Akin Gump, Biglaw, Boutique Law Firms, Contests, Crowell & Moring, Fabulosity, Fenwick & West, Holidays and Seasons, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Small Law Firms

ATL Holiday Card Contest: The Winner!

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Many law firms send out rather lame holiday cards, cards that marketing guru Ross Fishman would describe as “boring pieces of crap.” Thankfully that wasn’t the case for the eleven finalists in our third annual law firm holiday card contest.

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.

Okay, enough with the sentimental and sappy stuff — you’re lawyers, and you’re competitive. You want to know who won….

We’ve had three different holiday card contests, and three different winners. But it’s interesting to see some consistency: certain firms turn out great holiday cards, year after year. Our top four finalists — note how the field neatly broke into two, with four contenders racking up over 200 votes apiece, and the rest falling short of 60 — have all appeared in the finals at least once before.

Take Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which created the devilishly clever card that was my personal favorite of this year’s crop. They were in the finals last year as well, placing third. This year, Manatt takes fourth place.

Or look at Proctor Heyman, the Delaware corporate law boutique that won last year’s contest. This year, they come in third place, with another delightful, musically themed offering.

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Akin Gump has been in the finals for every year of the contest. They won our 2009 holiday card contest, made the finals again in 2010, and take runner-up honors this latest time around.

Finally, let’s give a big round of applause to this year’s very deserving winner, Haynes & Boone. They took second place in 2009, with a beautifully executed card that actually inspired us to start this annual tradition. This year they won, by a comfortable margin, with this gem of a card:

Congratulations to Haynes and Boone and to the firm’s director of marketing, Kathy Guttierez. She provided some interesting background about the HayBoo card:

Haynes and Boone was the first holiday card ATL mentioned as being a “cool holiday card” three years ago — and that was the first year we designed a card by animating business cards. Though we didn’t win the ATL contest [that year], we’re proud of inspiring the writers at ATL, and we’re very proud that the holiday card won a prestigious Ad League Gold ADDY award.

The business cards animated again last year and we made mention in the contest. Now we are in the third year of a three-part series to our holiday card trilogy! And just like some of the greatest trilogies out there, you’ll see some of the characters from the previous years. We wanted it to be clever and unique, but to still tell a beautiful holiday message. Our business cards animate into a magical winter wonderland.

This card was filmed using stop motion animation to physically manipulate each object, frame by frame, and bring our characters to life. Oh… and we used MANY business cards. We think it’s the best of our three-part series and we hope you do too. Enjoy!

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We most certainly did. Congrats again to Haynes and Boone on its classy and classic card, which takes top honors for our 2011 holiday card contest.

Will Haynes and Boone defend its title in 2012? 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 2012 — 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.

P.S. Speaking of contests and winners, thanks to everyone who voted for Above the Law in the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 (in the “News” category). Despite some tough (and superb) competition, we prevailed — which we couldn’t have done without your kind support. So thank you!

Haynes and Boone Holiday Card 2011 – Part Three of the Trilogy [YouTube]

Earlier: ATL Holiday Card Contest: The Finalists! (2011)
Above the Law’s Third Annual Holiday Card Contest (2011)
ATL Holiday Card Contest (2010): The Winner!
ATL Holiday Card Contest (2010): The Finalists!
Above the Law’s Second Annual Holiday Card Contest (2010)
ATL Contest: Akin Gump Has the Coolest Holiday Card (2009)
ATL Contest: Holiday Card Coolness (2009)

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