner really deign to sit among associates in the manner described? Sounds an awful lot like a kindergarten teacher at the head of the lunchroom table.)


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## DukeGrad (Dec 28, 2003)

*Best Desk is easy!*

Gentlemen,

Reward yourself, my God! Lawyers, unreal.
Go for Thos. Moser . One of the most beautiful furniture makers, here in America.
Expensive, more than Stickley.
Which is my second choice.
The desk is your reward to yourself. You earned it.
My God, spend the money. Stay away from open plans.
A lot of corporations, are going this route. So to better everything, includin work done, performance, and monies made.
Will not work.

Get your own desk. Stay away from the people!

Nice day


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## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

Interesting. I'm actually in the process of adding to my little "study" here at home. My choice is Bush "cubix"










Sturdy, modular, utilitarian. Cheap. I've had mine for three years and use it every day. The surface shows no wear and no scratches. You could probably cut vegetables on it.

Not what you want for an office where you meet clients, but it's got a niche for sure.


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