All I really knew was that I had found the perfect place on the perfect wave, and I had remained there endlessly. Forever.
Allan Weisbecker, from In Search of Captain Zero: A Surfer’s Road Trip Beyond the End of the Road.
Picture the scene. A law firm has just appointed a PR agency. The latter’s brief is to spread the word and assist in the redesign of the firm’s logo. Here is some advice on the images not to use.
1. Skateboards.

Even if the senior partner is an ex-skater au fait with all things Dogtown, skateboards are not law firm friendly. Resist at all costs. (Image courtesy of when i was a bird on Flickr.)
2. Gavels.
These seem like a safe bet but convey authoritariansim and a lack of imagination. Acceptable if the only alternative is a skateboard.
3. Nude or Semi-Dressed Women.
There is a time and place for such imagery. But it’s never, ever on a law firm’s website.
4. Law Books.
Intimidating to the vast majority of people, even lawyers. Avoid. (With thanks to Mike Rogers 303.)
5. Nude or Semi-Dressed Men.
There is a time and a place for such imagery. But if your PR suggests it’s on your website, sever the retainer immediately.
6. The Scales of Justice.
Cliched. If this was the best you could come up with, your legal problem solving skills are likely to be limited.
7. Guns.
Even if you specialize in firearms law, guns aren’t a good idea.
8. Courtroom Steps.
Cf. Boring, hackneyed, indicative of a lack of flair.
9. Ocean-going Yachts.
Do you want to alienate potential clients by ostentatiously displaying the world to which you have access? No? Then scupper the yacht.
10. Rockets.

Per ardua ad astra? Perhaps. But actions speak louder than images. If you’re tempted to use an image of a rocket on your law firm’s website, the chances are that you need more than merely PR advice. (Image courtesy of Adrian Florea.)
In this article, Gavin Ingham Brooke and Rohit Grover of Spada examine the importance of marketing and PR in a downturn. This article was originally published in Solicitors Journal, Practice Management Supplement, 28 April 2009, and has been reproduced by kind permission.
Environmental Reporting: Trends in FTSE 100 Sustainability Reports
In the latest of our series of white papers, Spada Research examines trends in environmental reporting. The white paper is available for download here.
Now available for download here is Spada’s latest white paper. Entitled ‘The Laity Bytes Back’, the paper looks at Web 2.0 and the professions.
In this paper, published in the International Journal of Business and Economics, David Brock, Tal Yaffe and Mark Dembovsky scrutinise large law firms, their strategies and measures of their effectiveness.
In this article, Gavin Ingham Brooke, MD of Spada, looks at how US law firms should approach hiring a UK PR agency. The piece is reproduced from Strategies – The Journal of Legal Marketing by kind permission of the Legal Marketing Association.
Towards 2012 – The New Legal Landscape
Spada’s white paper on the impact of the Legal Services act is now available to download here. The research recently featured on the front page of the Law Society Gazette.
Information Inflation: Can the Legal System Adapt?
George L. Paul, a partner in Lewis and Roca, LLP and Jason R. Baron, Director of Litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration, discuss the “new inflationary dynamic” of information in this article from the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology. How do vast quantities of new writing forms challenge the legal profession, and how should lawyers adapt?
To suggest material for inclusion in Knowledge Bank, please e-mail us at spada@spada.co.uk or call + 44 207 269 1430