Best and worst firm logos Forum

[Anonymous User]

In a similar vein as the best and worst firm websites, which firms do you think have the best/worst logos?

[Anonymous User]

In a similar vein as the best and worst firm websites, which firms do you think have the best/worst logos?

Cooley nails the "we're a law firm with tech company culture" vibe they try to cultivate. I wouldn't say it's good or bad, but it certainly accomplishes what it's supposed to.

Just now looking it up, I see that WSGR has followed suit. Not long ago they had a very traditional looking logo with serifs etc. Always thought it looked out of place for them.

PW's little fountain pen nib they sometimes use is adorably quaint, and you have to imagine it's not long for this world. Not sure if that's even part of their logo though, might just be some oddball affectation their web designer had.

I'm struggling to think of any that are straight up bad; their usual offense is that they're just boring and forgettable. Which isn't really such a bad thing for a law firm.

[daolivesea]

Always liked Goodwin's since it works well in the building facade as well. Purely on the online logo looking through Vault, Covington and GDC is clean whereas I'm not as big of a fan of Quinn's.

[Anonymous User]

Weil is worst because green

[Iowahawk]

This is a hobbyhorse of mine. I'm partial to Munger, Kramer Levin, and MWE. Williams & Connolly's and Freshfields's are simple but have well-chosen typefaces. Exaggerated serifs like Jones Day and Venable look strange and old-timey. Clifford Chance, Crowell, Debevoise, Pillsbury, and Perkins Coie's all look pretty outdated, aligned with earlier web design aesthetics. Nixon Peabody's looks like if Nickelodeon ran Wal-Mart. Nothing against Chinese script, but it looks goofy in a U.S. law firm logo (Dentons).

[Anonymous User]

Quin Emmanuel looks like one of the attorneys made it on photoshop on their first day. It's more what I would expect from a local office than from a top national firm. They could probably have a design student make them a better logo for $100.

[Anonymous User]

Cleary's is pretty sick

[Iowahawk]

Quin Emmanuel looks like one of the attorneys made it on photoshop on their first day. It's more what I would expect from a local office than from a top national firm. They could probably have a design student make them a better logo for $100.

It fits in with their ads in airports, though. Just the high-end version of local ambulance chasers.

[Anonymous User]

Quin Emmanuel looks like one of the attorneys made it on photoshop on their first day. It's more what I would expect from a local office than from a top national firm. They could probably have a design student make them a better logo for $100.

It fits in with their ads in airports, though. Just the high-end version of local ambulance chasers.

I don't even know if you're joking or not but airport ads make perfect sense for their logo. They do kinda give off vibes of high end ambulance chasers.

[Anonymous User]

In a similar vein as the best and worst firm websites, which firms do you think have the best/worst logos?

Cooley nails the "we're a law firm with tech company culture" vibe they try to cultivate. I wouldn't say it's good or bad, but it certainly accomplishes what it's supposed to.

Just now looking it up, I see that WSGR has followed suit. Not long ago they had a very traditional looking logo with serifs etc. Always thought it looked out of place for them.

PW's little fountain pen nib they sometimes use is adorably quaint, and you have to imagine it's not long for this world. Not sure if that's even part of their logo though, might just be some oddball affectation their web designer had.

I'm struggling to think of any that are straight up bad; their usual offense is that they're just boring and forgettable. Which isn't really such a bad thing for a law firm.

Trippy thing about the new WSGR logo is you can read the 1st half of the first row, then jump to the 1st half of the second row. Then, read the 2nd half of the first row and the 2nd half of the second row. As in below:

WIL / SON
SON / SINI

[Anonymous User]

Diamond McCarthy. Gross.

[Anonymous User]

Yea some of the smaller firms are bad, see Petrillo Klein & Boxer. My favorite is BSF or Wilmerhale.

[Anonymous User]

I feel like I can smell smoke fumes from the Jones Day logo. It's so....old.

[Anonymous User]

I'm partial to the classic Skadden logo (white letters in a red rectangle). They're like the Supreme of the legal world.

[Anonymous User]

I feel like I can smell smoke fumes from the Jones Day logo. It's so....old.

I kind of like the Jones Day logo. It's gotten so outdated that it has a classic quality. Sort of like the old American Airlines livery.

Wiley went from one bad logo to another. The old was dated, but not in a classy way. The new one looks like a frozen yogurt place or something.

I like Freshfields a lot, it's actually a logo!

[Anonymous User]

I mean S&C - literally logo facing out

[Anonymous User]

Worst: Weil, QE, Ropes, Gibson Dunn

Best: Goodwin, Cleary, K&S, H&K, Wilmerhale

[Anonymous User]

I mean S&C - literally logo facing out

I've seen this phrase before, but I am not sure what it means?

[Anonymous User]

Best: Skadden, Cleary, White & Case (best overall branding), Wilmer, OMM, Boies (Gunderson honorable mention)
Worst: Simpson Thacher, Quinn, Linklaters, Susman, Kramer Levin, Ballard (Sidley and Milbank dishonorable mentions as S and M are also lame)

[Anonymous User]

I really like Cooley's, Cleary's, and MoFo's (mostly bc they're called MoFo lol). WSGR's is hella hard to read with the //s and I think Paul Hastings' is also super ugly.

[Anonymous User]

Disagree with anon above. The Milbank logo after rebranding is super sleek
The ugliest is gotta be GDC with that planet/cosmos theme background

[louislittmbajdesq]

I really like Cooley's, Cleary's, and MoFo's (mostly bc they're called MoFo lol). WSGR's is hella hard to read with the //s and I think Paul Hastings' is also super ugly.

Personally not a fan of Cleary's. Reminds me of Saks Fifth Avenue. Trying to practice law, not buy overpriced clothes. Same kind of deal with Shearman Sterling.

I agree on Paul Hasting's though.

[Anonymous User]

I really like Cooley's, Cleary's, and MoFo's (mostly bc they're called MoFo lol). WSGR's is hella hard to read with the //s and I think Paul Hastings' is also super ugly.

WSGR logo poster above. In case I confused you, those /s aren't actually in the logo...

WILSON
SONSINI

[Anonymous User]

I applaud Cleary for trying to do something different, but it just doesn’t sit right with me

[Anonymous User]

I mean S&C - literally logo facing out

I've seen this phrase before, but I am not sure what it means?

Sweet summer child:

[+] Spoiler

Congratulations!

Based on your reaction to getting the offer, this is probably the best thing that could have ever happened to you. I encourage you to enjoy the summer and take accept their offer as nothing in the world will cure you of your prestige obsession quicker than some time at S&C.

During orientation, they'll give you an S&C shoulderbag and you'll wear it with the S&C logo facing outward so any other commuters in the know can see it and you'll just know that they're either impressed or envious. And that will make you happy and proud. And then you'll try to figure out the best way to ensure that you're sworn in as soon as possible after receiving your bar results because then you'll get the box full of business cards that say "Sullivan & Cromwell LLP" with your actual name underneath. You'll be giddy at the thought of casually passing one (mid-conversation) to some acquaintance from undergrad you've lost touch with.

You'll start working and you'll notice that there are an awful lot of "Farewell" emails and someone will tell you that the farewell emails can only contain 4 names at a time per firm policy because the partners decided sometime in 2004 that emails indicating 6 or 7 people were leaving the firm in a two week period might cause some unhelpful whispering. You'll talk to a midlevel associate who is super-psyched to work at S&C and you'll find out that he (not a lot of shes) lateralled from some firm that frankly you would never have considered working for (too TTT for you). When you get back to your office, this will trouble you a bit, you'll wonder if your own escutcheon is being blemished by the presence of this type of person (i.e., non-elite) at your S&C. But that feeling will pass as you'll find plenty of other like-minded first years who equally relish the prestige as you you head for a drink at Ulysses (shoulderbag logo facing outward).

Then you'll get staffed on your first big deal and you'll work late night after late night and then on the weekend and on to the next weekend and then on to the weekend when you had planned to go to a friend's wedding. And you won't go because the work has to get done and you have dues to pay (or so you'll be told). You'll get a little bit upset about this turn of events, but the arrival of those business cards will soften the blow.

You'll meet more and more laterals from firms that you would never work for (some you've never even heard of). You'll note in the farewell emails that some of the junior and midlevel associates leaving S&C are going to those very same firms. Survival of the fittest you'll say. But late at night, when the air conditioning clicks down from a barely perceptible hissing sound to complete silence, these things will bother you. But you'll tell yourself you're just tired and frustrated and anyway you have work to do.

You'll have lunch with Rodge and he'll tell you that business is good and that he's listening to associates' concerns about quality of life issues. You'll notice that some of the senior associates visibly roll their eyes at each other when this comes up, but you won't mind that much because, really, what other firm's managing partner regulalry has lunch with associates to hear their concerns (and takes notes!)

A few months will pass, a few marathon deals will happen, you'll have to re-schedule a vacation but you'll tell yourself that that is to be expected.

About a year in, a couple of your classmates will crack and start talking about how much the job sucks. They'll very likely have gone to Yale Law School. You'll joke that they couldn't hack it when they leave the firm for a clerkship, or an academic position or to go to a firm in another city.

Things will go on in this pattern and you'll notice the fact that you're working a lot harder than your friends who went to "peer" firms. At first you'll be proud of this and brag about it, but after a while you'll find yourself downplaying it. At least when you have the time to get out and socialize with your law school friends.

Something will happen: a partner will scream at you, a senior associate gunning for partner will blame you for her mistake, the partner will tell you that the trip to Europe your spouse meticulously planned just won't be able to happen (he'll be really sorry and will tell you a funny story about the exotic vacation he missed or cut short). Doesn't matter what, but you'll get really pissed and you'll start to take some of the 4 or 5 calls from headhunters that you'll receive every day at that point (vultures spell blood). They'll give you the names of firms that you laughed on in the days when you posted on the XOXO board, but you'll find yourself looking into them. The headhunter will encourage to just listen to their offer and you'll consider doing so. But you won't leave because then you'd have to give up your business cards. And stop wearing the shoulder bag. And the bonus is only x months away so you'll start thinking about it then.

Until one day you won't be able to take it any more and you'll find yourself arranging to meet with people from a lightly regarded firm for a position in their New York office. And you'll worry that the XOXO crowd will see you.

And you don't believe any of this will happen, but I suggest you print this out and keep it in the top desk of your drawer so late at night when you're feeling sorry for yourself, you can add to the list of reasons to be miserable this fact: someone told you this was going to happen and you thought that person was crazy.