National law and consulting firm Manatt recently moved to a new, modern DC office at Washington Square, designed to foster collaboration and teamwork. We got a tour from DC administrative partner Ivan Wasserman, who also used it as a chance to debut the phrase he coined: Manattitude. We snapped Ivan showing some Manattitude alongside fellow ad lawyers Lauren Aronson and La Toya Sutton. (That's a floor-to-ceiling dry erase board in one of the internal meeting rooms.)
The office has 70 professionals over 37k SF and is working on a 4,900 SF addition. Ivan tells us the office is growing, particularly in litigation, corporate, healthcare and government relations.
With five conference rooms and four internal team rooms, group space is emphasized. This is the largest of the conference rooms, with flexible furniture arrangements.
We walked down the hall to Ivan's office. All of the lawyers' offices have glass fronts and are one size, 180 SF. The furniture includes a desk that raises or lowers so folks feeling like fitness buffs can enjoy a standing desk (at least some of the time).
As an FDA and ad lawyer, Ivan has all kinds of interesting mementos, including remnants from product recalls he's worked on, ranging from "toys with lead paint to a face mask that's supposed to tone skin with electric pulses," (hear more about that in a profile we wrote when Ivan was appointed DC administrative partner last year). The star here, though, is his Coton de Tulear puppy Frankie, who even has her own Facebook page.
We also snapped the colorful lunchroom. Downstairs in the 1050 Connecticut Ave building is a food court, along with a gym, post office, shoe repair, and variety of retail shops. The sixth floor, where Manatt's office is, used to be part of Arent Fox's space until it relocated around the corner. It already felt like home to Ivan, an Arent Fox alum who worked in this office.
For a nice view and some group work, folks can duck into this corner team room overlooking Connecticut Avenue and the Mayflower. Nearby, a large glass-fronted space holds quads for visiting and part-time attorneys, and non-lawyer analysts. The office was designed by OPX Architects and was built using Rand Construction.
