On the legal team of Carillion, an $8 billion British infrastructure, building and business services company, many of its lawyers who advise business units sit physically with the unit. According to Richard Tapp, group company secretary and general counsel, in an interview in Law Dept. Quarterly, Vol. 2, Sept. /Nov. 2006 at 39, co-location best balances various considerations (See my posts of Feb. 5, 2006 and Feb. 12, 2006 about proximity of lawyers on the same floor of a law department; and July 31, 2005 about general counsel who have their offices near their lawyers.).
Put simply, it is good for the lawyers to have offices near each other, but it joins them closer to their clients if they are in proximity to them (See my posts of June 7, 2006 on dueling best practices about contiguous lawyers; May 1, 2005 about the percentage of lawyers at “headquarters” and legal spend; and Nov. 25, 2005 on the locations of corporate counsel.).