On the other hand, many clients expect their professionals offices to be designed and furnished in a more formal manner that conveys a greater sense of seriousness and tradition.

One furniture option that many professional services firms have selected, at least with respect to employees, is modular furniture. Modular furniture includes desks, credenzas, and work stations that are constructed based on standardized units or dimensions, which can be configured in a variety of ways depending on a particular employees or professionals needs. Modular furniture provides a firm with a relatively inexpensive and easy way to adapt the office configuration and organization as the business ebbs and flows and as the employee base shrinks and swells. Rather than undertaking major office furniture purchases only when absolutely necessary, which can prove costly, time consuming, and disruptive, modular furniture provides the professional services firm with the opportunity to more closely tie office renovations and furniture purchases to business demands.

Although modular furniture is an attractive option for employees of the professional services firm, in many cases, the more senior members of the firm, such as partners, prefer to furnish their offices with unique furniture that they have personally selected. Furnishing their offices is one of the few ways that individual partners can personalize their offices, and it is considered one of the perks of achieving a more senior position in the firm. Unfortunately, high-end office furniture can be very expensive, and as a result, many professional services firms require partners to pay for all or a portion of the furniture that they select. Moreover, there has been a recent trend toward standardizing the furniture in partner offices in an effort to afford the firm greater flexibility as partners come and go and to help reduce conflicts among partners over status within the firm.

While there are myriad furniture designs and options available to the professional services firm, as a general rule, trendy, stylish furniture should be avoided. Furniture is often one of the largest upfront expenses that the professional services firm will incur when moving into new office space. To avoid having to replace furniture before it is necessary, the firm should avoid trendy furniture that can quickly go out of vogue and opt for more neutral furniture that reflects a professional tone. While it is true that the firm should consider its furniture options in light of client expectations, a balance must be struck between the cost of the furniture and client expectations. In striking this balance, the firm should err on the side of selecting furniture that will endure any passing trends.

Employee Productivity and Satisfaction. Selection of office furniture can have a dramatic impact on employee performance and job satisfaction. The right office furniture should make it easy for both the professionals and nonprofessionals in a firm to perform their respective job functions efficiently and comfortably. Modular furniture that can be

adjusted to meet individual needs is important to retaining happy, productive employees. According to one report, Furniture systems that adjust to individual needs are key to keeping employees....We really have to provide solutions that allow people to feel ownership with their workspace, to identify with the place that they spend a significant period of their lives. 7

Purchasing comfortable and user-friendly furniture makes sense from an efficiency perspective, and ergonomically designed furniture can help save the firm the expense and downtime associated with cumulative trauma disorders and repetitive strain injuries. Disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome and lower back pain account for a significant number of workers compensation claims annually. Ergonomically designed chairs, keyboards, and workstations can help minimize these health risks and cut down on employee downtime.

Purchasing and/or Financing Furniture* When weighing its options with respect to furniture, the firm should consider whether to purchase new or used furniture. New furniture offers the firm a greater degree of flexibility in terms of selection and variety, whereas the options in the used furniture market are often much more limited. Thus, for example, if the firm were to choose to purchase used furniture, it is likely that there would be several different styles of furniture throughout the office, which, depending on the image the firm is trying to project, might not be an unattractive option.

While the options may be less plentiful in the used furniture market, the firm will pay considerably more for new furniture than used furniture. Depreciation of used office furniture occurs rapidly, and the firm may be able to find excellent quality used office furniture at a deep discount under what it would pay for new furniture. Moreover, in many instances, the firm may be able to meet all or a portion of its furniture requirements by purchasing or leasing furniture from the landlord or former tenant, particularly in a sublease situation where the former tenant has not relocated and does not want to incur the cost of moving its office furniture.

In most cases, the firm can defray some of the cost of furnishing its new office space by financing the purchase of office furniture, both new and used. Indeed, if the firm decides that it does not want to purchase office furniture, the firm could simply lease furniture. However, under both the financing and leasing scenarios, the firm would pay a premium in finance charges and interest, and as a result, despite the relatively high cost, simply buying the furniture upfront might be in the best long-term interests of the firm.

Filing Systems. Although professional services firms rely on computers and electronic media more than ever before, they still generate a significant amount of paper. As a result, in addition to furniture, the firm will need filing cabinets, which, depending on the volume of paper being produced by the

firm, can be expensive. Shelf files are a more efficient alternative to traditional drawer file cabinets. Additionally, the firm should consider cabinets that can be stacked five to seven drawers high to minimize the price per square foot that the firm is paying to simply store hard copies of documents.

Summary

Locating the right office space can be an incredibly important development in the life of a professional services firm. To make the right decision, the firm should critically assess its needs upfront and arm itself with as much information on the market as it can find. Leasing agents can prove to be valuable allies who possess a great deal of information and expertise. Once the firm has identified the office that best suits its needs, it should take care in negotiating with the landlord and, with the assistance of legal counsel, carefully review all of the various terms of the lease before execution. Last, the firm needs to decide what office design and furniture best suit its needs. Although the firm need not wait until a lease is executed to undertake this assessment, because office finish-out and furnishings can be such large expenses for the firm, it is important that, with or without the assistance of a space planner or interior designer, the firm properly budget for these expenses as early as possible in the office search process.

NOTES

1. Attributed to Abraham Lincoln in multiple sources including http: www.quota-tionspage.com/subjects/success.

2. American Public Transportation Association (APTA) online glossary available from http: www.apta.com/info/online/glossary.html.

3. The Urban Land Institute is available from http: www.uli.org.

4. Candace S. Baggett, Desperately Seeking Space, State Bar of Texas 22nd Annual Advanced Real Estate Law Course (July 12 to 14, 2000).

5. The Urban Land Institute, Office Development Handbook (2nd ed., 1998), available from http: www.uli.org.

6. Workplace Trends in Law Firms, white paper from Herman Miller, Inc. (2003).

7. Gail Repsher Emery, Changes in Modern Office Mirror the Past (Washington Technology, 2001).