| Firm Name |
Design |
Content |
Usability |
Interactivity |
Intangibles |
Total |
| Howrey |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
19 |
| This is one of those sites that are OK, but nothing stands out as extraordinary. I’m still not a big fan of the layout and design. Usability elements like navigation and search results could be better (plus, add a site map). And remember that “contact us” needs to go beyond an online form. Give more options for contacting.
|
| Locke Liddell |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
19 |
| The design and layout bothered me a little bit more this year. I still hate having a second browser open up at inopportune times. There are some unique publications, and I liked seeing a brief description of what they are. However, there were a bunch of areas sadly out of date. If a practice is not going to update a publication for, say, five years—drop it. Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you…IP Bulletin. A step back.
|
| Nixon Peabody |
3 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
19 |
| When your top “firm news” item is two attorneys being named “Super Lawyers” (and the date of the news item is around six months after the listings came out), you’ve gotten off on the wrong foot for your review. Now I’m annoyed. My feeling is the same as the last time I visited the site—standard fare—and the feeling that they are a few steps behind everyone else in doing the marketing thing. Especially among the 50 largest firms.
|
| Steptoe & Johnson |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
19 |
| The best Steptoe & Johnson web site on the 250 list—by a single scoring point. This is the PLLC in West Virginia, not the LLC in DC. Of course, I hated on the other firm’s site, so that is not necessarily a compliment. I don’t know about your browsers, but the “disclaimer” on this site was totally unreadable. The content is manageable but nothing above average. And the firm wins second place in my “most irrelevant news item” award. First place was the firm that did a press release for an attorney getting an AV rating. This was pretty bad…a paralegal completing her Certified Legal Assistant exam…as news. Only in West Virginia, baby. Stop the presses at the Clarksburg Gazette!
|
| Adams and Reese |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
18 |
| The home page underwhelms me with yet another benign law firm intro sentence. “Adams and Reese is a full-service law firm with three hundred attorneys representing clients around the world in a wide range of practice areas.” Here is what I basically learned…you have 300 attorneys. And “full service” is good, since I need you for a workers’ comp claim, to do my living will, and advise on a billion dollar M&A possibility—if you can not or will not do all three—you are not really full service. If you do, my apologies. I did like the search results format. Still needs improvement in content and structure. Few improvements since the last review go-round.
|
| Alston & Bird |
2 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
18 |
| There are very few large firm sites left that have a navigation which leaves me frustrated. This is one. To put it simply, it is not user friendly. And the difficulty in surfing means that a lot of your page view numbers are more the result of trying to find something than a great interest. There is more content than meets the eye. If this sounds like the old review, the complaints remain the same. There is a web mental block at A&B that someone needs to get past. A highlight…the outstanding privacy library. |
| Dechert |
3 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
18 |
| If the Dechert web site was as swanky as the new Philly digs at Cira Centre, you would be in for a treat. Take my advice, visit the office instead. You can wave while training through at 30th Street Station. I used to say it was one of the better Philly firm-based sites (which was not necessarily a compliment), but no longer. They’ve never gotten it right. For some reason, the firm’s marketing vision has never matched the enormously successful growth. Look, we read about great Dechert lawyers and cases all the time…so maybe the budget gets blown on PR. And why…why…is there still no search functionality? Is there some crazed partner putting the kibosh on this essential component?
|
| Gibbons Del Deo |
2 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
18 |
| When I clicked on something called “redevelopment web site”, I was thinking they were going to show me a new site. Instead, it was an interesting sister site dedicated to redevelopment—which, for some reason, reminded me of the Sopranos. How many jobs will be needed – work, no work, no show – or something like that. The main site is still a bit of an eyesore and very dated. Another “old school” appearance.
|
| Holme Roberts |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
18 |
| Starting with a splash page did not endear me to the site. And the message about listening to clients and such was not one of the sharper ad campaigns you’ll see. Maybe that stuff plays better in Colorado than in the mean Northeast where reviews are written. The first news headline on this day highlights the firm’s new promise for service—which would lead people to assume the previous service was poor. Is that the message? I didn’t think so. Now that you folks at HRO are done cursing me out, I will say that the overall main home page is structured in a smart manner—with the combo of headlines, law alerts and an attorney spotlight. The descriptive sentence at the top of the page is also right-on. Inside, the “events” section was empty (better to archive recent than have none). The interior still needs some work. And the pop-up bios are not effective.
|
| Lewis Rice |
5 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
18 |
| Not much new to report here except that I still think of the earlier LR sites and remember how awful they were. But that was another time. The site is still in overview mode. Little reason to visit except for very basic information. I’d still like to see the firm’s biz dev presence grow. Do something edgy. I dare ya.
|
