White paper exploring the impact of implementations of brand expression in the interior design of legal workplaces around the world.

1. SoWhat’sYourStory?
The How and Why of Integrating Brand
with Legal Workplace Design

2. THIS PAGE—Fried Frank | Washington, DC | Photo Credit: Eric Laignel | COVER—Latham & Watkins | Chicago, IL | Photo Credit: Chris Barrett

3. INTRODUCTION
Lawyers are great storytellers.
Any great win in court, whether it
depends on a robust chronology,
creative use of evidence, or careful
analysis of precedent, is ultimately
about telling a compelling story to
the judge and jury.
When it comes to brand, however, law firms have a more challenging
task when it comes to telling their own stories. It’s understandable.
Their work is often confidential, and clients don’t exactly want legal
travails broadcast to the world. Yet each firm has a unique identity
and is bursting with passionate individuals with stellar reputations.
How can we help bring their stories out?
Brand is an undervalued component of workplace design for law
firms. Having a highly functional office space is good, but integrating
that space with a firm’s ethos is better, even transformational, if
done right. A successful integration of brand with workplace design
accomplishes three main things: it embraces location, establishes
legibility, and—most importantly—evokes emotion. Put these three
things together, and you have a compelling workplace story.
Brand is both concrete and intangible. We all know it when we see
it; any surnames on the side of a building technically constitute a
brand. But it can be so much more than that. It is where the firm’s
identifying traits are expressed, and how frequently. It is their
connotation, association, and affect. It is their font, their color, their
rhythm, and their feel. A brand must capture a legal workplace’s
character, and that is no easy task. When it works well, it often starts
right at home.
A WORKPLACE’S STORY EMBRACES LOCATION
For global firms, brand need not tell the story of every single office
at once. Each Latham & Watkins office is a testament to the firm’s
commitment to local identity and community. Take Latham’s Century
City office, which sits at the business epicenter of Los Angeles’s
entertainment industry, where a series of epic murals depicting
THIS PAGE—Fried Frank | Washington, DC | Photo Credit: Eric Laignel
1

4. Jackson Walker | Dallas, TX | Photo Credit: Michael Moran
2

5. unmistakable icons from Hollywood’s golden era is only natural.
In the same vein, their Downtown LA office features immediately
recognizable wall murals of the Hollywood sign and Santa Monica
Pier to enliven the space. It’s the same approach but different in Paris,
where the firm chose a historic Hotel Particulier with a formal entry
courtyard and garden attached to a modern, fully refurbished Class A
office building. The seamless blend of classic with modern conveys a
nuanced understanding of European aesthetics that allows this global
law firm to feel at one with the City of Light. In Latham’s Chicago
office, a 60 foot long glass mosaic depicting the 1893 Chicago World’s
Fair is a showstopper that tells visitors and employees alike an
intricate story and lends the space a remarkable level of permanence.
Likewise in the international hub of New York City, where an
installation of glass fins depicting every location in the world with a
Latham office follows a gradient tracing dawn to dusk across their
multiple time zones. Tailoring each space to its host city heightens
and contextualizes the Latham brand while drawing together
commonalities across its global platform. A global brand with local
character—all parts contributing to a whole greater than their sum.
A WORKPLACE’S STORY ESTABLISHES LEGIBILITY
Attention is a scarce commodity. In the information age, brand is a
tool not only for those who create it but also those who consume it.
To sift through the profusion of information we face in our daily lives,
we have no choice but to categorize, form mental buckets, and index
who stands for what and whom we can turn to in times of need. Other
industries have been embracing this truth for decades, from Rolex’s
iconic “Crown for Every Achievement” to the FedEx logo’s hidden arrow.
Human beings are hardwired to latch onto psychological shortcuts—
anything that illuminates what is inside a previously inaccessible place.
For law firms, brand is an opportunity to convey who they are and—
sometimes more importantly—who they aren’t.
Latham & Watkins | CENTURY CITY, CA | Photo Credit: Halkin/Mason
Latham & Watkins | Century City, CA | Photo Credit: Halkin/Mason Photography
3

6. Prospective hires need this information. A lack of clarity in regard to a
firm’s culture is a killer in recruiting efforts. Hours are long in the legal
world, so incoming associates and lateral senior hires alike yearn for
clear expression as they plan their futures. No prospective hire should
come away from an office tour uncertain of what a firm is about and
how its workplace feels; the cost of making a mistake and landing
at a firm that is a bad fit is simply too high. A firm’s identity must be
immediately legible to outsiders, and a workplace with successful
brand integration is the fastest and most effective way to establish
that legibility.
A WORKPLACE’S STORY EVOKES EMOTION
One pioneering firm—Fried Frank—set a lofty goal for their DC office:
to have a space so “funky professional” that nobody would peg it as
a law firm at first blush. A series of prints by iconic pop artist Roy
Lichtenstein, distinctive bungee-cord chairs, and curvy wood surfaces
(no more predictable straight edges at conference tables) create an
absolutely unmistakable and sophisticated Fried Frank space that
could never be mistaken for anyone else’s. One anecdote speaks
volumes to the success of the project. A visitor was sent up to the
office, emerged from the elevator, took a look around, and went back
to the building security desk convinced they had been directed to the
wrong floor. That’s an unforgettable experience, and a charming one
that shows how memorable a visit to Fried Frank is.
Not every firm will be “funky professional,” but each can curate a
memorable experience. It goes beyond logos and colors: Jackson
Walker capitalizes on its Dallas Arts District locale with 3D
extrapolations of the tones of classic songs taking the form of ceiling-
high carved wood installations. It’s not merely that Jackson Walker
pays homage to where they are; they join in the fun. Relman, Dane &
Colfax PLLC’s mission-driven civil rights work is reflected in pinpoint
detail via “dot density” maps that tell the stories of the connection
between race and place that the firm addresses every day in its civil
rights practice. These aren’t gimmicks: they are the foundations upon
which the offices function. When brand is this closely fused with a
physical workspace, “aha!” moments abound, encouraging employees
to be tour guides and revel in the creative Easter Eggs tying their
office to its mission.
WHEN A LAW FIRM’S STORY IS EXPRESSED
THROUGH WORKPLACE BRAND, IT MAKES
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCES BETTER
Each of these themes—location, legibility, and emotion—culminate
in workplace brand’s ultimate purpose: storytelling. Results from
Gensler’s Experience Index speak to this fact. Our researchers dug
into the question of what differentiates a good workplace from a
great one. Factors like having a sense of community, autonomy,
and innovation set the baseline for a good workplace. But great
workplaces had something more: a sense of meaning and purpose
permeated their spaces. Bear in mind that this is a measure coming
from current employees. Brand is no longer solely an outward-
facing tool. Increasingly, successful brands look inward, and are not
just expressions of culture—they are culture. To really shine, legal
workplaces need to tell stories, and brand is the vernacular of the day.
Jackson Walker | Dallas, TX | Photo Credit: Michael Moran
4

7. Relman, Dane & Colfax | Washington, DC | Photo Credit: Gensler
5

8. Relman, Dane & Colfax | WASHINGTON, DC | Photo Credit: Gensler
AUTHOR
Joshua Barthel is a marketing writer in Gensler’s Washington, DC office. A former paralegal,
journalist, and activist, he brings an interdisciplinary approach to storytelling for Gensler’s
southeast region. Writing about architecture, interior design, and brand strategy, Josh
investigates the impact of the lived environment on the world of work and employee
happiness. Contact him at Joshua_Barthel@gensler.com.
CONTRIBUTORS
Steven J. Martin, AIA, is a principal in Gensler’s Washington, DC office and is a firmwide
leader of Gensler’s Global Law Firm Practice. Steve applies more than 30 years of experience
in strategic planning and design as project director for a diverse group of global, national,
and local law firms. He is also a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management. Contact
him at Steven_Martin@gensler.com.
Hannah Olin, LEED Green Associate, is an award-winning environmental graphic designer
who analyzes the way people interact with their places, spaces, digital devices and
each other to create emotionally engaging and physically integrated design solutions.
Complemented by her experience in wayfinding and experiential graphic design, Hannah is
a strategic thinker who brings a unique point of view to a variety of project types. Contact
her at Hannah_Olin@gensler.com.
© 2019 Gensler
The information contained within this document is and shall remain the property of Gensler.
This document may not be reproduced without prior consent from Gensler.
Abu Dhabi
Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Bangalore
Bangkok
Beijing
Birmingham
Bogotá
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Dubai
Hong Kong
Houston
La Crosse
Las Vegas
London
Los Angeles
Mexico City
Miami
Minneapolis
Morristown, NJ
New York
Newport Beach
Oakland
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland
Raleigh-Durham
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
San José, Costa Rica
São Paulo
Seattle
Shanghai
Singapore
Sydney
Tampa
Tokyo
Toronto
Washington, D.C.
gensler.com
twitter.com/gensler_design
instagram.com/gensler_design