By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Sitting in the eighth-floor conference room of Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP, Managing Partner Joseph Kubarek can look uptown and see the Avant building dominating the skyline.

In a few short weeks, he'll be enjoying the view from inside.

After 27 years at 12 Fountain Plaza, the law firm is moving to the Avant, where it will occupy 32,000 square feet of custom-designed office space on several floors. Kubarek says the move, expected later this month, was two years in the making. It is the culmination of a lengthy process in which the firm explored numerous options.

"We started out with about two dozen possible locations," he said. "Over about a year, we cut that list down to seven or eight and eventually down to four."

In the end, it came down to either the Avant or staying put and renovating the current space - three floors and 37,000 square feet in the Bank of America building downtown.

"There is some deferred maintenance on this building, and we were willing to put some of our own money into renovating our office space if the landlord was willing to meet us halfway," Kubarek said. "But we couldn't really come to a meeting of the minds."

"Had we stayed here, it would have called for a total knock-down and rebuild," said Jaeckle administrator Mary McCabe, who was actively involved in the search process.

To accomplish that while still operating the firm, the plan would have called for each floor to be renovated in four to six sections, Kubarek said, with attorneys and professional staff displaced along the way. The project was estimated to take as long as 18 months, and McCabe said it was decided that drawn-out renovations weren't in the best interest of the firm and its clients.

"The idea of trying to work through a construction project here on-site was a huge deterrent to considering this space," she said. "Everybody was realistic. We (would) be miserable."

Kubarek, meanwhile, said he is looking forward to new office space that has been custom designed for the firm. The current space, built in the 1980s, is outdated, he said.

"The practice of law has changed tremendously in the nearly 30 years since we moved into this space," he said. "When this space was created, every lawyer - certainly every senior lawyer - had their own secretary," he said. "That's just not the way law is practiced anymore. We have maybe one secretary for every three lawyers."

That led to underutilized space. It's just one example of why a change was needed, he said.

Jaeckle Fleischmann planned to be in its new digs by Oct. 3 but construction delays pushed it back to Oct. 24.

"No matter how well you think you have planned everything, things come up," Kubarek said with a laugh. "Lights that were designed to go one way on the ceiling, last week we were told it is more efficient to have then run in the other direction. So we had to redesign the ceiling on the fly."

There also were some issues with out-of-stock finishing products, as well as carpeting. But despite those and other hiccups, McCabe said the partners never second-guessed the decision to relocate.

"We knew during the process we wouldn't be efficient and people would be melting down," she said. "So as many delays and frustrations as we might have had with the new spot, at least every person in the firm wasn't trying to work through it and deal with it the way they would have been with a renovation."
The firm views its new space as far more than just a change of address, according to Kubarek.

"We expect this move to radically change the way we do business," he said. "We have had 1980s offices and, to a large extent, our file management and other practices have been 1980s, as well. With 21st-century offices, we intend to get some 21st-century management practices up and running."

So was there a fight for the corner offices in the new building?

"One of the great things about our firm is that this is a very collegial place. Everybody had different things they wanted, but I think we have worked it out. And so far, there has been relatively little rancor about office placement," he said, adding, "Of course, they haven't sat in their offices yet, so that answer might change."