April 13, 2007 - Dallas-based Scott & Scott LLP has signed a 10-year lease with JPMorgan Chase Tower that will more than double the space the law firm occupies in one of downtown's signature office towers.

After an extensive search that included Victory Park and the Uptown, Galleria and Las Colinas areas, the law firm decided to stay put and expand. Scott & Scott will occupy 17,454 square feet, taking the entire 50th floor in the 55-story building.

The firm will move in the third quarter from the skyscraper's 53rd floor, where it occupies 7,980 square feet.

The firm, which specializes in information technology law, has doubled to 22 employees in the last 12 months. It plans to add about 10 attorneys a year spread over all areas of practice, said Robert Scott, managing partner.

Practice areas include software license disputes, network security, data privacy and complex litigation.

The Class AA office space in Chase Tower plays into the firm's expansion plans, Scott said.

"When you're in a law firm, you spend a great deal of time at work," he said. "Your space is critical for a number of reasons, and the most crucial is how well your people perform for your customers when they're at work. It has to be a place that they want to go, a place that they're proud to call their office. That's very, very important."

HOK is overseeing interior design, which has lawyer offices around the perimeter, surrounding a large, open IT work area.

"The IT professionals are more comfort-oriented, as compared to our lawyers, who are more privacy- and image-oriented," Scott said.

DART line important
Proximity to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system also factored into the firm's decision, Scott said. "Many of our people use DART and the bus system, and when we started looking at other locations we realized how spoiled we were to be within walking distance of the Pearl Street (DART) station."