Ten years ago, I was contemplating changing employers after almost ten years at the same company. I called my wise and fearless friend, Craig McKesson, for advice and he told me “if you’re not growing, you’re dying”. Please know that my modus operandi up to this point was to take the safest route, so this advice was tough love. Nonetheless, I made the change and I grew and it was fantastic. Even better, I learned how much fun change can be. So, earlier this year and in keeping with this philosophy, I started writing this blog.
I have traveled coast to coast and covered a variety of subjects hopefully of interest to everyone from my fellow real estate brokers to law firm COOs to tech company founders.
In the legal realm, I talked about whether law firms could benefit from having advisory boards made up of non-lawyers. My partner and I also surveyed in-house counsel at 32 large companies and shared what we learned from them about what they are looking for from outside counsel.
I also get into law office design and space issues including Littler Mendelson’s new 120 square foot offices and their novel approach to determining who gets the good office. Here’s a brilliant idea to create more space in an existing law office. This post may help law firms plan their space to evolve with their business and this post can help them decidewhether or not associate opinions matter in the design of law firm space. I toured a local example of a progressive law firm buildout and got some great ideas from a not-so-local firm, DLA Piper. Finally, with some help from my partner, Joe, I examine whether a professional services firm should own its own building or the one next door.
Start-up founders and those interested in progressive office space may want to read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of my series on San Francisco’s tech spaces. For an East Coast rendition of this West Coast adventure, read this post about building for serendipity at Google NYC. If you are trying to build a great company culture, read this post about fun employee perks. If that culture might include a distributed workforce, read this post about local fast-burner, Fleetio.
If you develop or redevelop real estate, please read this post about the importance of “place” as learned from Brookfield Properties and this one about making the most of older buildings.
If you manage a corporate real estate portfolio, please read this post about why you need renewal rights and then this article about the effect of the new FASB rules those rights. For help preparing for the onslaught of operating expense reconciliations you will be receiving first quarter, read this post – Operating Expense Desk Audit 101. If you are a property manager seeking to justify your existence, read this article about the importance of your role in the real estate eco system.
If you own property, this blog post is a reminder about the importance of up-to-date CAD files. And this, my most-read post (written by John Pickering), discusses whether employers or building owners can ban guns from the office.
If you are a real estate lawyer or broker, you might want to read this post about whether a witness is required on your lease or this one which details whether an email can modify a real estate lease or sale contract. This post give a quick overview of five areas often overlooked when closing a real estate sale. If you are working on a lease for new construction, you might find some helpful hints here.
I will leave you with two of my favorites: this post about the value of surprises and this post about the importance of ending on a high note. Thanks for 2016. See you next year!
