For the static list update problem, given an ordered list $ρ_0$ (an ordering of the list $L$ = \{ $a_a, a_2, ..., a_l$ \}), and a sequence $σ= (σ_1, σ_2, ..., σ_m)$ of requests for items in $L$, we characterize the list reorganizations in an optimal offline solution in terms of an initial permutation of the list followed by a sequence of $m$ {\em element transfers}, where an element transfer is a type of list reorganization where only the requested item can be moved. Then we make use of this characterization to design an $O(l^{2} (l-1)!m)$ time optimal offline algorithm.