The Most Common Law Firm Branding Mistakes We See (And Still Can’t Believe Are Happening)

After over 20 years of creating award-winning designs for law firms, PaperStreet has seen it all. We’ve worked on more than 2,000 legal websites and marketing projects, and while we love helping attorneys build impressive brands, we’re constantly amazed by the same branding mistakes that keep appearing across the legal industry.

These aren’t minor oversights. They’re fundamental errors that undermine credibility, hurt accessibility, and cost firms potential clients every single day. Here are the branding disasters we encounter most frequently.

The Logo Background Nightmare

The Problem: We see this issue almost weekly, where law firms use logos with white or colored backgrounds where they shouldn’t, resulting in unprofessional rectangular boxes around their firm name on websites, business cards, and marketing materials.

What’s Happening: Someone created a logo in a word processor and saved it as a JPEG with a background. When placed on different colored backgrounds, it creates an obvious rectangular border that screams “amateur.”

The Impact: This immediately signals to potential clients that your firm doesn’t pay attention to details. If you can’t get your own logo right, how can they trust you with their legal matters?

The Fix: Always maintain transparent background PNG files and vector formats of your logo that seamlessly integrate with any background color.

The Letterhead Logo Website Disaster

The Problem: Firms take their horizontal letterhead logo, designed for document headers, and cram it into website headers, social media profiles, and business cards where it doesn’t fit.

What’s Happening: Letterhead logos are wide and shallow, designed for 8.5×11 paper. When forced into square social media profiles or mobile layouts, they become illegible.

The Fix: Develop multiple logo variations: horizontal for letterhead, square/stacked for social media, simplified versions for small applications.

Color Consistency Chaos

The Problem: We regularly encounter firms where the website uses one shade of blue, business cards use another, and office signage uses a third. Yet, all are supposedly the same “firm blue.”

What’s Happening: Different vendors interpret color descriptions like “navy blue” without reference to specific color codes.

The Impact: Inconsistent colors make your firm appear disorganized. Clients notice when your business card doesn’t match your website.

The Fix: Establish exact color codes: Pantone for print, CMYK for four-color printing, RGB and HEX for digital use. Document these and share with every vendor.

ADA Compliance Color Failures

The Problem: Law firms choose attractive color combinations that fail Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, making websites unusable for people with visual impairments.

What’s Happening: Designers select colors based on aesthetics without testing contrast ratios. Light gray text on white backgrounds becomes invisible to users with vision challenges.

The Impact: Beyond excluding potential clients, ADA non-compliance exposes firms to lawsuits. It’s particularly ironic when disability rights attorneys have inaccessible websites.

The Fix: For ADA compliance, test all color combinations using WCAG contrast checkers. Text should meet AA standards (4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text, 3:1 for large text).

The Pixelated Logo Problem

The Problem: Firms use low-resolution logos that look acceptable on old monitors but become blurry, pixelated messes on modern displays, phones, and print materials.

What’s Happening: Someone saved the logo at 72 DPI for web use, but this resolution is insufficient for print (which needs 300 DPI) or modern high-resolution displays.

The Impact: Blurry logos make successful firms appear outdated and unprofessional, especially on mobile devices where most clients first encounter your brand.

The Fix: Work with vector-based logos that scale infinitely. Maintain high-resolution raster versions (300 DPI minimum) for print.

Font Anarchy Across Platforms

The Problem: Law firms use completely different fonts on websites, business cards, letterhead, and signage, creating fractured brand identity with no visual cohesion.

What’s Happening: Different vendors choose fonts in isolation without considering overall brand consistency.

The Impact: Inconsistent typography makes firms appear disorganized and reduces brand recognition.

The Fix: Select 2-3 fonts maximum: one for headlines, one for body text, and optionally one accent font. Document and enforce across all materials.

The Generic Stock Photo Trap

The Problem: Multiple law firms in the same market use identical stock photos of gavels, scales of justice, or courthouse steps, making brands indistinguishable from competitors.

What’s Happening: Firms choose obvious, popular legal stock photos without checking if competitors use the same images.

The Impact: Marketing materials look identical to other firms, eliminating visual differentiation and making your brand forgettable.

The Fix: Invest in custom photography or choose unique stock images that reflect your firm’s personality rather than generic legal symbols.

How to Audit Your Current Branding

Many law firms unknowingly undermine their credibility through inconsistent branding that confuses potential clients and weakens their professional image. A systematic brand audit reveals these hidden problems before they cost you cases.

To identify if your firm suffers from these problems:

• Collect all branded materials, including website screenshots, business cards, letterhead, signage photos, social media profiles, and marketing materials.
• Display them together and look for inconsistencies in colors, fonts, logo usage, and visual style. 
• Test your website with accessibility tools to verify color contrast compliance. 
• View materials on different devices to ensure logos remain clear and readable.
• Ask for honest feedback from colleagues and clients about your brand’s consistency and professionalism. Fresh eyes often spot problems that familiarity has made invisible.

This audit process typically reveals surprising inconsistencies that, once corrected, immediately strengthen your firm’s professional presence and client confidence.

The Cost of Poor Branding

These mistakes aren’t just aesthetic issues. They have real business consequences. Inconsistent branding reduces memorability, making it harder for referrals to find you. Poor accessibility can expose your firm to ADA lawsuits. Unprofessional visuals undermine credibility with potential high-value clients.

Most importantly, branding mistakes signal that your firm doesn’t pay attention to details, which is exactly the opposite message you want to send to people considering trusting you with their legal problems.

Building a Consistent Brand System

The solution isn’t just fixing individual problems but creating a comprehensive brand system with clear guidelines. Document specific color codes, approved fonts, logo usage rules, photography styles, and templates for common materials.

Share this brand guidelines document with website developers, graphic designers, sign makers, and other vendors. When everyone works from the same specifications, consistency becomes automatic rather than accidental.

Your Law Firm’s Branding Should Speak Volumes–Let Us Help

After reviewing thousands of law firm brands, we can confidently say that attention to detail in branding directly correlates with overall firm success. The firms with the strongest, most consistent brands tend to attract better clients and command higher fees.

These common branding mistakes are entirely preventable with proper planning and professional guidance. The investment in getting your brand right pays dividends in client trust, referral recognition, and competitive differentiation.

At PaperStreet, we’ve seen how correcting these fundamental branding errors can transform a firm’s market perception and client acquisition. Your brand is your face to the world. Make sure it’s sending the right message about your firm’s professionalism and attention to detail.

Ready to elevate your firm’s brand beyond these common pitfalls? Let’s discuss how strategic branding can differentiate your practice and attract higher-value clients.