Showcase: Graham and Graham LPA

Earlier this year, Serif was referred to Graham and Graham by a friend of ours because they were looking for a video to be produced. I had the privledge and honor to sit down and meet with three of the partners at the Graham and Graham office in Southeastern Ohio. I went into the meeting with no agenda other than to just ask questions, listen, and take notes. The three partners communicated to me their pain-points, goals, and the vibe of the firm. I quickly learned that G&G was no ordinary law firm. They were passionate beyond measure, acted like a family, and were true professionals. They also had a lot of other great intangible things going for them: a rich history and origin (founded in 1923), successful case histories, personable attorneys, etc. I discovered in the meeting that they truly wanted to separate themselves in the market and that their main pain-point was a stigma that they were unapproachable. We were meeting to primarily discuss producing a video, however, a video alone was not going to be a cure-all for their problems…

At the end of the meeting, one of the partners mentioned how The Art of War was one of their favorite books. I made a note of that in my Field Notes and it was the last thing I wrote down. Driving back to the office from the meeting, I couldn’t stop thinking about The Art of War. I had read the book before and enjoyed it, but there was just something about that comment that wouldn’t leave my mind. It kept echoing in my head, Then it hit me…

The Art of War… The Art of Law.

I wanted to position G&G as a firm that approaches their cases, research, hearings, etc. as a form of art. Similar to how when we watch Lebron James, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, or Serenna Williams play their sport, we refer to them as an artist. When we watch Tom Brady pick apart an opposing defense, or witness Lebron on a breakaway, we say, “that guy is an artist.”

That’s what I wanted. I wanted people to say, “those guys are artists,” and, at the same time,completely set them apart from other firms.

After arriving back to Serif office fresh out of the meeting, I debriefed the Serif crew immediately. I had the vision and drive, to market, brand, and completely separate G&G from every other law firm in Ohio. I wanted to set a new standard. Nothing was going to stop me. It was pedal to the metal and I was going to do whatever it took it create my vision. My team and I started researching and we reviewed 100’s of law firm websites, brands, content, etc.

It was bad. Aside from one Canadian law firm’s site, it was painful to look at most lawyer’s websites.

So, we came up with a plan.

Our plan included the following:

Story film

Campaign message

Website

Four Instructional videos

Four commercials

Branded print collateral

Environmental photography

Headshots

Logo

Once we got the Graham and Graham team on board, we set to work by scheduling a kick off meeting with their team. In the kick-off meeting, we set milestones, timelines, mandatories, better learned their target market, set project benchmarks, and determined 6 words that were going to guide our creative decision process. These words were:

Modern

Cinematic

Professional

Bold

Artistic

Approachable 

After the kick off meeting, we went right into pre-production, then production, and lastly post-production. We conducted market research and interviewed their client base, asking them their experiences in working with Graham and Graham, determined the best mediums to reach their target markets, and a whole slew of other things.

The producer side of the campaign required a lot of bandwidth. We had to cast a chef, blacksmith, pianist, violinist, and other artists for the video we had in mind. It was very easy for us to get into a nice workflow for our pre-production, production and post-production work flows mainly because Graham and Graham’s passion made us even more passionate.

Working with Graham and Graham is one of my favorite client relationships and experiences. Every person on their team is a top-tier human being. Their integrity, knowledge, professionalism, humor and wit are bar none . They meet up every Monday for one hour internal meeting as a team to get on the same page. I know that doesn’t sound that impressive, but I don’t know of any other firm that does that. Nine attorneys getting together every Monday morning is an accomplishment in and of itself and just goes to show you their dedication. G&G’s jokes and candor were amazing and the Serif crew was constantly cracking up on set while in production. I have only good things to say about everyone at G&G and am completely honored to be have them as a client.

The work displayed below wouldn’t have been made possible without the trust and confidence that G&G placed in us. The dedication and commitment to excellence and detail of the Serif team will always remind me how we are capable of anything as a team.

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, Graham and Graham.

The Art of Law Commercial:

60 and 30 second version without voice-over

60 second Art of Law Commercial with voice-over

Graham and Graham Story Film

The website and other content can be seen at grahamlpa.com.

*A huge thanks to everyone who was a part of this project; it couldn’t have been done without you. The black smith in the film produced the bottle openers that we gave to everyone involved in the project. Below is everyone who was involved in the making of it. From bottom, left to right.

Justin Howell — Project Manger & Post Production

Kerry Smith — Hair and Make Up Artist

Brandon Bankes — Original Music

Adam Brigham — Post Production

Josh Emerick — Production Assistant and Second Unit Photography

Andrew Heathfield — Graphic Design

Doug Joseph — Director

Jesse Benson — Copywriter

Matt Reese — Lead Photographer

Dan Parsons — Lead Cinematographer

Andy Stiebler — Content Strategist

Bradley Miller — Attorney

Brandon Rike — Illustrator

–

G&G Team Left to Right

Joshua Graham

Robert McClelland

Travis Jones

Clay Graham

David Graham

Robert Graham

Stephen McCann

J. William Merry

Again, a huge thank you to everyone who was involved in this project. It wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Cheers,

-D.C.

*Editor’s note: We were informed today that G&G was featured as the website of the year on Lawyerist! https://lawyerist.com/97235/best-law-firm-websites-2016/11/