There's more to a brand than just a name. Andrew Sawers looks at why the branding of law firms has to go hand-in-hand with both the business strategy and the client experience

There is an old cartoon in which a client sits in the offices of Bastard, Bastard, Bastard, Smith & Bastard, and he says to the lawyer: "No offence, Mr Smith, but I'd rather have one of your partners handle my lawsuit."

It makes a good joke about the ferret-like, no-compromising nature of the stereotype tenacious litigation lawyer. But even if by accident rather than design, it also speaks volumes about law firm branding – surprising, given that a cynic might suggest that there wasn't much to say on the subject: firm names derived from retired or long-dead partners, logos that won't win many design awards and a paucity of slogans that leave any lasting impression.

And yet, while the law firm in the cartoon reflects the traditional lack of imagination in partnership names, it also reflects one key element of a good brand: the customer experience.

"The brand is essentially the promise," explains David Flynn, head of professional services at reputation management agency Eulogy. "If, when the partner meets the prospective client for the first time, that partner doesn't reflect the brand values that the client has been promised, then that's where it all falls apart."

Eulogy analysed law firm branding strategies and found that they weren't very good. "Most of them mentioned legal excellence," Flynn says. "That should be a given – you shouldn't even be worrying about legal excellence. The way the advice is delivered is the differentiator. The brand should be based on how you deliver your service – what added value you provide your clients."

Do lawyers think that being treated as a brand devalues their status? Flynn replies: "In a market with real competition these law firms are going to have to behave a lot more like brands to differentiate themselves, even if the actual promise is very similar. It's about being focused and knowing who your audience is, what they need to know about you and having a clear message to them that enables you to deliver and to get in the right clients. The expectation of what people want from their lawyers is different now."

Founders and partners
Run your finger down any list of leading law firms and almost all include the name of a founding partner. This habit makes it hard, therefore, to discern exactly what message different firms are trying to convey about their client offering.

Delve deeper, however, and a few firms are perhaps not what they appear to be. Take King & Wood Mallesons, for example. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the firm has a clear brand proposition, to be "the go-to firm for inbound and outbound China investments", as it states on its website. The firm grew through mergers, chopping and changing the partnership name along the way. In 2012 the 20-year-old Beijing practice King & Wood PRC Lawyers merged with Australian firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques, dropping the latter two names. In 2013 it merged with UK firm SJ Berwin, creating (for a while) the unwieldy King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin in Europe.

But look again at the original name: there was never any founding partner called King or Wood. The firm declined to discuss its branding strategy with Legal Week, but it is evident that the name was concocted to create a strong brand with international, western appeal. Choosing the name King & Wood was clearly intended to reflect the firm's ambitions, built on solid, traditional values, instantly creating the impression that it is ideally placed to bring western companies to China, and Chinese companies to the world.

The rule of thumb that law firms are named after founding partners has a few exceptions – particularly in the post-Legal Services Act world that allows other businesses to create law firms. Here, the strength of an existing brand and an existing customer following offer a distinct advantage.

BT Law, for example, trades off the reputation of British Telecom to offer a claims handling service to corporate clients. "BT understands the power of brands and understands customer service delivery," says Flynn.

Meanwhile, one Nigerian law firm – the product of a simultaneous merger in 2004 by four firms (all named after founders) – eschewed the conventional naming route. Rather than argue about which should take precedence, they decided to choose something completely different: