The Obamas Get a New Neighbor
Boies, Schiller & Flexner is relocating from Friendship Heights to 1401 New York Ave in fall 2016, close enough to borrow Barack Obama's lawn mower.
As anchor tenant, BSF will have 37k SF over two floors, including a large outdoor space. The moving process began under immediate past DC administrative partner Mike Brille. He tells us that it continues "our core philosophy of making sure the firm seizes opportunities to move forward and grow in a very smart way." 1401 New York Ave will house 57 DC-based lawyers, with room for significant expansion. (You know, President Obama will be looking for work next year...)
"We want to make sure we're designing the next generation's office and law firm," says Mike. Details like office sizing and layout have yet to be pinned down, but the firm is looking to be cutting-edge and inspired by not only other law firms, but also companies. It's likely to follow the contemporary, light-filled look of 1401's common spaces. Boies Schiller's New York office is also relocating. It was the first commercial tenant commitment for 55 Hudson Yards, expected to open in 2018.
Mike joined Boies Schiller shortly after it was founded in 1997 with five lawyers and two offices (DC and NY). A Yale Law grad, he moved to DC after a clerkship out west to be a trial attorney in the DOJ Honors Program. He spent a year in private practice before getting a call from his law school roommate about a new firm. Since then, BSF has grown to 13 offices and more than 250 lawyers, with a reputation as a "litigation powerhouse." Recent adds in DC have included two Supreme Court clerks, FDA chief of staff Lisa Barclay, and Sen. Al Franken GC Joshua Riley.
After a year of searching for the right space, 1401 New York Ave fulfilled all the items on Boies Schiller's checklist: Metro-accessible, Class-A building, contemporary construction and design, floor plate allowing for consolidation onto two floors with room to grow, natural light, floor-to-ceiling glass, and other amenities like a rooftop deck and gym. The building, owned by Minshall Stewart, is undergoing a full redesign by architect J.P. Spickler.
