With the push to bring attorneys back to the office extra typically within the wake of the pandemic, some regulation corporations are making an effort to show the workplace into a gorgeous venue. Companies are actually experimenting with open ground plans within the hope of making an environment the place collaboration is the secret, enabling companions and associates alike to simply trade concepts and expertise true team-building moments.
One of many corporations that’s taken benefit of a brand new workplace area like that is Axinn, a midsize agency with one of many largest antitrust follow teams within the nation. The agency lately relocated its NYC headquarters to the long-lasting Rockefeller Middle, in a thoughtfully designed, 28,000 sq. foot area that can afford legal professionals room to develop collectively, each creatively and professionally. Nick Gaglio, a New York companion who’s been with the agency since its founding, took the time to reply some questions for us concerning the distinctive nature of Axinn’s model new workplace within the metropolis that by no means sleeps.
Staci Zaretsky (SZ): Congratulations on the agency’s lovely new workplace area! Might you please inform me somewhat bit extra about why the agency selected such a open ground plan?
Nick Gaglio (NG): Thanks! Our transfer to 45 Rockefeller Plaza gave us a possibility to rethink what a regulation agency workplace could possibly be. We knew we didn’t desire a conventional hierarchy-based structure with nook places of work reserved for companions. As an alternative, we got down to design an area that encourages interplay, collaboration, and creativity at each degree.
As a agency specializing in antitrust, mental property, and high-stakes litigation in aggressive markets, we compete by providing bespoke, incisive, deep insights. Purchasers have to see that we’re not simply totally different—we’re higher, so we ship work product that’s extra tailor-made to their enterprise issues. That sort of bespoke service isn’t nearly authorized data—it’s about how we work collectively to generate business-focused options. Given this, it simply is smart to orient our office round breaking down silos and amplifying the Axinn ethos: we’re one collaborative, built-in group, no matter geography, title, or follow group.
That philosophy drove each design alternative. We changed conventional nook places of work with shared collective areas—for group huddles and consumer conferences, a piece café the place attorneys and enterprise professionals in any respect ranges can collect, and pods for summer time associates. The area is deliberately hybrid: some attorneys nonetheless have places of work, however many select to sit down in open areas, relying on what’s most effective for the work at hand. Attorneys can plug in at widespread tables or bounce into breakout rooms for consumer calls or conferences. Glass partitions and AV-forward assembly rooms make collaboration seamless, whether or not you’re assembly in individual or throughout places of work. The result’s a floorplan that encourages daring concepts and impromptu conversations—and makes it simple to faucet into the collective intelligence of the group.
SZ: How do you assume this displays Axinn’s tradition, and what are among the advantages for attorneys and shoppers alike?
NG: This workplace is a bodily expression of Axinn’s tradition. From day one, Axinn has been about entrepreneurialism, ambition, and collaboration. These values are constructed into how we practice, consider, and work collectively throughout follow areas and seniority ranges. Our new area helps and displays these values.
We’ve additionally in-built areas for group huddles, casual teaching, and probability encounters that spark concepts.
For attorneys, it’s about accessibility and shared possession of the work. Everybody, from junior associates to senior companions, shares the identical open, energized atmosphere. You’ll see companions sitting alongside associates in open areas or strolling the loop across the workplace and checking in with colleagues. There’s visibility—actually, because of the glass partitions—which fosters mentorship, studying, and a shared sense of objective. The structure additionally creates a extra social ambiance, the place probability conferences and casual conversations strengthen relationships. That sort of on a regular basis connection helps particular person well-being, deepens inner belief, and finally advantages the agency and our shoppers alike.
For shoppers, the profit is actual. When your legal professionals function in an area that promotes horizontal collaboration, the options they develop are extra inventive, extra exact, and extra attuned to enterprise wants. You get a bunch that acts as a real group slightly than a free assortment of people. That cohesion—throughout roles, practices, and places of work—is a part of our go-to-market technique. It permits us to ship the sort of forward-thinking advocacy that shoppers anticipate from a specialised agency like ours.
SZ: Do you assume that an workplace like yours will be the subsequent step for all places of work going ahead?
NG: I feel it’s the place the trade is heading—particularly for corporations that wish to entice prime expertise and ship subtle, cross-disciplinary service. We’re seeing the restrictions of legacy, static workplace design in an agile world. At Axinn, we didn’t simply wish to adapt; we wished to evolve. This area provides us the agility to fulfill the wants of our shoppers and groups, whether or not which means internet hosting depositions, CLEs, or consumer technique periods.
That stated, it’s not about forcing everybody into one mannequin. What works for us is that the area accommodates a spread of labor kinds. Some attorneys have personal places of work; others select a totally agile strategy. The bottom line is that everybody has a alternative—and that the atmosphere helps collaboration.
We designed this workplace to make it simple to interact. That’s already creating momentum: our newer associates are extra desperate to be in-person, and our senior legal professionals are extra accessible than ever earlier than. The bodily area is reinforcing our tradition in methods we couldn’t have predicted. I wouldn’t say each agency ought to copy our blueprint, however I do assume each agency ought to ask: does our area replicate how we wish to work now and into the long run?
With out additional ado, listed here are some images that can present a short tour of Axinn’s new workplace area in New York Metropolis. (All photographs courtesy of Axinn.)
On behalf of everybody right here at Above the Legislation, we’d wish to thank Nick Gaglio of Axinn for taking the time to provide us insights on the agency’s lovely new workplace area in New York.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Legislation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to email her with any ideas, questions, feedback, or critiques. You may comply with her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or join along with her on LinkedIn.
