Ballard Spahr Does Body Shots
Ballard Spahr has revamped its website. It’s clean, it’s fresh, and it has lots of stock photos and little comment pop-ups. One ATL reader urged us to take a closer look:
You guys have to check out the new Ballard Spahr website, it is hysterical. Click on any attorney, there are two pictures, face and body. It looks like a model portfolio or comp card for actors.
We did some clicking in Ballard Spahr’s “People” section, and we can confirm there’s some amusement value to the head shots paired with full body shots.
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While we perused, we wondered whether it’s reasonable to ask associates, special counsel, and partners to go beyond the head shot. Some looked happier about it than others. Check out some of our favorite Ballard body shots and take our poll, after the jump.
UPDATE (4/15/11): We’ve updated some of these links (because it appears that Ballard Spahr changed the URLs on us after the initial publication of this post). But some of these links no longer work because the individuals in question have left the firm.
Ballard Spahr’s site embraces the law firm hierarchy with color coding. Partners are in yellow, Of Counsel & Special Counsel are in blue, and associates are in green. Staff attorneys are a dismal grey color and apparently don’t have the pleasure of body shots, or a photo of any kind.
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Taking a head shot is fairly easy. You just have to check your hair part and try not to smile too awkwardly. But body shots present problems. For men, the biggest dilemma seemed to be what to do with their hands. You can either:
- Hold onto your jacket.
- Straight arm it.
- Put one hand in your pocket…
- …or put both hands in your pockets.
- This female associate was somber for the headshot, but broke out a smile for the body shot.
- And this female associate dropped her jacket for a more colorful body shot.
For some people, having two photos allows them to try different looks:
This female associate rebelled. She did a head shot and a head-and-shoulders shot. And this female associate somehow managed to take the same photo twice.
Sometimes a head shot is a bit boring. The body shot can be good for conveying more of a sense of personality, like for this male associate and this female associate.
The bad thing about the body shot is that it might reveal that you like to wear your BlackBerry holster-style.
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Our favorite photo sequence was this one. The body language strongly conveys the question, “I’m Special Counsel. Why the f#*% are you making me do this?”
Do law firm websites need to operate like dating sites, letting clients on the prowl check out the entire package?