The Houston-based law firm has 410 attorneys in eight offices,of which four are in Texas. The 102-year-old firm's been a tenantsince 1997 in the 1.5-million-sf Bank One Center at 1717 Main St.in downtown Dallas.

"Under the existing lease, we didn't have the expansioncapabilities that we needed," Greg Biggs, senior vice president andsouthwest region manager for Studley, tells GlobeSt.com. A searchof all class A and class AA buildings was conducted in downtown andUptown. "Other options were possible," he says. "At the end of theday, the firm didn't have to do anything. They could have waitedthis out until 2007." The deal goes into effect in March 2007.

Biggs declined to go into detail, but did say the law firm will"grow the count substantially" as a result of deal-making thatenables expansion now rather than later. "Andrews Kurth has done anoutstanding job of recruiting so expansion capabilities werecritical to their future," adds Biggs, who represented the brokeralong with Charles Gordon of CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Houstonoffice. The firm occupies floors 36, 37 and 38 in the 60-storybuilding.