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News

posted 19 Feb 2010

Shoosmiths creates consumer brand

UK LAW firm Shoosmiths has separated its consumer offering from the bulk of the firm’s business, with a new brand identity and website specifically marketing services such as conveyancing, employment law and wills.

‘Access Legal from Shoosmiths’ retains “the Shoosmiths blue”, the firm explains, but incorporates a new logo and website designed by its in-house creative team. “People see the sense in doing this because we’re making our service offering clearer with separate websites and brands for our different stakeholders,” said partner Judith Dorkins.

The firm carried out consumer research that revealed people wanted “modern service delivery” that would fit around their increasingly busy lifestyles, Dorkins explained. Such consumer work accounts for approximately 20 per cent of Shoosmiths’ annual turnover, carried out from four of the firm’s eight offices.

“Research also revealed that very few law firms were providing added value to clients in terms of staying in touch and providing relevant and timely information,” she added.

The sub-brand’s website will therefore also be complemented by a telephone helpline, with lawyers available seven days a week in a bid to retain business and consumer loyalty. The more than 100 consumer services on offer have also been grouped under seven headings for convenience, namely: conveyancing, employment law, legal disputes, medical negligence, motoring law, personal injury and wills, family & wealth.

The UK consumer legal market was “fragmented and without a legal brand”, Dorkins said, leaving it vulnerable to future new entrants from non-legal backgrounds under the Legal Services Act 2007.