What McGlinchey Stafford Needed

• Anniversary celebration
• Story preservation
• Culture communication

In 2014, McGlinchey Stafford — a very highly-admired, national law firm — celebrated their 40th anniversary. Many of the stories from the old days were in danger of being lost or forgotten, as some of the long-tenured employees were starting to retire. McGlinchey Stafford sought a way to communicate the fact that it has a very effective culture and is a great place for attorneys to develop their career and practice.

What We Created

• Video package of authentic stories

We conducted in-person interviews with 20 individuals — including current and retired attorneys, long-tenured administrative staff, and even the widows of the firm’s founding partners — to produce a series of six beautiful, compelling, themed videos drawing on stories uncovered in the interviews. We found the firm’s powerful narratives and composed the videos to make their rich history come alive.

Uses and Impact

Feature at an Event — McGlinchey Stafford played the videos on loop at watching stations during its all-hands annual meeting. Employees visited the video booths between business meetings.

Communicate Internally — The firm posted its new videos to its Intranet.

Recruit — The videos do a wonderful job of illustrating McGlinchey Stafford’s culture, so the firm will be sharing them with prospective employees, especially prospective lateral attorneys.

Preserve Culture/Stories — With several long-term employees starting to get older, the firm will use the videos to preserve stories from the past.

Communicate Consistently Across Distributed Offices — McGlinchey Stafford is growing rapidly to offices in cities across the country. The videos help convey the firm’s founding principles to a geographically diverse audience.

Onboarding — New hires will be directed to watch the videos. Employees who know the story of their organization are more likely to feel part of something bigger.

The project turned out to be a priceless experience for McGlinchey Stafford. Culturally-rich stories that hadn’t been told in decades were unearthed from the interview process, including many about the firm’s deceased founding partners. Employees found the videos so engaging that many requested DVD copies.

The project will have a significant positive impact in tangible ways: recruiting top law talent, minimizing turnover, and boosting the already-existing entrepreneurial spirit within the firm.