Offices, Old and New - Part I

In October 1980, I first walked through the revolving front doors of the Oliver Building on Smithfield Street in downtown Pittsburgh. I was on my way to a job interview with the law firm of Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Johnson & Hutchison ("KLJ&H"). At the time, KLJ&H was the third largest law firm in Pittsburgh behind Reed Smith Shaw & McClay (1st) and Buchanan Ingersoll (2nd).

KLJ&H was then home to about 70 attorneys and they occupied three floors of the building -- the 15th, 16th and 17th floors. The Oliver Building is a great old office building witha wonderful marble and brass first floor lobby, and the firm has made the building its

home since it was founded in 1946.

My interview went very well that day, and I was offered a summer associate position (for the summer of 1981). I received offers from

several other firms as well that fall, but after some thought, I decided to accept the offer from KLJ&H. That summer, I spent three great months with the firm and, in the fall of 1981, I was fortunate to receive an offer of full time employment. This time, I did not have to think long about the offer. I accepted quickly, and began working with the firm, as a full-fledged associate attorney, on August 24, 1982.

It has now been more than 27 years since I began practicing as an attorney with KLJ&H. The firm has gone through a number of changes in the past 27 years. In the fall of 1981, the firm took its first step in the direction of growing

outside the city of Pittsburgh. It merged with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hill Christopher & Phillips. Since that time, the firm has merged with many other existing law firms and has also started offices "from scratch" in a number of cities. Today, the firm is known as K&L Gates and has offices in 37 different cities in the US, Europe, the Far East and the Middle East.

As for the Pittsburgh office, the attorneys now number more than 230 and we occupy 12 floors of the Oliver Building. And we are about to embark upon a rather significant change. We are making a move -- a physical move -- to another office building one block away. Plans for this move began about two years ago, and now it will soon be upon us -- in mid-March.

And so we will soon say good-bye to a building and a set of offices that has been our law firm home for many years. It is a bit of a shock to realize that, over these past 27 years, I have spent roughly 30% of my life in the Oliver Building. I will truly be sad to make this move.

Attached here are some photos of my current office. It sits in a northwest corner on the 23rd floor of the Oliver Building. When I sit at my desk, I have a view up the Allegheny River immediately to my right. This is a wonderfully large and sunny space, and I have been very comfortable here. I will miss it. In a future entry here, I will offer a tour of our new building and my new office. So, stay tuned . . . .