MIAMI – While most law firms base their operations out of regal-looking buildings at a city’s heart, Miami-based firm AXS Law Group has taken a different approach. AXS’ new space, decorated with murals by Andrew Antonaccio, ROA and Johnny Robles, is located at 2121 N.W. 2nd Ave in the main artery of Miami’s Wynwood arts district.
Founding partner Jeremy Ben-David said in a statement that AXS’ office embodies the philosophy core to the firm’s approach to law: seasoned professionals working to bring outside-the-norm perspectives to the practice of law, sometimes irreverently but always effectively.
“Open, inviting and inspiring, the space exudes the fresh,” said Ben-David. “AXS attorneys work both in the office and on the 14,000-square-foot rooftop, which is being designed like the Highline in New York City with work and social seating, and which will also be the base for AXS entertaining its clients and the community.”
AXS prides itself on being unorthodox, and its move to Wynwood is merely a part of that image. The firm, which bills itself as a boutique law firm whose attorneys are not tethered to their desks, emphasizes this freewheeling attitude seen often as the Silicon Valley-styled energetic and modern approach to business. From its focus on enthusiasm and passion to its determination to get positive results without levying heavy hourly fees, AXS is as much about bucking trends as it is about the practice of law.
“In short, AXS has built a refreshed credible brand in an otherwise traditional and monotonous sector,” said Ben-David.
This attitude has heavily informed the new office in Wynwood. In fact, the office space for AXS also will serve as a public space for art as well as a place to seek legal counsel. And the portfolio of issues handled by AXS will make it an asset to the arts district.
“Our experience serving clients in the arts, hospitality, tech, real estate and financial sectors means that we are well poised to make a splash in the neighborhood,” AXS spokeswoman Katherine Niefeld told the Florida Record. “We help provide the structure and shape for creative endeavors to expand and flourish, including through AXS Venture Spaces, a physical space within our office where we house some of our venture staged clients.”
And more than their business gaining clients and embracing its irreverent philosophy, AXS gains something from Wynwood as well. The creativity of being in an arts district, said Niefeld, is one of the central things AXS hopes to harness from Wynwood. That same energy was cited by Ben-David as well.
“There is an energy that is unique to Wynwood and we believe that we are unique and forward-thinking in our own right,” said Niefeld. “A lot of law firms feel the need to be in a certain zip code, dress in a certain way and convey a certain image to their clients. That was never our primary goal, although so far our clients have loved the location and the office.”
To that end, moving to an arts district may not fit with a trend toward more compact spaces and a long history of landmark buildings that is the standard of firm design, but bucking trends in the industry is one of the things AXS does proudly. Although, according to Niefeld, bucking trends wasn’t the motivation for the decision.
“We just wanted to be in a location where we would be excited to come to work every day,” she said. “We are confident in what we do and what we can do for our clients – and Wynwood feeds that confidence and creativity.”