denotes premium content | Nov 23 2008 News
posted 4 Jun 2008
Allen & Overy wins ‘best website’ award
MAGIC-CIRCLE law firm Allen & Overy (A&O) has the most effective website among UK law firms, according to Intendance Research, which produces an annual benchmarking report on the subject.
The Intendance Awards are based on the report, and they assess the websites of the 50 leading British law firms against four criteria – content, design, usability and marketing.
A&O came top in terms of ‘design’, as well as winning overall. The judges praised the site’s use of font and colour as a counterpoint to dense pages of text.
Mischon de Reya won in the ‘usability’ category, and Nabarro triumphed in terms of ‘marketing’ for the way in which the firm’s new branding was consistently communicated throughout the site. Freeth Cartwright came top for its content, including the use of blogs in client-service delivery.
Withers won the ‘most improved’ award, moving from the bottom five last year to 13th in the 2008 analysis. Addleshaw Goddard also received a special mention for its two microsites – in graduate recruitment and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The five lowest-ranking firms in the table were Shoosmiths, Macfarlanes, Howard Kennedy, TLT Solicitors and Fladgate Fielder – the latter coming at the bottom. Marketing and design were the particularly poor factors, according to Intendance.
James Turke, head of research at Intendance, said there had been a shift “in emphasis of a dynamic, progressive website from ‘one-to-many’ to ‘one-to-one’”.
“The ability to speak directly to a client, a potential recruit, or any other stakeholder, is the holy grail of any commercial website,” he added.
