Your website should tell your firm’s unique story.
On the surface, all ten litigation firms below seemed relatively similar—dynamic firms full of tough, strategic litigators and trial lawyers. But each was much more than that. Each firm’s brand needed to showcase its unique approach and differentiation.
More than just a logo, a brand is the promise a firm makes to the marketplace. It’s the whole package, i.e. the strategy, theme, layout, graphics, headlines, tagline, etc.
Looking at their original websites and marketing, the firms looked superficially interchangeable. But after analyzing each firm carefully, it became clear that they were quite different.
Every law firm has a unique story that deserves to be told. The style, tone, and visuals should be true to who they are, their history, culture, and personality — and also that of their target audience(s).
Here are their stories:
1. Figliulo & Silverman
Jim Figliulo is often described as “the smartest guy in the room.” His strategy in winning seemingly un-winnable cases is to find the one positive, dispositive fact, document, or element, and mercilessly hammer that point to the jury.
In our interviews, it sounded like he had an “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit” philosophy. Gentleman Jim’s genius is finding and boldly advocating that elusive issue, that “Winning Truth.” Pete Silverman works similarly, but in practice he’s also a friendly bully, happily hammering away until the other side gives in. These philosophies pervade the entire firm’s approach.
The branding message is “Every Case Has A Winning Truth.”
Text: “It may be hidden by complications, difficulties, or seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but there is always a truthful position that would allow you to succeed. We must find that truth, have the strength and wisdom to advocate it, and thereby craft a just and genuine victory.”
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We designed the website around two architectural metaphors, the Arch and the Keystone. Each represents a single, seemingly simple idea that enables a larger, more complex construction:
“While the arch is one of the simplest architectural ideas, it enabled ancient architects to build soaring cathedrals and the monumental Coliseum. The same can be said of litigation, where the simplest idea can often be the most powerful.”
(See the full marketing campaign here.) Here’s the website design, before and after the overhaul:
2. Howard Law Group
Bill Howard is the hard-ass trial lawyer; Jean Howard is the strategist and writer, and a skilled trial lawyer in her own right. Bill’s lifetime record in big-case jury trials is 300-4. That’s three hundred wins against just four losses. A 98% win rate. He hasn’t lost a jury trial in more than ten years. Astonishing.
Fishman Marketing’s First Rule: “If you have the facts, USE THEM.”
So we did―we led with Bill’s aggressive trial skills and 300-4 win-loss record. Clients come to them when they can’t afford to lose, and the tagline reinforces the nature of their work: “When Everything Is On The Line.”
“The Howard Law Group takes on the toughest, most sophisticated cases … and we win. In fact, we haven’t lost a big trial in over a decade.”
Bill’s a physically intimidating guy – strong, burly, with a fierce gaze and shaved head. Their previous mass-market website failed to capture the firm’s swagger or success. So we tightened up the message, leveraging the “How” in “Howard” for added memorability, and made them look as tough as they actually are. The home page leverages our gritty fashion photography, supported by three scrolling video case studies detailing their recent wins (“How do you solve a problem like Urea?”).
Consider how different this website looks than the Figliulo & Silverman site. Because in truth, although they’re both highly skilled firms, they’re also quite different. (More about them here and here.)
3. Borkan & Scahill
Steve Borkan is the charming, chatty trial lawyer, a glib, gregarious former actor and nationally ranked trampolinist. Tim Scahill is a skilled trial lawyer and the firm’s brilliant strategist and writer. They handle large, politically sensitive insurance-oriented cases, often on behalf of municipalities, police departments, and other agencies.
For their understated target audience of local governments, we wanted something that conveyed the firm’s powerful trial skills, without appearing too cute or clever. We designed the website using actual TV courtroom sketch artists who drew some of their biggest trials. We captured the sophistication of their work by the functionality of the website―a laterally scrolling layout with 3D parallax movement. The lawyers seem to glide into the background sketches. (See the full marketing initiative here.)
4. Patton & Ryan
John Patton’s insurance-defense specialty is parachuting into multi-million dollar cases at the eleventh hour, to support existing counsel or simply first-chair the trial if they don’t have the skill set. Jim starts at least one high-profile, 7-to-9-figure trial every single month, nationwide.
They wanted a simple but sophisticated WordPress site that reminded the insurance company lawyers that they handle cases all across the US. To convey that message, we illustrated the home page with a variety of the uniquely beautiful, far-flung, small-town courthouses where they’ve tried major cases. The headlines overlaying those courthouses make the point: “Welcome to the Headquarters of Patton & Ryan.”
5. Schlapprizzi Catholic Injury Lawyers
The Schlapprizzi Law Firm is one of the St Louis area’s leading personal injury and medical malpractice firms. Don Schlapprizzi had a strong local reputation, and his two skilled children had joined the firm. Personal injury is so competitive and costly to market, we recommended marketing smaller, less-competitive practices or targets, where they could build market leadership.
Meeting them, it was clear that they were a close-knit, devoutly religious Christian family.
In addition to continuing to seek lawyer referrals, we saw an opportunity for them to target a narrow audience with which they had similar values. We wanted them to become the go-to injury and medical malpractice firm for the region’s Catholic community.
For this audience, a “tough” message wouldn’t resonate; we wanted to be skilled but understanding.
We sought to connect personally with this community. We left their existing general website untouched and designed an inexpensive WordPress micro-site targeting this audience (catholicinjurylaw.com), with five rotating religiously inspired legal headlines. Supplementing the primary print ad campaign in the archdiocese newspapers are inexpensive inch-high strip ads that phonetically pronounce the complicated firm name. (See the full marketing campaign here.)
Click here to read the second part, detailing litigation firms #6-10:
fishmanmarketing.com/branding-litigation-firms-10-law-firm-case-studies-part-2/
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Considering refreshing your brand or website?
Need an entertaining keynote, marketing, or CLE speaker? Contact Ross Fishman ASAP at ross@fishmanmarketing.com or +1.847.921.7677.
