Presentation is key to client perception.

Christopher Avery stresses the importance of firms maintaining modern and stylish identities

With all the mergers between law firms over the past few years, there has been a multitude of new corporate identities and names.

Indeed, it has been a positive spin-off that the glorious period pieces that embodied so many firm logos and name styles have been replaced with often highly simplified and contemporary designs that are considerably more suited to the environment in which they operate.

Some, on the other hand, are dreadful - the designers have obviously browbeaten the partners into accepting obscure and indecipherable solutions.

As a medium-sized firm, which is growing fast, the appearance of so many contemporary typefaces adorning the no-longer brass plaques outside law firm offices, has hastened a major review of our own image.

Identities are about perception, about a firm's values, about markets and about service.

Ruthlessly examining a firm's professional navel is both productive and challenging.

Corporate identity, or even brand, is not just a letterhead.

It is every facet of your business.

It is the manner in which the telephone is answered, the way your staff dress, the typeface and colours you use on your e-mails, the interior design of your offices, the brand of water you drink in the boardroom or the newspapers on the reception table, and whether you should have a reception table and chairs at all, as it implies that you cannot manage your schedule well enough to be on time for an appointment.

The style of an office can say much about an organisation, its values and its ambitions.

Or it may represent the taste of the managing partner and the two can be mutually exclusive.

It was long thought that dark wood Dickensian desks and tables evoked an atmosphere of trust and reliability.

Rubbish - it often implies a company still coming to terms with the telex rather than an organisation with its intellectual fingertips on the pulse of new business practices and the demands of the global market.

Equally, the name, typography, layout or logo associated with a firm says much about how client focused and in touch an organisation is.

Law firms are no different from any other form of business.

They do not work to different rules and, consequently, a client's initial perceptions of a firm are as important for the lawyer as for anyone else.

A medium-sized firm such as ours needs to review how it presents itself regularly on every level.

New technology affects the way we communicate and creates its own idiosyncratic requirements for identity application.

The change is relentless.

However, change does not need to be dramatic.

There is often much good in an existing identity - it is probably why it was chosen in the first place.

If merger name change is not the driver, the principal question must be whether the identity is making the right noises to your existing clients and those you are seeking to attract.

The answer is rarely simple.

It is usually a matter of degree as the client base of most firms is diverse - geographically, in industry sector, in size and in attitudes.

For Pitmans, the change - subtle as it is - is a signal to our staff, our clients, potential staff and potential clients, that we recognise progress and new business cultures without necessarily bowing to this year's graphic or visual fashion.

We will continue aggressively to review how we service our clients, and our presentation is a small but vital part of this process.

Indeed, all firms should regularly review the manner in which they talk to their audiences; not to do so exhibits either ignorance or complacency - both rather worrying words when linked to the running of successful businesses.

Presentation is more important than many like to admit and many a decision has been based on packaging rather than substance - not always a satisfying thought, but one to respect nevertheless.

Christopher Avery is the managing partner of Reading-based law firm Pitmans.

The firm's new identity launches on 1 September