"Currently, our advice would be to make alternative arrangements for the full week," the building managers said on its Web site.
According to a Google search, at least 17 law firms have offices in the 1.2 million-square-foot building, whose anchor tenant is Brown Brothers Harriman. The structure is fronted by an iconic red cube sculpture by Isamu Noguchi.
The storm briefly transformed Robert S. and Gail Kelner, the two principal partners of Kelner & Kelner, a nine-lawyer personal injury firm, into frazzled receptionists. Until the firm was able to set up a temporary one-room command center Tuesday at 80 Broad St. here, all incoming calls were routed to the couple's home on Long Island. Other lawyers at the firm also worked from home.
"It's been horrible," Kelner said. "Trying to work from home without files is very difficult."
Joel Bernstein, a partner at Labaton Sucharow, a plaintiffs' securities class action firm, said his firm has relocated about 60 lawyers and other staffers to two alternative locations on Varick and 11th streets. The firm's computer servers were temporarily taken to a location in Stamford, CT.
"I've never been through anything quite like this," Bernstein said with a laugh. "I never knew how important a law firm's administrative staff could be until now."
A few Labaton associates were working Saturday night at 9 p.m. when the problems began. Some called their supervisors after the evacuation call to ask if they could remain a little longer to finish some work. "I told them to get out of there," Bernstein said. The firm went almost 48 hours without access to key documents before the servers finally were running again in Stamford, he added.
Schnader Harrison, a Philadelphia-based firm, has about 30 lawyers and 20 staffers at 140 Broadway, according to Christine Cardy, the New York office's managing partner. Rather than relocating to Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, NJ offices, many lawyers have been working from home so that they could keep prior commitments such as depositions, court appearances and client meetings.
Other firms have "generously" provided conference rooms for depositions and other purposes, she said. Meetings also are being held at clients' offices.
Angela Stokes, chief operating director of Eltman, Eltman & Cooper, a 20-lawyer firm specializing in locating assets to satisfy unpaid judgments, said the firm avoided any disruption by putting an emergency plan in effect. A total of 150 workers, including the lawyers, have been relocated to two other locations, she said. Brown Brothers Harriman has moved to a backup location in New Jersey.
As the storm pummeled the East Coast on Saturday March 13, water flooded into a Consolidated Edison vault at 140 Broadway, touching off several minor explosions and a fire that melted a transformer. Portable generators have provided some power for lights since then.
Hines reported to its tenants that a workforce of 300 is scouring the building, which suffered "minor smoke damage." Tenants have been permitted to enter temporarily to retrieve crucial items.
George Lancaster, Hines' communication's chief, said the smoke traveled upward through the elevator shafts, and the cleaning is "standard protocol."
Daniel Wise can be reached at dwise@alm.com. Zach Lowe is a reporter for The American Lawyer, an ALM affiliate of the Law Journal. He can be reached at zlowe@alm.com.
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