Walls Come Down and Floors Rearrange, But It's Business As Usual at Legal Industry Leader Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP - Even During Construct

15 November 2005

As the nation's legal industry leader in class action suits expanded their practice, Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP worked with Spector Group Architects to expand their space -- with one twist: Milberg Weiss opted to conduct business as usual as floors shook and walls came down around them. Client occupation of a space during construction presents unique challenges to both architect and builder. "The project had to be phased in such a way that allowed Milberg to occupy swing space to enable work to continue and at the same time provide a safe and secure environment," says Spector Group Principal Marc Spector. "We defined paths of travel and maintained proper entrance and egress, carefully mapping out the details before work began. We guaranteed them an uninterrupted flow of operations." With 60,000 square feet of space being renovated, moving people around was not unlike fitting the pieces of a puzzle together. Moves took place five times; 30 people at a time were moved, involving 20% of the office each time. Each time a sector was moved it propelled firm partners, associates, their administrative assistants and their 'workroom' to a different location within Milberg's four floors at One Pennsylvania Plaza. A careful balance had to be maintained to not remove too much space at one time. Each phase required 10-12 weeks with a 2-week gap for finishing and preparing for the next phase. Five phases resulted in approximately 70 weeks in construction. Senior and Founding Partner, Melvyn I. Weiss, stated, "From day one, The Spector Group's commitment to the project was repeatedly demonstrated. The entire team had a clear understanding that we are a 40-year old firm prosecuting numerous important class and private actions throughout the country." Weiss continued, "They understood that with over 120 attorneys and nearly 300 support staff, we had no time to waste. From filing complaints, writing briefs and conducting conferences and depositions to the necessary use of our technology, we had to be able to conduct 'business as usual' throughout the renovation process. Marc Spector, Scott Hayden and their team, working closely with our management team, accommodated our requests and the project's outcome certainly exceeded our expectations." Milberg Weiss' growth and acquisition of square footage was accomplished incrementally over the years, resulting in 'bits and pieces' of new space scattered among the floors. In finally becoming a single occupant, Spector Group was able to design and layout space to best suit the firm's needs. For example, while law firms still require libraries, more and more case information is stored electronically, resulting in smaller spaces dedicated to volumes of legal literature. However, group work sessions are on the rise and conference areas are taken over as popular 'workrooms'. In renovating Milberg Weiss, the addition of more, and bigger conference rooms was a priority. Located at the center is a Document Processing Room with a special reinforced steel floor below. All electrical panels were rewired to accommodate new web-based document processing. The Multi-Purpose Room, used for large meetings, training sessions, conferences and presentations features extensive hidden technology. The room can be used as one large room or separated into three smaller rooms via two skyfold partitions, key regulated, that fold up like an accordion into the ceiling. Also hidden above are large format projection screens, variable rotating video cameras, audio speakers and, on the tables, pop up plug-ins for laptop computers. A graphic eye lighting control creates variable scenes throughout the space, in addition to a dimming control system, plasma screens and a linear diffuser for optimum HVAC control. The room's center houses a large-scale projector to meet the rooms' needs in its various configurations. The room is encased in pearwood creating the sense of an overall den and conference milieu. The show must go on at all times at Milberg Weiss Bershad Schulman LLP. Promising uninterrupted flow of operations is an undisputed claim for Spector Group architects.

Source: PR Newswire

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