In-House Counsel

A lawyer?s office is her castle, her sanctuary, her expression of self, not to mention her frequent lunchroom. Having just issued my metapost on physical configurations beyond the office door, here let me zero in on the individual offices of lawyers in corporations (See my post of Sept. 30, 2009: physical components of legal departments other than offices.).

Desks are the dominant furniture in offices (See my post of Nov. 17, 2008: piles on desks and procrastination; and Nov. 8, 2005: mobile desks at SEI.). Next are the chairs at the desks (See my post of Sept. 17, 2009: ergonomic chairs; July 29, 2007: to speed up meetings, do away with chairs; Feb. 7, 2008: infrastructure includes chairs; and Nov. 23, 2008: thermogenesis on a treadmill.). Desks often and offices always have lights (See my post of Dec. 26, 2007: lights and energy-saving; Aug. 4, 2008: better lights for older eyes; and Sept. 22, 2009: dimmers and other light savers.).

On the desks are desktops or laptops in docking stations, each with one or more monitors (See my post of Jan. 18, 2008: multiple monitors; April 27, 2008: flat panels and energy; Aug. 4, 2008: magnify screens; Nov. 9, 2008: double monitors; Aug. 3, 2009: multiple monitors; and Aug. 4, 2009: how and why to add another monitor for your desk.).

One hopes that all these pieces preserve the bodies of their users with physically sensible positions, the purview of ergonomics (See my post of April 23, 2006: ergonomics, including keyboard ergonomics.).

Less common items of offices are headphones (Jan. 18, 2008: headphones.) and artwork (See my post of Dec. 17, 2005: comments on paintings.). The afterthought of office furniture, what might as well be regarded as infrastructure, are piles (See my post of Feb. 2, 2008: piles everywhere.).