ATL Holiday Card Contest: The Winner!

Which law firm prevailed as the winner of our annual holiday card contest? Find out here!

The eight finalists in this year’s law firm holiday card contest were very well-received by our readers. In fact, more than a thousand votes were cast, and many firms took to Twitter and intra-office message boards in an attempt to rally last minute votes.

(FYI: We continue to receive submissions for this contest, despite the fact that the entry deadline was December 17, 2012. Please check back in with us next year; we’ve had enough holiday cheer.)

Some of these cards were clever, some were beautiful, and some were funny. All of them were excellent, deserving of recognition and praise for the thoughtfulness and creativity that went into them.

But in the end, there can only be one winner. Which firm was lucky enough to take home this year’s title?

We’ve had four different holiday card contests, and four different winners. We usually see some consistency here in terms of outstanding cards, but this year’s competition was a little different in that two of our top four finalists were newcomers, and two were seasoned veterans that had appeared in the finals before.

For example, in fourth place this year was Michel & Associates, P.C., a small firm that was a complete newbie to our contest. Of course, Wonkette called it a “terrible terrible Christmas card!!” Perhaps our readers thought it was so bad it was good? Either way, fourth place is an excellent first-time showing for this 16-lawyer firm.

Sponsored

And check out Stinson Morrison Hecker. The firm made it to our selection of finalists for the second year in a row. Last year, they placed sixth overall. This year, they came in third. With the assistance of Hallmark, they keep movin’ on up in our competition, so be on the lookout for them around holiday time in 2013.

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips has really been around the block when it comes to our holiday card contest. They’ve been in the finals for the past three years, and have landed in our top four each time. This year, Manatt is our runner-up. Maybe next year the lawyers from this firm will finally be able get a win under their belt.

Finally, let’s give a big round of applause to this year’s very deserving winner, the Van Winkle Law Firm. This regional firm is a rookie in our competition, but this year they won, by a very comfortable margin, with this card:

Congratulations to the Van Winkle Law Firm! When we named this card as a finalist, we said it looked like it “cost a lot of money to make.” Paul Choi, the firm’s marketing director, provided us with some interesting background information about the Van Winkle card, including the total manhours and cost for its creation:

Sponsored

The goal of our holiday campaign was to feature our attorneys in a pop-up card, send season’s greetings, and tell a magical story on how the card came to life.

* The holiday pop-up card features more than forty attorneys and was developed by Sam Ita, a pop-up artist and paper engineer. He’s published several children’s books including Moby Dick: The Pop-Up Book and The Odyssey: The Pop-Up Book.

* The video is a stop-motion animation produced by Ian Urquhart, a local filmmaker with Comedy Central roots. We gave Ian an outline and he brought the story to life — and within budget.

* We spent thirteen hours filming late into a Sunday night on a desk at our firm.

* The video, from pre-production to filming to editing, including talent fees and music licensing, was about $7,000.

* The holiday card, from design to production, was about $2 per card.

* The feedback has been tremendous. We’ve run out of our original order of pop-up cards and comments about the video have been 100% positive.

We hope our work brought a little delight and joy to everyone this holiday season.

In case you’re wondering about their hard-copy holiday card, the firm was kind enough to send us a copy:

Will the Van Winkle Law Firm defend its title in 2013? Will it fall to another member of the final four? Or will a new contender emerge to challenge the longtime favorites? Check Above the Law in December 2013 — and, of course, throughout the year — when we’ll start accepting nominations for our next holiday card contest.

Thank you to the contestants, the nominators, and the voters, for making this contest a success once again. The holidays might be over, but our gratitude and good wishes for you endure the whole year round.

The Van Winkle Law Firm – 2012 Holiday Pop-Up Card [YouTube]
Super Appropriate Professional Holiday Card: Sexy Santa Goes To Thailand [Wonkette]

Earlier: ATL Holiday Card Contest: The Finalists!
Above the Law’s Fourth Annual Holiday Card Contest
ATL Holiday Card Contest (2011): The Winner!
ATL Holiday Card Contest (2011): The Finalists!
Above the Law’s Third Annual Holiday Card Contest (2011)