Everything You Need to Know About Creating Your Law Office Letterhead
Creating an engaging letterhead for your law office is important because in many instances it is the first impression to anyone who encounters the firm. Here’s everything you need to know about making a DIY law office letterhead.
A letterhead is a unique opportunity for attorneys to get creative and personalize their firm’s image. Clients, opposing counsel, and even the general public can come across a firm’s letterhead, so it is important to ensure it is effective for anyone who views it. While a letterhead can set the tone for a firm, it is not necessarily something that needs to be paid for in order to achieve its purpose.
Getting Started
Creating a letterhead can be a fun activity for attorneys to refresh their firm’s image and place it on display. This DIY can go hand-in-hand with redesigning the firm’s website as well. Working on both of these projects together creates cohesion and enhances the firm’s overall brand and image.
The Logo
Pay special attention to the logo. Ensure it packs a visual punch and adheres to the overall message and branding of the firm. The logo is essentially the most important aspect of the letterhead, and where a majority of the first impression is made. This is one opportunity where a firm can hire a graphic design professional. A strong new or redesigned logo is an investment and something that is likely to be associated with the firm for years to come.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Legal Marketing in 2021
Creating the Letterhead
Microsoft Word can be utilized to make the letterhead. The first place to start is at the header of a document. Clicking at the very top of the page will make the header visible. This is the area to focus on when placing the letterhead. Once the letterhead is placed on the header of one page, it will be synchronous to all of the others as well. This letterhead can be saved and used for all documents the attorney intends to use it for.
It is important to note that once the letterhead is created, the header will fade. It is still there, but this occurs to prevent accidental changes from being made to the header while the body of the document is being worked on.
Information to Include
When crafting the letterhead, the common structure is as follows. This of course can be personalized to the firm’s liking, depending on if there is additional information to share. Below is an example of elements to include for a given attorney’s letterhead. These elements can be adapted to represent the entire firm as well.
Most importantly, include the firm’s logo in the letterhead! And then,
- Name,
- Title,
- Phone number,
- Fax number (if applicable),
- Email address,
- Mailing address,
- Any additional contact information (i.e. second mailing address), and the
- State(s) by which the firm is certified to practice law.
Related: How to Successfully Get More Clients to Your Law Firm
Additional Tips
Be sure to stay consistent with font sizes, styles, and spacings. These stylistic choices are personal, but use discretion to ensure that the font especially can be easily read. There should be adequate spacing as well, ideally so the letterhead is centered on the top of the page; not too low nor high. Margins may need to be adjusted in Microsoft Word, depending on which version of the software is used. Once all of these settings are adjusted to the firm’s satisfaction, there is an option to set the changes to the letterhead as a default.
Last, but not least…
Have fun, be creative, and stay true to the firm’s vision!
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