Linklaters
2002
Beyond size
City law firm Linklaters had doubled in size through a string of European mergers. But for growth to continue, it knew it needed to stand for something beyond mere size: something to unite and motivate its people, and attract the best clients. So, rather than being a conventional law firm – bland in its communication, happy to hide behind the parapets – Linklaters decided to be different: to have a clear ethos, a strong point of view, and a striking way of communicating.
Achieving the unachievable
Wolff Olins found a distinctive truth about Linklaters: its ability to make things happen whatever the odds, to tackle the most intractable problems and get results. We summarised this truth as ‘achieving the unachievable’. We ran work sessions across the firm, challenging people to find the ten things they could do to bring the idea to life, and we created a bold new communication style, based on words – a lawyer’s main weapon – that uses clever word play and strong typography.
World's largest
Since the new brand launch Linklaters has continued to grow globally and successfully and in 2009 it overtook Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to become the world’s largest law firm. Today it has 2,500 attorneys in 26 offices spanning 19 countries. 2005 saw Linklaters create Japan’s first fully-merged law firm practising Japanese, English and US law. Since 2004 Linklaters has won numerous awards across the globe and secured top rankings in the most prestigious market reviews. Linklaters reported a revenue of £1.3 billion in 2009.
