Palo Alto will act as a hub for litigation work, the firm's Northern California managing partner Adam Sugarman said.

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani opened its 80th office in the United States this week with the establishment of its Palo Alto outpost, which the firm said will act as a hub to service technology and university clients in the region.

"We're in our 50th year as a firm, and we proudly started here in San Francisco, and so it's a natural question [to ask] why did it take 50 years to get to Silicon Valley when this was all happening right in our backyard," said Gordon Rees' Northern California managing partner Adam Sugarman.

Sugarman noted that Gordon Rees has been "working with Silicon Valley companies and universities for years and years," adding that "this is not an aspirational office, like we're headed to Silicon Valley to try to generate business. We have the work. ... This is more to provide a gateway, a physical place where they can interact with our platform, and work with their lawyers and manage cases."

The Palo Alto office will focus on "the core competencies of our firm," Sugarman said, including litigation, "and that means primarily in the areas of employment, commercial litigation, privacy litigation [and] cyber litigation." He stressed the goal was "not to come in and do deals in Silicon Valley. ... We do them and very successfully, but we're there to expand our core competencies."

The focus on tech clientele reflects Gordon Rees' ongoing push to redefine itself as a firm focused on advertising and artificial intelligence in addition to its strong bench of insurance work.

Gordon Rees has embraced a new approach to office space since weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, and that informed the design of the new digs in Palo Alto, Sugarman said. This includes hoteling for private offices that are reserved via an application. The firm does not have a strict in-office policy but hasn't seen that negatively impact attendance, Sugarman said.

"We went from having about 10 people coming into the San Francisco office throughout COVID to averaging well over 45 people per day," Sugarman said. He added that hoteling has "been a great success, people really enjoy it. ... When they're not confined to one space, the same space every day, they want to come in."

The firm will operate out of a temporary office in Palo Alto until the new space opens in April. The new office will be located on the third floor at 228 Hamilton Ave., adjacent to the University South district.

Gordon Rees' Palo Alto office will be slightly smaller, Sugarman said. "There is a space reduction, but the quality needs to be first class," he said. "We want it to be fairly amenity-driven, because we want people to come in and enjoy the space while they're there."

"We will be smaller at first, but we're really doubling down on the collaboration hub model," Sugarman said. "We just think it's the future for law firms."