Ironically, this site review came right after the new super-duper Bullivant site. Which made me wonder what is in the tap water in the great Pacific Northwest? They do web sites right. Lots of strengths—newsletters, events, the attorney listings, transactions, searching. The home page is set out just right as well. This site has maintained a high level of excellence for a few years now. Not an easy task.
The least impressive component of the whole site is a bland home page that fails to appropriately hint at the enormous breadth, depth and usefulness that is hiding once you drill down. The dedication of resources, time and energy into the web here continues to impress. MBR is still building great mini-sites that range from a well-organized careers site to office-specific and practice-specific sites. The main site has excellent layout, navigation and searching, along with the ability to customize the site for your own personal interests. Banner ads highlight firm news and events throughout. A real treat for those that think all large law firm web sites are boring and the same old, same old. Okay, so we’re taught that it is what’s on the inside that counts. Right! Our superficial beings rarely make it past the first date appearance, I mean home page, so let people know what awaits them inside. Last year I said to better promote the mini-sites inside; now, you need to jack it up from page one. WILL ALWAYS LOVE…the combination of an organized big firm presence with the flexibility and ability to let some do their own thing as well.
Orrick’s site is “O”utstanding. It is a wonderful compliment to the tons of firm brand advertising that seems to hit me on a daily basis. The home page is one of the best in the business—the colors and brand are consistent with other marketing efforts, the changing content is fresh and active, the firm description on the front page is one of the best I’ve seen. One of the best compliments IMA can give is to say that I had trouble finding something to whine about here. The rotating design elements on the home page and the clever & crafty use of images are winners.
Some excellent online forms stood out, along with a lot of good upcoming events. A slightly different touch to the practice pages (through “client services”), giving it the mini-web site feel for each group that many strive for. There are a bunch of those little touches that give it that extra oomph. Shortcomings from the previous site were addressed. To quote C. Montgomery Burns: “Excellent.”
My first thought was “it is hard to find fault with this site” and then I read that I wrote that about fr.com last year. No drop off here. It is loaded with current data that leaves you with no doubt that they are “players”. Don’t be player-hatin’. Take a look at how to maximize the work and the clients and take a lesson. I even still love the flash recruiting site. But, mostly, I love the depth and freshness. They even have a literary agent. How about publishing “IMA: The Book”?
It is hard not to wax nostalgic when visiting this site for the final time for the IMA reviews. Last year, I remarked that someone might have gotten a little lazy in updating. That has been corrected. The design probably needs a makeover, more so because everyone else is doing it (and yes, I probably would jump off the bridge if everyone else was doing it too). They’ve been doing the web right since the beginning of Internet time (or about 1996 or so). They set the standard for what many firms do online today. WILL ALWAYS LOVE…Thomas Spahn’s legal ethics opinion database (not to mention the attorney himself, who is always very generous in sharing materials and ideas with colleagues)…picture-perfect e-mail newsletters that come out when there is something important to say and always a few days ahead of the competition.
Wow…150 years old. Congrats on the big anniversary. If a web site visitor is interested, you can click and view a video. Another site that continues to improve every year. It is well-organized, content-rich, and kept up to date. One of the best efforts among the global firms. Many others could tear a page out of this one and take a lesson. Somebody is paying attention.
Except for the Darth Vader colored “darkness” of the home page and some interior pages (that made things tough to see), the Gardere site is greatly improved. The nice white background inside pages is much more user-friendly. I missed some of the navigation components the first time through. As suggested last year, the radio briefs are getting better play. While there is a dependence on Adobe Acrobat for documents, the site structure makes things easy to find, read and print. The bios, with a short narrative followed by a full option are good. The site is smart and informative. If the home page could talk, s/he would say that adding a two sentence firm overview to a lightened background would complete me. Check out the “trusts and estates” practice page for what I’m told is an example of the “deep practice area” pages that the firm is implementing.
In the third year of the IMAs, there are firms that have never learned what to do, those that keep rebuilding from scratch, those that are trying to play catch-up, and firms like Jackson Lewis—that always knew what to do online, and simply sharpen up the web site as time goes by. As I’ve stated in other reviews, national employment firms need sites that are designed for a slightly different end-user audience than the typical “big firm”. The home page is more effective (as I had requested last year). Updating has never been an issue here. Unlike some of the sites I looked at on this day (such as Vorys) that are overcrowded messes, this is a lean, mean marketing machine.
Alright! KD is another firm with a new and improved web site.
Third time’s the charm for KD online. The colors and design are soft and conservative. Yet, it is a good example of NY-based firms slowly coming around and figuring out how the web can best work for them. While nothing is super-original (it is a tough thing to do now), everything is structured and organized very well. This site is useful. What a concept! I especially liked the “resource center” and the way I could search for things. See and register for events. Check. See all the credentials for each attorney and each practice? Check. Well done.
