The future arrived at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Washington office two years ago.

The firm, one of the first to join a postrecession wave of D.C. law office renovations, gave lawyers the option of treadmill desks and clear glass walls for their offices. Freshfields also chose double-paned blue-glass instead of drywall to separate conference rooms and a two-attorney set-up in some associate offices—both rarities in D.C.