The search will probe all options: staying put, existing highrises and to-be-built towers. The constants are location--Downtownor Uptown--and space efficiency for the 293-member team, boasting140 attorneys, in Dallas, one of seven offices in the state. The198,000-sf office in Renaissance Tower at 1201 Elm St. spans floors45, 46, 53, 54, 55 and 56, the class A building's penthouse. Thecurrent 10-year lease expires in 2012.

Leading the search is the CB Richard Ellis team of executivevice president Phil Puckett, senior vice president Chris Hermann,senior associate Michelle Donaldson and sales assistant HarlanDavis. The team was up against Cushman & Wakefield of TexasInc. and Jones Lang LaSalle in the best and final.

Puckett tells GlobeSt.com that space and market analyses will bedone in few weeks, allowing the RFP to go out the door and set thestage for a best and final by mid-2009 "at the latest." To plantthe firm in a new building, he says the deal must get into themarket. "2012 is driving our schedule," he emphasizes. "For a newbuilding, that's right on target. The timeline we're on is veryimportant if we're going to look at new buildings."