Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP, “the New Jersey Law Firm,” recently received the 2005 Standard of Excellence Award from the Web Marketing Association for its newly-created Web site (www.riker.com).  The sleek, streamlined site, created by Jaffe Associates, highlights the firm’s deep relationship with New Jersey and offers visitors an impressive array of practical features.  The recognition that Riker Danzig’s Web site has received offers us an excellent opportunity to study the background and development of the site— to determine what Riker Danzig and Jaffe Associates did correctly, and what legal marketers and creative designers can learn from the experience.

The success of Riker Danzig’s Web site owes a great deal to the initial efforts that were put into formulating the RFP itself.  Significantly, the firm’s RFP contained extensive directions written in unambiguous language.  It served as an easy-to-follow roadmap for prospective bidders, and was clearly the product of extensive thought and discussion.  On the first page of the RFP, for instance, the firm noted that “[p]reference will be given to firms that include prototypes of a Riker Danzig website as a demonstration of their ability to do the work and as an example of their understanding of the Project.”  This requirement ensured that the firm would weed out the half-hearted applications, and get what it was looking for— a strong visual blueprint of the site-to-be.

After directing bidders to its previous Web site for some background concerning the firm’s history and practice groups, the RFP noted that, attached, was its “new box logo… the firm’s visual identity projected on the website.”  The firm had already chosen its desired color scheme— a strong layout based around red, black and white colors, around which Jaffe Associates and the other bidders could formulate its design.  Another choice had already been made, making it easier on the firm, but easier on the prospective designers, as well.

Further, Riker Danzig listed specific sections and information that it wanted on its Web site, noting that “[w]e are especially interested in hearing and seeing ideas on how we can make a distinctive graphic statement that represents the firm’s culture and long standing in the state’s business and legal community.”  The firm did not want to see extensive flash animation, but rather preferred easy-to-use design features, including drop-down menus and search engines.

While Jaffe Associates’ creative team had provided creative up front in the past, it was not necessarily a common request.  Yet Riker Danzig had provided such clear instructions and suggestions that Jaffe was confident that the request could be successfully met, especially given the team’s experience and skill.

Jaffe Associates won the project with a Web site design that looked very much like the final product eventually would.  The credit was shared between the firm’s effort at writing a clear RFP and Jaffe’s creative talents, led by Jaffe’s VP for Creative Services, Terry Isner.  Jaffe had followed the firm’s suggestions on “content, organization and flow,” and had produced something very close to what the firm had requested— a site complete with a “New Jersey… New Thinking” theme.

Jaffe was close to completing work on the firm’s Web site when a new challenge arose.  Riker Danzig wanted to ensure that its New York office enjoyed a strong presence on the firm’s Web site. 

“We understood that their clients valued the cache of ‘the New York office,’ and we saw that it was a legitimate concern,” explains Isner.  “So we came up with a solution that could make everyone happy, while staying within our budget.”

Rather than scrapping everything that Jaffe had worked on through that point, Isner and the creative team came up with a novel solution.  They designed an entrance portal, or splash page, where visitors could select whether to enter the “New Jersey” site or the “New York” site.  This new page offered numerous benefits.  From a creative standpoint, the splash page included the same colors, the same fonts, and the same themes.  None of the work that had gone into the main site needed to be altered.  The only things that would need to be changed were certain images, and particular state-specific information.  These were minor details—for instance, a picture of the Meadowlands was replaced by a picture of the Empire State Building. 

While the portal proved to be an ideal solution for Jaffe’s creative team, it also proved valuable to the people who would use the site.  The chief benefit to the visitor was that the site (and the portal itself) became that much more user-friendly, and more customized to his particular needs.  Rather than being exclusive to visitors interested in one state or the other, Riker Danzig potentially gained an entirely new audience.

This solution satisfied the firm’s concerns, and the site launched in November 2004.

Riker Danzig’s Web site offers a wealth of information for those interested in the firm or New Jersey and New York legal matters in general.  In addition to the requested campus interview calendar, where law students can learn when the firm’s attorneys will be visiting their schools, the site offers an easy-to-use database, where readers may search through more than 400 articles written by Riker Danzig professionals.  Windows on the main page of the site allow visitors a better understanding of the resources to be found within.

Visitors to the site will also find lighthearted and informative state facts heading every page— depending upon whether they are in the New Jersey or New York-themed site.  These additions range from “New Jersey has the most diners in the world,” to “New York was the first state to require license plates on cars.”

As the firm alluded to in its RFP, Riker Danzig requested Jaffe Associates’ editorial assistance.   Jaffe’s WritersForLawyers staff completely updated the content found in sections ranging from the firm’s profile, history and commitment to pro bono work, to details on the firm’s 2003 New Jersey Law Journal commendation as the most active pro bono firm in the state.  Every entry on the site now shares the same format, the same tone, and the same style, creating more uniformity than had previously existed.

“In addition to the content and the design elements that we were hired to develop, the site includes some interesting technology features,” said Isner.  “Along with Jaffe’s standard ‘Email-a-Friend,’ ‘Print This Page,’ and ‘Font Size Adjuster’ functions, the entire site is completely cross-linked, and so it is much easier for visitors to access the information that they are looking for.”