“It”™ll turn up,” could be the unofficial motto of a major move. Unstated and understood is that the entire relocation process is a vortex of confusion.
A law firm has no such wiggle room and neither the 160 lawyers of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker L.L.P.”™s White Plains office nor their clients expect it.
Rather, as the firm”™s director of marketing, Kristin Coda, said of the coming move from 3 Gannett Drive across the street to 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains, “You would not know it”™s taking place. A client can call July 3 before the move and call again the morning of July 8 after the move ”“ call the same number ”“ and that client would not have a sense that we moved. That”™s the point.” She called the effort “a symphony with everyone doing their part.”
The firm moved originally into 57,000 square feet at 3 Gannett. Across 12 years, it gerrymandered an additional noncontiguous 85,000 square feet into its office there. The 1133 Westchester Ave. address has 6,000 fewer square feet ”“ 136,000 total ”“ but makes up for the loss in layout and amenities, according to managing partner John Flannery. “Pretty much everything you”™d see in a top-flight building in Manhattan,” he said.
Said Robert Roarke, managing partner of Wilson Elser”™s New York metro region, “There were simply too many inefficiencies in a build-out that is now three floors without a common hallway.”
Besides adjoining hallways, the total 620,000-square-foot RPW building at 1133 Westchester Ave. offers Wilson Elser an executive dining room, full-service cafeteria, fitness center, sundries shop and a child care center, which offers services from infancy to kindergarten. The 3 Gannett building has none of those, although landlord Heritage Realty Services recently debuted a new dining room and full-service cafeteria across the street at 2 Gannett Drive and 4 Gannett Drive has hosted Strata Health Club since 2008.
On June 14, in the Wilson Elser offices, it was law as usual, except for a blizzard of coded Stick”™ems affixed to chairs, tables, desks and, especially, to filing cabinets and to the contents within. The codes had colors and numbers so that items as disparate as individual files and individual conference tables find their designated spots. Nothing was posthaste; planning began in January.
“This is not new for us,” said Roarke. “We have 24 offices and from time to time we move. We have good experience and I”™m happy to report this move has gone well. July 3 is our last day on Gannett Drive. And July 8 we”™re in our new office, with zero disruption in service.”
“We”™re always thinking clients first,” Coda said.
“That”™s the business we”™re in,” Roarke said.
Computers will be moved, installed and completely tested over the long July 4 weekend. The firm itself will notify the state of change of address, a legal requirement germane to bail hearings and receiving documents. Additionally, Coda said, “We”™ve written a communication to go to the attorneys”™ clients saying we”™re moving and [the attorneys] can attach a personal note.”
“We”™ve done this before,” Flannery said. “It”™s a huge benefit to have Jimmy. It means lawyers spend very little time moving, and this is a goal. They”™re basically responsible for packing up their photos and diplomas, but if they want to leave those, they”™ll be bubble-wrapped, coded and shipped with the rest of the office.”
“Jimmy” is James DiBenedetto, Wilson Elser”™s administrative director, who, by his own reckoning, has supervised some 25 moves for the firm. A previous move in Manhattan and this one, he said, are “easily” his two biggest.
“It”™s nothing too difficult,” DiBenedetto said. “This is a pretty easy, pretty straightforward logistical move: Get it out; get it over there; set it up. No surprises.”
“In terms of function, there will be no hiccup,” Flannery said.
As a consumer gets estimates, so Wilson Elser issued an RFP for its move. The firm selected New York City-based Certified Moving, which specializes in moving law firms. DiBenedetto said payments vary for the work, which is, by its nature, customized: about $4 to $7 per square foot (in the $500,000-$750,000 range for Wilson Elser”™s move).
Many of the 230 truckloads required to move the firm will be filled with paper files. “Every day, we work on digitizing,” Roarke said. “But paper is still a reality. If you come up with a solution, let me know.” Still, after 39 years with the firm, he said: “I can”™t say I was this calm in other moves. It comes with working with the right people.”
The firm expects clockwork, but its clients can be more casual. “On July 8 our new address becomes official,” Coda said. “We”™ll update it and say so in our communications for the next 60 to 90 days.”
