Prominent PI Lawyer Takes 'Top Digs' Award

For the next year, Robert A. Clifford can attest that he has the nicest office in the country.

"I can prove it," Clifford said. "For this year, anyway."

Clifford's corner office was recognized by the American Bar Association in it s 1997 National Office Design Competition in the specialty area/partner's office category.

The proof is on the plaque which is now displayed prominently in the firm's salon (which others might call a waiting room).

Clifford's award-winning office, on the 31st floor of the 120 N. LaSalle building, features eastern and northern views, dominated by Lake Michigan.

"This office conveys a sense of achievement and considerable success," said the ABA panel that judged entries in the contest. "The planes and light coves of the ceilings lift the space and are as dramatic as the views of Lake Michigan."

Clifford moved into his current digs last April from temporary space after the merger between his firm and Corboy & Demetrio dissolved. It was the firm's third move in a year and a half, an experience Clifford described as a "total bummer."

"Don't remind me, please," he said.

The 13,650-square-foot office is the work of the Chicago design firm of Lucien LaGrange & Associates Ltd.

"When we designed [the offices], we did so in the spirit of making an elegant, successful presentation that was also very comfortable and worker friendly," Clifford said.

Art work from the '20s and '30s adorns the firm's walls, but the main visual attraction might be the view of the neighboring buildings' top floors and of the third-largest Great Lake.

"Great view, great art, great people, all of that put together makes it a nice place to make it a home away from home," Clifford said.

Anyone hoping to get a personal tour of the offices can do so on the firm's web site on the Internet. The Web site, which also notes the office's recent ABA award, has pictures and text describing the office's reception area, salon, Clifford's office, the large conference room, the library and the bistro.

The bistro, which others might call the lunchroom, features antique advertising posters and marble tables.

"We like our bistro," Clifford said. "It's better than having a stodgy old kitchen. There's romance in the air."

The firm's art was acquired with the help of a consultant. Clifford said he hopes the next addition to the home page will be a virtual display of the firm's art collection.

When asked if the firm has adequate security in case an admirer decides to shift a piece of the firm's art collection to their own, Clifford quickly responded, "Good security and good insurance."

Other winners in the ABA design competition were the Houston office of Croley & Steinberg in the small-firm category; the Philadelphia office of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhodes in the historic preservation category; the Winston-Salem, N.C., firm of Blanco, Tackabery, Combs & Matamoros in the reception area category; and the Madison, Ind., firm of Eckert, Alcorn & Goering in the adaptive reuse category.

In the large firm category, there was a tie between the Houston firm of Beck, Redden & Secrest and the Washington, D.C. firm of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson.

Clifford took great pride in beating out partners from larger commercial and defense firms which have, as he described it, "deep pockets."

"This is all about competition," Clifford said. "This is David versus Goliath".