NEW YORK CITY-While law firms in lower Manhattan opened their doors yesterday for the first time in a week, Hurricane Sandy's effects on other firms, like Sullivan & Cromwell and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, have forced lawyers and staff to keep the pace remotely and from alternate locations in Midtown.
Sullivan & Cromwell's offices at 125 Broad St. on New York Harbor remain closed but chairman Joseph Shenker said the firm hopes to be fully operational within one or two weeks. In the meantime, lawyers and staff are working from Sullivan's Midtown office at 535 Madison Ave., where the firm maintains one floor and has temporarily leased three additional floors, Shenker said yesterday.
Shenker said about 40 people stayed at 125 Broad St. during the storm, including IT, security and clean-up workers. One office worker actually rescued a government transportation official who was almost swept away by the rising waters outside the building, Shenker said, adding the S&C employee "deserves a medal."
The building experienced flooding and damage in the basement. Shenker said the water has been pumped out, generators are running and the firm is working to restore full power and elevator service, and a few broken windows have been repaired.
The law firm is in a unique position of having an ownership stake in its building—it has a 60% interest in 125 Broad Street Condominium Association, which owns the office tower.
"It's actually been oddly a huge advantage because it allowed us to work in a very direct way to get the restoration efforts done," Shenker said.
Cushman & Wakefield, the outside management company, has had staff on the ground 24 hours a day, he said. "Because we're ownership we've been able to work with [Cushman] directly" and avoid getting caught up in any red tape. "We've managed to get on the fast track," he said. The costs of the restoration should be covered fully by insurance, he added. "I sure have been paying enough premiums."
The firm has a full back-up data center, and other firm offices provided support for administration and client matters, Shenker said.
"It's been challenging," Shenker said. "I am beyond amazed at the level of dedication of our lawyers and nonlegal staff in making sure we can continue to operate fully and serve our clients."
He also applauded Midtown landlord Park Tower Realty.
Fried Frank's headquarters at One New York Plaza also was not ready for operation yesterday. Water flooded the underground plaza area and it could be closed for several weeks, according to a New York Times report.
"Fried Frank's lower Manhattan office building is not accessible to us or any other tenants at this time. We are waiting for notification when our space will be available," said firm chairwoman Valerie Ford Jacob in a statement.
She added that Fried Frank lawyers are working either remotely or from the firm's Midtown office at 375 Park Ave. or other offices.
"All of the firm's systems have been and continue to be operational," the statement said.
Among the lower Manhattan law firms that were able to open for business yesterday were Hughes Hubbard & Reed at One Battery Park Plaza; Carter Ledyard & Milburn at 2 Wall St.; and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza.
@|Christine Simmons can be contacted at [email protected]. Sara Randazzo, a reporter for The AmLaw Daily, a Law Journal affilliate, contributed to this article.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Christine Simmons
Christine Simmons writes about the New York legal community and the business of law. Email her at [email protected] and find her on Twitter @chlsimmons
