Copywriting project for a preeminent law firm website

The firm

Robinson+Cole is a world-class firm based in New York and Connecticut with a collegial, collaborative, and inclusive culture. With a 175+ year history, the firm has a modern and forward-thinking outlook—and an experienced team that supports small businesses, corporations, nonprofits, government, and individuals across a diverse range of industries. Their lawyers have the talent and proficiency to handle the most sophisticated legal matters regionally, nationally, and internationally.

The challenge

Robinson+Cole’s Chief Marketing Officer was leading the firm’s website refresh project and working with a vast amount of content. For the project to succeed, it was essential to rewrite all 134 practice area pages — in a consistent voice and tone that reflects the firm’s brand messaging, while highlighting the unique features of each practice group.

Having worked with us before, they reached out to fSquared Marketing for help. Our team was happy to provide not only copy-writing services, but also the big-picture thinking needed to manage the project, combined with the skill and experience required to anticipate and navigate the minutiae.

We analyzed the practice area pages and developed writing guidelines aligned with Robinson + Cole’s branding — along with a custom workflow and project plan, to keep the team moving forward toward a successful launch.

The work

• Project Management
• Content Writing
• Websites

Project Management

Our team at fSquared Marketing has a well-deserved reputation for strong project management processes.

Each law firm is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to project management for complex website projects. Like most firms, Robinson+Cole had an abundance of content and many extremely busy stakeholders — marketers and lawyers alike. Our experience in legal marketing allowed us to effectively shepherd this website project through to a successful launch.

We consulted with the Robinson+Cole marketing professionals and practice group leaders who tackled this project alongside their day jobs. Using our customized project management and communication tools, we developed a tailored project framework and workflow and delivered team training.

We also provided regular status updates throughout the project, ensuring everyone’s responsibilities and processes were clearly defined — while troubleshooting and course-correcting along the way.

Content Audit

To plan for and track the complex requirements of this project, we conducted an audit of all practice areas.

Mapping the content in a table with main pages, sub pages, and third-level pages, we identified which copy to update, delete, or cross-list — along with each Robinson+Cole team members’ areas of responsibility. The content audit also served to help us track the word count for each page, targeting which pages needed to be expanded or abridged.

Writing Style Guide

The new website was the ideal opportunity for Robinson+Cole to refresh their practice area pages, helping the firm make a positive first impression with new and prospective clients. The existing practice area descriptions varied greatly in voice, tone, length, and quality. To maintain consistent, high-quality writing, we set to work developing a comprehensive writing style guide.

We analyzed the writing style from the “Our Firm” and “Our Services” sections of website, identifying strengths and areas to optimize. We also asked insightful questions to help us achieve a solid understanding of the firm’s brand voice — along with their marketing and business development goals.

Most importantly, we identified the audiences the firm wanted to reach. Then we provided tried-and-true advice for writing to them empathetically, while ensuring alignment with the Robinson+Cole brand.

In consultation with the firm’s project team, we provided options and selected resources for consistent spelling, grammar, and style choices. For this project, we paired Associated Press (AP) Style with American Bar Association (ABA) rules for advertising and marketing. We promoted using the active voice to engage readers, avoiding overly formal language with too much legalese.

The writing style guide ultimately laid out our plan to emphasize Robinson+Cole’s status as an elite law firm by conveying a clear and confident brand voice across all practice areas.

Content Creation

Our writers are experienced legal marketers, tapped into best practices and developing trends. We used that expertise to maximize the effectiveness of Robinson+Cole’s website content. By mapping out the practice areas and taking the firm’s existing brand messaging as our starting point, we clearly articulated the firm’s value and approach in our messaging.

Creating website content for law firms is different from any other legal industry writing, and we prioritized readability for all website visitors. We wrote new drafts of the firm’s 134 practice areas, editing the copy in collaboration with Robinson+Cole practice area leads. It was essential to retain the unique essence each practice area, differentiating each one – especially when it came to practice area pages with many sub-pages. The result is a website filled with engaging content that puts the audience first, answers their questions, and inspires confidence in the firm.