Justice Isn’t Colorblind

An ad agency’s analysis of how the 200 most profitable law firms use color on their Web sites shows a surprising trend: Blue is hot.

According to a Boston Globe story on the survey, 116 of the firms predominantly use blue — seen as a “low arousal� color — in logos, Web sites, business cards and other marketing materials. On the other hand, only 19 firms use high-arousal red in their brand identity, according to Boston-based Partners + Simons.

But California, a state that’s always been more interested in making, rather than following, trends, doesn’t sync up with the rest of the country.

A quick look at the Web sites of 12 big Golden State firms paints a different picture — one might even call it a rainbow coalition.

• Latham & Watkins: red and gray
• O’Melveny & Myers: blue and green
• Gibson, Dunn: earth tones
• Paul, Hastings: blue
• Morrison & Foerster: black and blue
• Orrick, Herrington: green and gray
• Heller Ehrman: red, black and yellow
• Pillsbury Winthrop: red, white and gray
• Wilson Sonsini: yellow and blue
• Cooley Godward: red, white and gray
• Thelen Reid & Priest: blue and white
• Sheppard, Mullin: blue, white and orange

I can see it now: Cravath, Swaine & Moore will redesign its site using an orange and pink motif.

— Candice McFarland