Before Christmas, we highlighted one law firm holiday card that we particularly enjoyed (from Haynes and Boone). We also invited readers to email us with other holiday cards we might enjoy. We stated that, if we received sufficient submissions, we might even hold a contest.
Lo and behold, we did receive enough entrants. So we are happy to hold Above the Law’s first holiday card contest.
Check out the nominees and vote — you’re stuck in the office between Christmas and New Year’s, and you’re bored — after the jump.
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A number of firms sent holiday cards to their alumni — e.g., Kirkland & Ellis, Orrick. This struck us as a nice touch (like inviting alums to the holiday party). But one alum was unimpressed: “Orrick wants to be my friend. Oh joy.”
Alas, these alumni cards didn’t make it into the contest. They were blandly tasteful, like most law firm holiday cards, and that wasn’t what we were looking for.
Now, some honorable mentions. Similarly tasteful, and therefore not edgy or entertaining enough to make the finals, were the following firms’ holiday cards (click on the firm name to check out the card):
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- Crowell & Moring (cute; takes us back to second-grade art class);
- Dickstein Shapiro (speaking of grade school art class, this is one talented tenth grader); and
- Gordon & Rees (the animation is elegant, although the piano music is a little lugubrious; we prefer the DJ Sammy version).
- Nixon Peabody (this gave us the warm fuzzies, although it didn’t do as much for our tipster: “I WISH I worked at a firm that didn’t actively [screw] over its employees.”).
Here are the finalists. Please note that we considered only current cards, i.e., from 2009. But we did bend the rules a little bit to allow entries from entities that work closely with law firms (namely, two public relations firms and Shareholder Representative Services).
Click on the firm name to see the card. A short blurb accompanies each nominee.
1. Akin Gump: “Very lawyerly, very clever.”
2. Allen & Overy: “A&O holiday card — from the homeless, or a burnt-out first/second year associate?”
3. CooperKatz: “Interesting Snuggie Video & card from NYC PR firm that handles PR for a few NYC law firms. Enjoy.” (The animal-print snuggies were apparently inspired by this photo of the late Michael Jackson.)
4. Goodwin Procter: “The best part is how the ‘win’ from Goodwin and the ‘ter’ from Procter form ‘Winter’ at the end.”
5. Haynes and Boone: The inspiration for the contest; previously discussed here.
6. Hellerman Baretz: “[Our law firm’s] PR firm does a lot of work in the legal space and I thought their card was great and really captured the mood of the times. They allow you to write a message or upload a photo onto a plate, and then you can toss the plate into a wishing fountain or smash it against a brick wall — very cathartic!”
7. Shareholder Representative Services: “Not a law firm, but they work with law firms. This one is bizarre.”
Here’s the poll. We’ll keep voting open through Sunday, January 3, at 11:59 PM.
Earlier: A Fun Law Firm Holiday Card