NEW YORK CITY-Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP is moving into larger quarters next year, having signed a 108,000-square-foot long-term lease at Boston Properties’ 601 Lexington Ave. The deal, first reported by Legal Week and the New York Post earlier this month, expands the firm’s New York presence by more than 50%.
Studley chairman and CEO Mitchell Steir says in a release that the new space will afford Freshfields “greater operational efficiencies and a state-of-the art workplace to recruit and retain the best talent.” Steir and his Studley colleagues—president Michael Colacino, EVPs Matthew Barlow and David Goldstein and corporate managing director Colm Ralph—represented Freshfields.
Jones Lang LaSalle’s international director Frank Doyle and SVP David Kleiner represented BPX in lease negotiations. JLL picked up the leasing assignment for the 59-story property in June 2009 after the Boston-based REIT had renamed and renovated the office tower, formerly known as Citigroup Center.
Following a spate of hiring, Julian Pritchard, regional managing partner at Freshfields, told Legal Week, “We are close to being out of space at this point and the outlook, which we expect to include further growth, both homegrown and lateral, is going to necessitate some more room.” 601 Lexington, he added, “is a landmark New York building—where our New York practice will be right at home.”
The firm is currently based at 520 Madison Ave., where it leases 70,000 square feet. It employs about 2,400 attorneys worldwide and is considerd one of the so-called Magic Circle of law firms.
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