Herman, Mathis, Casey, Kitchens & Gerel, LLP, is, according to the New York Times, a megafirm, consisting of five independent smaller firms. It is the largest, and one of the first, nationwide plaintiff's practice law firms established to protect the rights of consumers.
"…we represent victims of corporate wrongdoing. The legal tools we use for a plaintiff may include individual lawsuits, class actions, or multi-district litigation. Yet whichever approach we use in helping consumers hurt by powerful corporations, our goals remain the same: equal protection under the law, and justice for all."
The HermanMathis web site is intended to act as both an informational resource and a means through which the public may communicate directly with the firm's attorneys. RosArt Multimedia, Inc. built this site using specific design, functionality, and navigation strategies to achieve effective client service and reader engagement. Further, in order to promote the site efficiently, attract more potential clients, and provide more specific case information, RosArt implemented its own custom designed "Integrated Targeted Domain" ("ITD") technique. (An ITD is a complete independent web site with unique content, functional contact forms, and any other applications, used to generate business for a main site. It provides a method to add a web presence for specific cases. The way that an ITD is integrated visually and conceptually into the main site, however, is seamless, as there is no way of discerning, other than the changed domain name, that the ITD is a separate site. It simply appears as if it is just another page(s) within the main site.)
RosArt Multimedia, Inc. put to practice its belief that images appearing one way in real life (causing certain conscious or subconscious reactions in people) do not appear the same way or have the same affect on people, when seen on a computer monitor. For instance, a lawyer's red leather couch and green marble desk might make an impression of "trustworthy" or "established" to the client who sits in that office. These same images, colors, or ideas, when applied to a web site, however, may not convey the same messages.
HermanMathis wanted its web site be conservative yet progressive. Since the content and flow were to be designed in a straight-forward, robust, clear-cut way (to suggest reliability and structure), the site needed to be "lightened up" a bit to suggest friendliness and comfort. RosArt decided to go for a simple, clean, and crisp look with a calming pastel color scheme. Also, as one of the main goals of the site was to present information in a professional context, we chose not to include an overabundance of illustrations, images, or photos, although we used some graphics and photos for the Attorney Bios.
The HermanMathis site is a large, content-rich site with many sections and subsections. We decided to color-code each main section to eliminate any feeling of confusion as to "where you are" on the site. An ever-present Navigation Bar at the top of each page is also color-coded to reflect the colors of each section. Navigation is easy, user-friendly, and straightforward.
The site is a tool-a place of reference and communication. Applications built to enhance this include: Send This Site to a Friend; Newsletter Sign-up; Search Function for News Articles; Attorney Quick Reference Guide linking to full bios, contact information, and email links; and Contact Inquiry Forms for "Do I have a case?"
Also, our promotional plan for the site includes extensive research using tracking devices that not only allow us to monitor where users come from, but also to highly target those who are already looking for representation or information. Due to this, we may relatively quickly adjust marketing techniques on the fly for the web site or for the ITDs.
The ultimate goal of the HermanMathis ITDs is to attract viewers through search engine queries and to drive immediate traffic to the HermanMathis site. Targeting specific topic-related keyword phrases (which can be contained in the actual domain name and the meta tags) ensures increased traffic to a given ITD and hence to the main site. An ITD is different from a satellite site, however, which provides a "doorway" into the main site. ITDs are full of unique content and unique domain names, are accessible through the main site, and provide access to the main site in two-way relationships.