Profile: Marc Friedland

When I was doing my research for the law firm makeover article, I had the pleasure of speaking with Marc in relation to his work with Greene, Broillet, Panish & Wheeler LLP. Subsequently, he and I had a couple of discussions. In one of those conversations I asked Marc if I could see a couple of samples of his work ranging from the event planning to the corporate side. A couple of days later I received a box of the most unbelievable collection of materials ' literally a feast for the eyes. In the box were samples of invitations ' and yes, Oprah's and John Travolta's birthday invitations were in there, together with an entire series of pieces Marc designed for the opening-week events of the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and a wonderful series of invitations to corporate events in New York.

Also included were some very classy and distinctive law firm brochures in addition to the materials done for Greene, Broillet, Panish & Wheeler. I could only imagine the events that surrounded the fabulous invitations and the type of law firm that would have a Marc Friedland work with it. Besides the Greene Broillet pieces, one other notable law firm brochure stood out as cutting edge ' Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan, a Los Angeles-based firm that has a national reputation in complex business litigation and business. Here was another law firm, like Greene Broillet, that was not an AmLaw 100 or 200 firm ' the usual cadre of firms that one might think would hire someone like Marc Friedland. Alschuler's brochure provided still another glimpse of how Marc and his team were able to translate the profession of law into something that was conservative yet striking, and relevant in today's competitive legal market. The Alschuler brochure's cover was a charcoal pinstripe. The content of the brochure was a written profile with few graphics and mostly text. It was clearly not meant to be glossy, and it portrayed Alschuler much like one would depict a Wall Street law firm ' and that clearly was the message the firm sought to convey. Graphic design is extremely personal. When I spoke with Marc, he said that when doing corporate materials, it is very important to project a consistent point of view so that the appeal is to a larger segment of the population rather than to a controlled list of invitees. In going through the process of conveying a message that will be accepted by the partners or owners of a law practice and will be accepted by existing and perspective clients, you need to recognize the fact that the audience is purchasing professional services and not buying a product or coming to an event. The words make the difference and the graphics, while important, are proportionately important to the message. While the brochure needs to “look good,” it is the content that will lure the audience. This is a departure from the world of event planning. Graphic designers become instantly aware of how lawyers think and how they believe their professionalism should be conveyed. What a graphic designer brings to the table is how to visually impart information that will have a universal appeal to the reader. When you want to deliver the best message ' whether an event or a corporate identity ' you need to hire a graphic designer that will customize the seller's ' in this case law firm's ' point of view.