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LAW FIRMS ARE SHOWING SOME of the only signs of life in Manhattan's quiet, quiet office market.
Mergers and acquisitions are pushing them to find room to house everybody under one roof. Newly married Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells, for instance, is in the market for a single home of more than 500,000 square feet.
"More and more, clients like one-stop shopping," says Moshe Sukenik, an executive managing director at Newmark & Co. Real Estate Inc.
Moreover, big firms with diverse practices have the big bucks to do leasing deals even in economic downturns like this one. Though some of their business lines slow down, others get busier, like bankruptcy And litigation.
The buildings that will benefit most from law-firm leasing activity are those with rectangular floors with room for lots of perimeter offices, such as 399 Park Ave. and 599 Lexington Ave., says Frank Doyle, a managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
At 399 Park Ave., Bingham Dana is looking for space to house attorneys from recently acquired Richards & O'Neil, located at 885 Third Ave....