The Goulston & Storrs New York office is turning 20 this year. For our birthday, I am incredibly excited to announce that we are moving to 730 Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan. 

I often say that Goulston & Storrs is a firm of happy lawyers. We truly enjoy practicing law, and practicing law with each other.  That said, connections across the board have been challenged in the last few years, and this move comes at the perfect time. Every element of our new office design centers around connection.

730 Third is Nuveen’s headquarters, and they did a stellar job repositioning the building during the first year of the pandemic. We have already hosted events in the second-floor café, which doubles in the evening as an oversized living room appropriate for a 150-person fireside chat. And we are gearing up for an autumn opening celebration on the building’s rooftop terrace, a landscaped oasis overlooking Grand Central.

When you come onto our floor, you have a clear view East to Third and West to Lex. The individual offices radiate around a central café (where, yes, the fridge will be stocked with La Colombe iced coffees). Each attorney office is a consistent size, in keeping with the flatter structure at our firm, and contains a smaller conference table with room to collaborate with several colleagues at once.

The firm has adopted a hybrid model, part of the week in the office, with flexibility to work from elsewhere. I personally am a big fan of this direction for the corporate world. We need the office to run into each other, joke without explaining the tone that did not translate over zoom, and do page turns that turn paper. Mentoring needs the office; collaborating needs the office; risk-taking needs the office. 

Working from home some of the time certainly has its benefits. Flexibility is incredibly important, particularly at certain stages in a career. I keep thinking that the hybrid office will push the percentage of female partners at law firms to over 25%, maybe over 40%, as well as make increases in representation of attorneys from other underrepresented groups. I know that office design and a hybrid work model won’t solve everything– but I became a real estate lawyer partly because, in my view, the built environment, and the policies around our use of the built environment, have the potential to make a difference.

As we were exploring new office locations at the end of 2021, we toured 730 Third (huge thanks to Emily Chabrier at CBRE) the day after artist Lawrence Weiner passed. Looking at the building’s art installations, his wallwork spoke to me. 1+1 = 2. 1 & 1 = 11. Notice the ampersand. A BIG part of Goulston & Storrs.

Come visit us soon. It’ll be really good to connect in person.