Who is Charlotte McNeill? Only a non-lawyer (“Secretarial Supervisor” because they probably had to promote her from secretary at some point) that managed to spend 50 years at Chadbourne. Fifty years! I can’t figure out a way to spend 50 days at any firm without going nuts! Anyway, you can view “The Soul of Chadbourne” video on the site. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Law Firms have souls? Apparently so. Watch the video. If Charlotte had come along just a little later, she would most likely have been promoted from secretary to CMO at a New York firm. Sorry, Char. What does this have to do with the site review? Very little. The site is pretty much the same as last time around. Sharp design. Decent content. Some nice features—still a big fan of the “inquiries” set-up. A well-balanced approach. And obviously, a good place to hang your hat.
As I hit the back nine of writing the 250 reviews, the Choate site woke me from my semi-coma with an especially good presence among the smaller of the large. I particularly liked the Choate Alumni section—one of the few where I could get a look at what they do with and for their alums. I really liked the “check out Choate” chart—which should get some better play. I almost missed it. Mixing design with solid content, and not doing too much, makes it a winning effort.
This review is taking place in mid-March, and believe it or not, DBH is one of the few firms to have its “2005 Year in Review” complete and available in both an online and PDF version. The site continues to offer up the content you would expect in a fashionable format. At the time of the review, the home page offered up little video vignettes on a women’s initiative and the firm’s diversity program. These audio/video clips produced by Legal Insight add a nice touch. Everything is up to date, and I particularly like the events format. The “hot off the press” remains hot. “Ask ERL” is still being asked all sorts of things. I like the use of photos tied to practice areas on the home page, but would like to see a little bit of descriptive data there. Good dedication to pro bono as well.
Being a gambling man myself, I enjoyed the gaminglawyers.net web site. I live less than an hour from AC and hit Vegas at least once a year. By reviewing this site, maybe I can write off a junket as “research.” Dykema continues to use the web well. I like seeing employment law’s significant use of webinars. The overall depth of content is well above-average. I’m not in love with the home page, but it is still far better than many. I’d actually like it to have a little slicker look. As they say in Vegas, everyone’s a winner!
I’m still likin’ the Fulbright site. The home page still needs a little tweaking to be great. I love the banner ads and graphics. Not in love with the scrolling headline. The personalization feature, Fulbright InSite, is clever and useful. However, I’ve found that few take the time to fill everything out to utilize this functionality. I’m still a big fan of the litigation trends survey they produce. It is rare that I see a firm’s marketing effort—online, offline, etc.—show a strong balance and consistency like they do there in Texas.
It was a nice change of pace to see the bright red colors of the new Hodgson site, touting “Our clients take center stage.” For those that love the heavy-news law firm sites, this is for you. A few interesting things to look at—like the inclusion of bios for basically everyone in the firm. Did you know the mail room guy has a B.A. from Harvard? Just kidding—not everyone gets a bio, but most professionals at the firm have them—including nice PDF printout options. The office pages offer articles and events that are relevant to that location, which is a nice touch few offer. I was a little disappointed in what was called a “media guide”, but that does not take away from the firm’s long-standing commitment to excellence on the web. The two areas I mentioned that needed strengthening two years ago (attorney directory and office pages) are now strengths.
The Holland & Knight site follows today’s trend of scaling back on too many bells, and keeping the focus on the data. There are no graphics on the home page. No stupid globe. No stupider catch-phrase. Simple and useful? Go figure. I particularly liked seeing the quantity/number of bios, articles, etc. tied to a particular practice. What I did not like was having all of those items listed on a long, scrolling page. I also liked the short and expanded bio selections, with good hot-links to authored articles.
I had read about the firm’s great success with blogs, so that first thing I did was give the six blogs the IMA blog test—two passed; four failed. By failed, it means the last entry was around a month old. The two that passed did so with flying colors. The main site itself has improved considerably. I would hope so. Blogs should only come after you have your main house in order. Sort of like having a sweet guest house and living in a shack. SM did get its house in order first. Very detailed practice pages. Good contact us form. Lots of ability to contact them, actually. The home page is clean and simple. Yes, the blogs do enhance the overall online effort. And I’m glad to see the vast improvements.
The difference between the Simpson Thacher site and some of the other decent NY firm sites is that they consistently manage to find the balance between quiet dignity and providing strong, substantive content. This site has been doing it well for quite some time. It only takes a quick look at the home page “spotlight news” to see that STB is still the crème de la crème in the corporate law empire. Good recruiting section, extranets. Easy to navigate and search. The site fits the firm like a glove.
Still not in love with the dark home page. “Stroock, I am your father.” That is my Darth Vader impression. It does not work as well on a web page. Yet, while the site sometimes feels a little too contrived (think Ad Agency), there is something about it that makes it stand out. Even the cutesy “our view” beats the typical “firm overview”. And for me to sit through the Interviewing 101 cartoon (which made me laugh…in a good way) says a lot. Still one of the most creative recruiting sections out there. I appreciated dividing publications into “firm” and “outside”. I also appreciated the directions page featuring subway info. Still a demerit for the skimpy associate bios. The more pages I visited, the more I appreciated the effort to show a little style and panache. Make no mistake, it is a Wall Street firm and you’ll bust your butt if you work there, and pay pretty well if you are a client. But, this is about marketing. I’d like to see a little more Stroock out there and a little less “same-old” from other NY firms.
