Fred Furth is trading his downtown San Francisco address for the land of milk and honey. Which, for the big-league plaintiff lawyer, is Santa Rosa.
While other small-shop attorneys are buying their own S.F. real estate, Furth told his 10-lawyer firm this week that he's moving the whole operation to newly leased space in Sonoma County. The move is slated for April 1.
The Furth Firm’s lease expires in August 2008. Rather than pay $800,000-plus per year for a new lease, Furth said he will lease comparable space in downtown Santa Rosa for an annual $200,000.
It is unclear how many of his lawyers and staff will make the move with him.
Furth said he extended the offer to move with him to everyone, with ample opportunities to telecommute. Each lawyer will be equipped with a TV camera sitting atop “their nifty little new PC,” with Internet access to a complete online library a la Westlaw, he said over the telephone from his Chalk Hill vineyards in Sonoma this afternoon.
“The lawyers I’ve talked to are enthusiastic,” Furth said.
He’s hoping that those who aren’t might just come around to the idea with time.
“I think once people get used to the land of milk and honey where they can buy twice the house they have now, you may see more of them wanna actually move up here.”
— Petra Pasternak
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