Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 27 baseline expectation that every lawyer should aspire to their own enclosed office. In creating its design for the new offices, Australian-based firm BVN Architecture began by interviewing Miller Thomson staff and even embedding among law- yers to observe how they worked together. What they eventually came up with was an open-concept layout with high ceil- ings and common areas designed to draw people in to so-called "casual collisions." In promotional literature, Miller Thom- son's Vancouver space is described "very much like a town, complete with streets (corridors), neighbourhoods (separate working zones with a handful of enclosed offices), even a town square (a large, land- scaped atrium where employees congre- gate and have spontaneous dialogue)." Per- haps the most striking single element is a full-blown theatre with bleacher seating. The underlying idea is that meeting spaces in big firms now need to be designed less for closings and more for firm-wide events and legal education functions that draw in existing and prospective clients. (The firm goes so far as to refer to its revamped Van- couver office as a "legal knowledge centre," which may be too buzz-wordy for all but the firm's most eager boosters.) Miller Thomson has 12 Canadian offic- es. And the new Vancouver arrangement has been a subject of curiosity — even controversy — among partners from other cities, especially those middle-aged and up. (One Toronto-based Miller Thomson partner told me that if someone tried to take away her office, "they might get hurt.") But in Vancouver, Walker says, there is a widespread consensus that the new design has been a success. And at least one smaller Miller Thomson office, in Vaughan, Ont., has followed this example. "Even the older lawyers, the ones over 50, proved to be way more adaptable than we originally thought," Walker told me. "These are lawyers who, by their nature, tend to be super-focused on client relation- ships. They're driven to find ways to take care of business. So they're making the situation work." I had difficulty finding any Vancouver- based Miller Thomson lawyers who were critical of the new arrangement — though it is possible that some dissenters are keep- ing mum for reasons of office politics or they simply decided to move on to other firms. But, for what it's worth, Walker's assessment is largely consistent with what I heard from foreign lawyers whose firms performed similar architectural transfor- mations before the trend came to Canada. "I once swore that I would quit law before I went open plan," says Adam Far- low, a partner at the London, U.K. office of Baker & McKenzie LLP. "But when we tried an open-plan satellite office at Canary Wharf, that was the deal — take it or leave it. And I loved it. I thought it was great to be able to know what the team was doing. And it turned out that having 100 people in a room means that you don't hear anyone speaking, while having an office shared with one or two other people means you hear every conversation." L aw firms always are looking for mar- keting angles that help distinguish them from the competition. And so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Miller Thomson turned its move to 725 Granville into a publicity opportunity, creating a high-end promotional video celebrating the space (Google: "Great Spaces: Miller Thomson LLP"). And in the months since, Walker says, he has entertained numer- ous visitors who are interested in creating similar transformations at their own firms. But not everyone is convinced that open-concept offices are the wave of the future. And some firms that have studied the option closely have chosen to pursue another path. When Éric Bédard, managing partner for the Quebec region of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, consulted with designers about the best structure for Fasken's new Montreal offices in Place Victoria, they came up with a list of priorities very simi- lar to that compiled by Miller Thomson's Vancouver staff. Everyone wanted to make sure there was plenty of sunlight, oppor- tunities for collaboration and a layout that encouraged esprit de corps. "With young lawyers, you are competing against other spaces, because these people are used to working everywhere," Bédard told me. "So you need to create an attractive space Crossroads Law Calgary

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