One law firm brands a winner

Many large firms have turned to branding as a way to identify themselves following merger-driven growth.

Today, the law firm of Bingham McCutchen has some 1,000 lawyers in 13 offices worldwide. But in 1995, the Boston-based predecessor firm Bingham, Dana & Gould was known as a traditional "white

In 1997, Bingham Dana implemented a growth strategy and, following several mergers and acquisitions, the firm had strong presences elsewhere on the East Coast by 2001. According to Bingham McCutchen's current chairman, Jay Zimmerman, some of the partners at the time realized the time had come to brand the firm.

"The firm had changed dramatically and we felt that the public perception and the reality of where we were [stood] too far apart," he said.

In 2002, the firm took an enormous step, merging with San Francisco-based McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen and its 10 offices, including ones in London and Singapore, creating a firm of 800 lawyers.

Growing ever larger, the firm decided to re-brand in 2006 - and the result was a first-place award from the Legal Marketing Association in 2007.

The new look for Bingham McCutchen features the color orange, bold sans serif type, and a tag line: "Legal insight. Business instinct."

"You need a brand to reflect the reality of who you are," Zimmerman said. "Our message is: We do what we do extremely well. And we have a sense of humor as we do it."

The firm created a series of ads in conjunction with the re-branding campaign. One of them - an ad showing a large bear holding a sleeping infant and bearing the message, "The best lawyers know how to balance aggression with delicate handling" - was proclaimed Law Firm Ad of the Year by the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.

The firm reports that since the re-branding campaign launched in May 2007, visitors to the firm's website have skyrocketed and young lateral attorneys are showing heightened interest in Bingham McCutchen.

Zimmerman predicts that the branding at Bingham McCutchen isn't over.

"It's a fast-moving, fast-changing world," he said. "I think that most organizations need periodic re-branding and I'm sure that we'll do it again someday."

Credit: Dick Dahl