Most law firms look the same. Dark blue or dark green. A serif or a sans-serif that suggests authority without saying anything. A strapline about expertise, commitment or client focus. Visit ten law firm websites and you could swap the names without anyone noticing.
That is not a branding problem. It is a strategy problem. And it is why choosing the right branding agency matters more than most managing partners realise.
Here is what to look for.
Five things to look for
01 / They start with strategy, not design
The best agencies push back on “make us look better” briefs. Positioning comes first. Identity comes from it.
02 / They can show you results, not just work
Beautiful portfolios are common. Agencies that tell you what happened to the firms they rebranded are rare.
03 / They understand professional services
Law is not retail. An agency without a track record in professional services will miss what actually matters.
04 / They are honest about what they do not do
Brand is not a substitute for a new business pipeline. The best agencies know where their work ends.
05 / They make the decision easy to defend internally
Rebranding at partner level needs strategic rationale, not just creative options. The right agency gives partners something they can take to the board.
They start with strategy, not design
The most common mistake law firms make is briefing an agency to make them look better. The right agency will push back on that. Looking better is not the objective. The objective is to change the way people see the firm, attract the right clients and give people inside the business something to believe in.
That requires strategy before identity. Before any design work begins, a good agency will want to understand what genuinely makes the firm different, not what partners wish was true, but what clients and staff already know to be true. The identity comes from that. Not the other way around.
They can show you results, not just work
Beautiful portfolios are common. Agencies that can tell you what happened to the firms they worked with are rare.
When Kennedys briefed us in 2004, their turnover was £40m. Today it is £428m. The brand we created is still substantially in place 21 years later. When Hunters rebranded in 2024, turnover increased 33% in the first year. Website enquiries rose 224%. Capsticks, which we first rebranded in 2007, has seen turnover grow 279% over the following years.
Those results do not happen because the logo was well-designed. They happen because the strategy was right, the identity expressed it clearly, and the firm had something compelling to say to clients and to recruits.
Ask any agency you are considering: what happened to the firms you rebranded? If they show you awards, ask what the client’s growth looked like. If they cannot answer, keep looking.
They understand professional services
Law is not retail. The buying decision is different, the relationship is different, and the thing you are selling is fundamentally intangible. Trust, judgement, expertise. None of those things can be demonstrated with a logo. They have to be communicated through every touchpoint, every piece of writing, every conversation.
An agency that has only worked with consumer brands will not understand this. They will give you something that looks impressive in a presentation and falls apart in a pitch document.
Look for an agency with a track record in professional services specifically. Not just one or two projects, but a body of work that shows they understand how these firms operate, how decisions are made and what senior partners are actually worried about.
They are honest about what they do not do
A branding agency is not a marketing agency, a PR firm or a growth consultancy. The best ones know exactly where their work ends and will tell you clearly. Brand strategy and identity are the foundation. What you build on top of that is separate.
An agency that promises to fix your new business pipeline through branding alone is overselling. The brand creates the conditions for growth. It does not replace the work of winning clients.
They make the decision easy to defend internally
Getting a rebrand approved at partner level is rarely straightforward. Senior partners who have been with the firm for twenty years do not always welcome change. A good agency understands this and works with it.
The best branding process gives the partnership the confidence to make a decision and defend it. That means clear strategic rationale, not just creative options. It means evidence, not just aesthetics. And it means a final result that partners feel proud of, not just something the marketing team likes.
As Nick Thomas, former Senior Partner at Kennedys, put it: the brand is not some fluffy thing. It is a hard-edged business decision about the kind of firm you want to be, the kind of clients you want and why they should choose you rather than anyone else.
That is the right way to think about it. Find an agency that thinks about it the same way.
