Torkin Manes
Case Study
Established in 1974, Torkin Manes is a well-respected, full-service business and litigation law firm based out of Toronto. The firm provides a comprehensive range of legal services, covering areas such as corporate/commercial law, litigation, real estate, family law, health, construction, technology, and cannabis law. With a diverse client base that includes high-growth companies, large corporations, institutions, and high-net-worth individuals, the firm offers trusted legal counsel and expertise, helping clients achieve their goals.
Known for its dedication to client success and legal excellence, Torkin Manes has built a strong reputation through innovative and practical solutions. The firm provides personalized and proactive care by prioritizing a deep understanding of each client’s unique needs and delivering tailored, business-focused advice. This results-oriented approach has established a proven track record of meeting business objectives and offering cost-effective legal strategies.
The Challenge
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Torkin Manes sought to refresh its brand identity to better reflect its team’s growth and unwavering commitment to outstanding client service. The firm envisioned an updated brand that would honour its core values while incorporating contemporary elements that highlight its extensive expertise.
Building on our previous collaboration, Torkin Manes engaged Cubicle Fugitive to develop a new law firm brand strategy aimed at elevating the firm’s identity and appealing to a more sophisticated audience of clients, partners, and employees. In conjunction with the new brand identity, the firm also tasked our team with creating a new brand style guide, designing a distinctive 50th Anniversary logo, and hosting a seminar on client service excellence to reinforce its dedication to outstanding service.
To implement its updated brand identity, the firm further collaborated with Cubicle Fugitive to design a revamped law firm website that showcased its new visual style and elevated its digital presence. Our team then developed stationery, marketing materials, newsletter banners, trade show collateral, social media templates, and ad campaign templates that aligned with the new brand guidelines. We also created a commercial real estate and construction law brochure for the firm to distribute at the 2024 LandPRO Conference.
The Engagement
Working with Torkin Manes, Cubicle Fugitive refined the firm’s brand strategy to better capture its distinctive strengths and core values. The goal was to align the brand with the firm’s culture and vision, differentiate it in the marketplace, improve client loyalty, and attract top talent through a unified and compelling brand identity. The law firm’s brand style guide was developed to ensure consistent application of the firm’s brand moving forward, serving as a comprehensive reference for all brand elements. The 50th anniversary logo included in this brand refresh was designed to pay tribute to the firm’s legacy while showcasing its progressive vision and ongoing expansion.
In line with the firm’s updated brand identity, Cubicle Fugitive facilitated the Client Service Excellence and Living the Brand Presentation to introduce the firm’s new client service standards. The seminar focused on aligning these standards with the updated brand, highlighting the importance of professionalism and exceptional client experiences, and ensuring that all team members embody the brand’s values in every client interaction.
To further reinforce the new brand, our team revitalized Torkin Manes’ website to better reflect its growth and modernized image. The redesigned law firm website introduced a fresh colour palette, improved imagery, a more intuitive home page layout, and simplified navigation. This ensured that the website was both visually appealing and aligned with the firm’s brand evolution. To enhance functionality, a PDF automation system was also added, enabling easy generation of web bios, resources, and practice area documents. Cubicle Fugitive then designed a comprehensive range of stationery and marketing materials, including notepads, business cards, laptop sleeves, a pitch template, pocket folders, a PowerPoint template, envelopes, and letterhead. Each item was meticulously crafted to align with the updated brand guidelines, presenting a unified and professional image. Additionally, we updated the banners for the firm’s Legal Point and Legal Watch newsletters and its internal electronic newsletters to reflect the refreshed website design and maintain consistency across all brand touchpoints.
For Torkin Manes’ trade show presence, we created a range of eye-catching materials, including general, practice-specific, and recruitment banners, as well as a commemorative 50th anniversary banner. We also designed versatile tablecloths and runners to ensure a cohesive and professional appearance at events. Furthermore, we developed two versions of a brochure for use at the 2024 LandPRO Conference - a digital version for inclusion in the conference binder and a printed version for display at the sponsorship table - to effectively showcase the firm’s expertise and draw in potential clients.
Finally, we designed a range of modern law firm social media templates for Torkin Manes, optimized for LinkedIn in both portrait and landscape formats. We also created adaptable ad campaign templates in Adobe InDesign for print and digital use, enabling the firm to maintain consistent branding and easily update materials for various purposes.
The Strategy
Cubicle Fugitive began the brand positioning process by conducting stakeholder interviews and a competitive analysis to pinpoint Torkin Manes’ unique differentiators and strategic focus. This process led to redefined brand messaging that highlights the firm’s commitment to expert legal counsel and exceptional service, positioning it as a partner in client success. We then emphasized internal alignment, ensuring every team member could deliver on the brand promise through meaningful client interactions and tailored advice.
We carefully defined the brand style guide, focusing on the consistent application of visual elements like the logo, colour palette, and fonts to maintain a polished and cohesive identity across all communications. The guide was intended to modernize the firm’s visual presence while preserving its core values – dedication to excellence, strategic insight, and innovative legal solutions – ensuring the firm’s visibility was elevated while sustaining its reputation. In shaping the 50th anniversary logo, we restructured the design of the firm’s existing logo and incorporated a new secondary colour, effectively commemorating Torkin Manes’ 50 years of legal distinction.
The Client Service Excellence and Living the Brand Presentation focused on equipping the firm’s team with essential skills for delivering superior client service. The seminar emphasized the importance of understanding client needs, forming personal connections, and maintaining clear, responsive communication. Additionally, firm leadership engaged in a panel discussion led by Cubicle Fugitive, sharing best practices and real-world examples of successful service delivery.
Following the development of the firm’s brand strategy, guidelines, and seminar, we turned our attention to redesigning the law firm’s website. We started by conducting an in-depth discovery phase, including interviews with leadership, emerging leaders, and clients to uncover key insights about the firm’s evolving needs and goals. An analysis of its competitive environment was also performed, allowing us to craft effective, unique messaging for the website’s key sections. Our website development approach centred on improving user experience and site architecture while effectively highlighting the firm’s expanding expertise. The sleek, modern website showcases the firm’s value proposition while integrating dynamic content hubs and advanced features such as digital business cards, customizable PDFs, and audio recordings for name pronunciations and gender pronouns.
Building on the established brand identity, our team redesigned Torkin Manes’ stationery, marketing collateral, and newsletter banners. We began by reviewing the updated brand guidelines, which provided a foundation for ensuring consistency across all materials. Our team then analyzed the firm’s existing materials and gathered client feedback to understand preferences and identify areas for improvement, enabling us to design customized items that met the firm’s distinct needs and stood out to its clients. To ensure a seamless brand experience, we also created newsletter banners that matched the visual style of the new website, incorporating design elements such as font styles, colour schemes, and imagery.
Our strategic process for the trade show materials involved extensive collaboration with Torkin Manes to finalize design and copy elements. This enabled our team to craft impactful, concise messaging for the banners and ensure that the visual elements on the banners stood out while still upholding a professional appearance. We then designed two variations for the tablecloths and table runners, including one in solid blue and one in blue with lines, providing the firm with versatile options for trade shows while still adhering to the new brand identity. The brochure also aligned with the rebranding efforts, incorporating a vibrant cover photo in place of the traditional all-blue cover to achieve a visually distinct and fresh appearance.
Finally, to enhance Torkin Manes’ social media presence, we started with a comprehensive audit of their existing accounts and templates, analyzing content patterns and identifying specific needs. This research guided the creation of modern, versatile social media templates that adhered to the firm’s new visual identity. Similarly, we evaluated previous ad campaigns to develop a detailed design brief for the new ad templates, focusing on visual appeal and flexibility. The resulting templates were designed to be both engaging and adaptable, aligning with the firm’s brand and enabling efficient management of future advertising efforts.
The Results
Related Team
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Kaitlyn Pacheco-Azurdia
The 'Social' ButterflyStrategy -
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