The first screen, with "Request a consultation" beside "See our practice areas".
Morrow & Vale
A website for a law firm that advises businesses and families, with a page for each area of law, a profile for each lawyer and a set of legal briefings.
Morrow & Vale advises businesses and families on commercial and private law. The website had to say who handles each case and what it costs.
The challenge
By the time a client writes to a lawyer, something is already worrying them: a land title, a contract waiting to be signed, a dismissal or a family estate.
- 01Before they write, they want to know whether the firm takes on cases like theirs, who they would speak to and how the fee is agreed.
- 02The home page answers those questions in turn, and every area of law also has a page of its own.
Does the firm handle cases like mine?
Answered byThe practice areas section shows what each area covers and links through to its page.
Who will I speak to?
Answered byEach lawyer appears with their photograph, their title and the area they lead.
How is the fee agreed?
Answered byThe way of working comes before any work starts. Its steps are "You tell us what happened", "We agree the work and the fee" and "We act for you".
The strategy
The home page was planned in grey first, section by section, with the real words in place before a colour or a photograph was chosen.
- 01The headings on the plan are the headings that went live, word for word.
- 02The phone layout was drawn at the same time, beside the desktop.
- 03The finished page keeps the plan's order. The full-width photograph after the fee section became a moving strip of the practice areas.
These are the pages a client opens on the way to writing to the firm, in that order.
Scroll to move through the site
The Corporate and commercial page covers the work, lists where the firm helps and ends on "Buying, selling or setting up a company?"
"Our six lawyers, each leading an area." Each photograph opens a full profile.
"We agree the work, the fee and your partner first." The steps follow. The first is "You tell us what happened".
Daniel Morrow's note for founders, with its date, its area of law and its reading time.
The form asks "Which area is it?" after the name, email and telephone.
Art direction
Navy and parchment carry most of the pages. Tan marks the consultation button and the contact band, and pale blue sits behind the figures and the practice-area strip.
NavyParchmentTanPale blue
TypeThe headings are set in Source Serif, and everything else in Albert Sans.
The serif runs at a light weight with tight spacing. Labels such as "The firm" and "Practice areas" are Albert Sans capitals, widely spaced.
GroundsThe areas of law sit on navy, and the firm's own story on parchment.
Thin rules separate each item in the lists, with wide space around every heading.
PhotographyThe lawyers appear in portraits, and the practice areas in photographs of meetings.
A client sees Peter Mushi, Neema Vale and Asha Karim on the home page before they reach the form.
StructureEvery page follows the same structure.
The inner pages open on a heading over a photograph and close on a short band with a question, such as "Buying land or signing a lease?"
Brand identity
The navy and the serif appear again on the station posters, the brass plate, the practice binders and the advice letter.
Copywriting
Lines from the live site, and where each sits.
Clear legal advice for businesses and families.
Home, first screenThe heading of the first screen. The line under it names a land title, a contract, a dismissal and a family estate.
We agree the work, the fee and your partner first.
Home, our way of workingThe heading of the way-of-working section. The steps follow it, and the first is "You tell us what happened".
The lawyer who takes your first call is the lawyer who does the work.
Home, and the platform lightboxThe first sentence under that heading, and the line on the lightbox poster.
Build and testing
- 01The main menu reads About, Practice areas, People, Briefings and Contact, with the six areas listed under Practice areas.
- 02Each area of law ends on a short band that links to the contact page.
- 03On a phone, the sections stack in reading order and the menu folds into a button.
The briefings on a laptop and a phone, each with its photograph, its area of law and its date.
The result
A client finds their area of law, the partner who would lead it and how the fee is agreed, then requests a consultation from the same page. Across eighteen pages, nobody has to go back to the home page to find their way.
The same website would suit
- Law firms
- Accountants
- Financial advisers
- Private clinics
- Insurance brokers
- Mediators
- Immigration advisers
- Foundations and NGOs
Planning a website like this one?
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