It is official: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s web-site is a cut above the competition. In a significant coup for its marketing department, the magic circle giant was the clear overall winner in the first benchmarking survey of the UK’s top 20 law firms’ websites. The survey, commissioned by Legal IT and carried out by Intendance, a web design, consulting and development firm, scored all 20 firms’ websites in three categories – content, usability and design – which were then combined to give an overall score.
There is good news for Beachcroft Wansbroughs and Herbert Smith as well, as they were placed second and third respectively in the benchmarking study. Scores were expressed as percentages, with 100% representing a ‘perfect’ site. Sitting comfortably on 87%, Freshfields just pipped Beachcrofts to the post by a single percentage point. It was a photo finish that could have gone three ways – Herbert Smith was only 2% adrift of the leader. However, those firms with the worst public websites, DLA and Addleshaw Goddard, have a lot of catching up to do.
