The business of Brobeck, Phleger and Harrison is law. But as its client list became more heavily weighted toward high-tech companies and dot.coms located in North City, the firm decided to take the plunge — relocate from Downtown San Diego to Carmel Valley, and reflect its futuristic orientation in its office design.

The final product is a blend of traditional law-office layout with both high-tech "bones" and high-tech gloss.

To accomplish this, Brobeck's three-floor building at 12390 El Camino Real is fully wired for phone, computer, modem, cable, Internet and intranet. Tables in its 10 conference rooms have built-in laptop portals and many include video conferencing equipment. Many of the 110 private offices include both PCs and laptop docking stations. Because attorneys do so much of their legal research online, the firm's research library is only about one-quarter of its previous size downtown.

In addition to its in-the-walls infrastructure, Brobeck also uses its decor to signal its high-tech slant. The entry, for example, includes the off-plumb walls and swirled steel surfaces which have become almost clichés in modernistic interiors. But the firm goes a step further by showcasing its computer server room behind retail-style windows in full view of visitors. For added glitz, a high-intensity projector flashes the Brobeck logo off the floor, walls and ceiling, and a flat-screen monitor suspended above the reception desk continuously airs the firm's futuristic video.

"With high-tech clients, it’s important they know that we are not in the dark ages," says Nancy C. Davis, the firm's senior marketing manager. "Because we are up to speed with our own technology, when clients bring in their laptops and other equipment, it all works better."

Brobeck employs three technology pros to keep the system in shape, Davis says.

— Joanne Gribble