What slop looks like in law firms
A courthouse column or a gavel from a stock library, "Your trusted partner in legal matters", a practice-areas grid with scales-of-justice icons, a team section with "Partner" and no surname, and a footer without an Impressum, address or bar membership. In Germany the missing Impressum is a legal problem before it is a design one.
What a designer would have done
Real names, real photos, the bar admission, the office address and hours on the first screen, the practice areas in the firm's own words, and a page per lawyer. Trust is proven with specifics, not with a gavel.
Tells to check first
- No Impressum: A site operated from Germany or selling into it without the legally required Impressum, or with one that names nobody.
- A team that does not exist: An "Our team" section with generated portraits and names, or stock people presented as staff, for a business that is one person.
- AI-generated stock people: Smiling people with too-perfect skin, melting jewellery, six fingers or text on their clothing that is not in any language, presented as the team, the patients or the customers.
- Social links to the platform home page: Footer icons for X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook that link to x.com, linkedin.com and instagram.com, not to any account.
- The swap-test headline: A headline of the form "Innovative solutions for your business" or "Your reliable partner for X": swap in a competitor's name and nothing changes.
- "In today's fast-paced world": An opening line that begins with the state of the world: "In today's fast-paced digital landscape", "In an ever-evolving market", "Now more than ever".
