Katten Chairman Gil Soffer and Chief Administrative Officer Daphne Pendleton spoke with Chicago Lawyer about the firm's newly renovated Chicago office at 525 W. Monroe Street, where Katten has been a tenant since the building opened in 1983. Rather than relocate, the firm chose to stay and, working with architectural firm Gensler, reimagined its space to feel like a fresh move without an address change. “This location is our home,” said Daphne.
The redesign's signature features are two new private rooftop terraces on the building's 22nd floor, a rarity among Chicago law firms, alongside a new conference center, café and outdoor gardens landscaped to attract monarch butterflies and bumblebees. The 22nd floor now anchors the firm's main reception area and includes a large, dividable multipurpose room and smaller, more casual conference rooms. The attorney floors below retained their varied office layouts and gained new collaborative spaces and beverage stations. Near the main lobby on the ground level, a former bank space was transformed into the Lounge, a Katten-exclusive café and bar that turns into a speakeasy at happy hour and doubles as a private spot for client meetings.
“We’re in a growing phase,” said Gil, who noted that the firm recently launched a five-year strategic plan. The redesign reduced Katten's overall footprint in the building while creating new workspaces primed for growth and talent attraction, particularly driven by its expanding finance-related practices.
The renovations are a visual representation of the firm’s uniqueness and pay homage to both its present and future state. "Katten is the place to be," Pendleton said.
“ Transforming the Workplace,” Chicago Lawyer, August 21, 2026.