Case studies
A transatlantic law firm wanted to future-proof its digital presence before committing to a redesign. Its site was underperforming on visibility and usability, lacked relevance for key target sectors and showed ageing infrastructure and content fatigue. I ran a discovery phase across 59+ artefacts: strategy documents, technical audits, spreadsheets and competitor data, benchmarking 12+ peer firms and evaluating four CMS platforms. The firm went into design and build with a strategic blueprint rather than an assumption.
A transatlantic law firm wanted to future-proof its digital presence. Its existing website was underperforming in both visibility and usability. It lacked relevance for key target sectors and showed signs of ageing infrastructure and content fatigue.
The firm wanted an in-depth discovery phase, following the digital audit, before starting a full redesign. The goal was to gather the right insights, assess the competition, understand the current state and align technical decisions with long-term business goals.
The discovery phase covered 59+ artefacts including strategy documents, technical audits, spreadsheets and competitor data, across three areas.
Reviewed business goals such as increasing brand "fitness scores" for trust, quality, financial strength and delivery. Identified the core sectors to prioritise: transport and logistics, retail, and technology. Uncovered gaps in content relevance and user engagement, flagged SEO weaknesses and low-performing content areas, and raised the potential for split UK and US websites to better serve regional audiences.
Analysed 12+ peer firms, including DLA Piper, Shoosmiths, Addleshaw Goddard and Withers, benchmarked on domain authority, readability, homepage structure and mobile user experience. Share of search data revealed how the firm's brand was actually perceived, and comparing the commercial and private wealth sector positions identified both white space and competitive threats.
Evaluated four CMS platforms, WordPress, Statamic, Umbraco and Drupal, for usability, flexibility and developer suitability. Built a full content matrix mapping current site pages by performance and relevance. Reviewed personas including in-house general counsel, who need authority and clarity, high-net-worth individuals, who need discretion and trust, and clients in complex or mature legal scenarios, who need reassurance and guidance. Throughout, the need for scalable taxonomy, modular content blocks and a clearer content hierarchy.
By the end of the discovery phase the firm had a full strategic blueprint for its new digital platform: a clear view of future-state website goals, user journeys prioritised by audience segment, competitive advantages to replicate or leapfrog, a shortlist of technically viable CMS platforms, and the groundwork for a leaner content strategy.
That meant moving into design and build with alignment across stakeholders rather than with the arguments still open.
"The depth of insight from the discovery work helped us make informed decisions from the start. We've avoided costly mistakes and now have a clear sense of where we're going, and how to get there."
Strategic discovery reduces risk and increases stakeholder alignment, which is the unglamorous half of why big website projects succeed. Persona-led design sharpens both content and user experience, competitive benchmarking shows threats as well as opportunities, and a CMS choice has to balance ease of use against long-term flexibility rather than optimising for either alone.
The general point: the cost of discovery is always smaller than the cost of the decisions it stops you making badly.
This is digital strategy work. The audit that preceded it is in global law firm digital audit.
They answer different questions. The audit established where the website was and what was wrong with it; discovery establishes what the replacement has to do, which sectors to prioritise, how the competition is positioned and which platform can carry it. Going into a redesign with only the first is how firms rebuild the same problem.
On usability and long-term flexibility together, not either alone. WordPress, Statamic, Umbraco and Drupal were each evaluated for how the firm's own people would use them and how well they would carry a scalable taxonomy and modular content, then shortlisted rather than picked.
Where the white space is. Domain authority, readability, homepage structure and mobile experience across firms like DLA Piper, Shoosmiths, Addleshaw Goddard and Withers, plus share of search, shows what the market already does well, and therefore which ground is worth contesting.
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