It is getting awfully repetitive, but yet another clearly improved presence. KMZR has made sure to shift the site focus from design to data. Some elements were still a little sketchy. A good example of a site that provides the expected in a meaningful fashion.
As I surfed over to the site, my biggest question was “is that different, colorful design still going to be there?” People often will come up to me and say, “hey, I did not like what you said about my firm’s site” or “hey, I appreciated what you said about my firm’s site.” Most of the time, I can not remember the firm or the site, whether it was an IMA Platinum or at the bottom of the list. Generally, few are that memorable. Which leads me to my point (yes, I was not just rambling incoherently). I always remembered Lathrop Gage and the web site, because the design and colors and “feel” dared to be different. Now, it is time to redirect a tiny bit of that print ad money (yes, I keep seeing the print ads), keep components of the colors and graphics, but put the site into a system that makes the data easier to grab. And, at the same time, pump up areas like “practice area descriptions” to be a little bit more. You’ve gotten a nice life out of this site. Some firms have built and torn down three or four sites (and spent lots of time and money doing it) during the current lathropgage.com lifespan.
A home page click on the “career center” takes you there, but does not offer a route back to the regular law firm web site. This site has so many good features, but is just so poorly designed, costing you major points for design and usability. As I stated more than a year ago, having practice areas and bios under “quick search” is horrible. They are your major navigable sections! The links and events sections are above-average. The hardest part is supposed to be populating the site and keeping it updated. You’ve got that part down. Now, fix the design and navigation, and you’ve got a winner on your hands.
Growing up in Baltimore, we would chant “tonight, let it be Lowenstein”, talking about the flaky Orioles outfielder. Today, I chant, “Lowenstein, buy me a database-driven site to accompany all my other good marketing materials.” The site has given you all it has. Let the HTML go into the night. The frames, scrolling and lack of archiving take away from all the good things going on. The firm has done a great job using the web to promote other business development initiatives. On this review date, the Chambers USA rankings have just been released. The firm does a nice job incorporating graphics with the messages. I also enjoyed the Sky Radio program—another interesting marketing tool that I’ve seen some firms use quite effectively. A site re-do would only enhance everything else.
Straightforward and compactly organized. The home page is improved with recent firm headlines. Like any good L&E practice, the labor lawyers make sure to use the web as much as possible, in conjunction with newsletters and articles. Still needs some help in the world of interactivity, and some sections could be expanded upon.
Another site where the search results are very helpful, when looking for something specific. While nothing jumps out as great or horrible, I was a little disappointed that the home page headlines AGAIN (like last year) were stale. The depth of info for many of the practice areas were good.
For goodness sake, get yourself a “search” function. The site has grown from horrible (I’m talkin’, like, one of the worst) to very good in the last three years. I see my old law school classmate Mike Kichline is a partner. Good work pal. All the basics are in place. The “Newsroom” is well done. The usability needs to get jacked…so that people can peruse with greater ease. The site is pleasant and up to date. And it is still one of the better Philly sites.
It would be nice if under “what we’ve accomplished lately”, I saw some dates. Otherwise, I really do not know how timely the data really is. Especially if it comes up as part of another search on the site. It is tough to stand out among the “250” with so many exceptional labor law web sites. It does not reach the level of a Jackson Lewis, but they do have that great domain name.
The home page has most of what is expected. It does violate one of those IMA pet peeves in not providing any clue as to where the firm resides. That is where an explanatory sentence, or better yet, an address and phone can be of a little help. Overall, the site does the job. The “staff bios” page could offer up a search template, rather than the alphabetical listing.
Since the Philadelphia Eagles beat Green Bay (remember fourth & 26?), I have no reason to be bitter toward any firms in the land of cheese. Of course, those firms in Carolina better watch out. Eagles fans are a tough lot, and not too forgiving. Anyway, the site needs some help. The “what’s new” should be called “when was the last time someone updated what’s new”. The practice descriptions could be tighter, with better integration with the rest of the site. The left-side “labor news” is not even tied into the practice area labor news page. At the time of this review, IMA is waiting for his first kid to arrive. But, that is a different kind of labor. The design is fine here. The structure has a little crack in the foundation.
