Solicitors firm gets animated in bid to overcome legal jargon

From the courtroom to the cartoon studio — a leading law firm has commissioned a quirky animation to explain its services in plain English.

Cork-based litigation specialists Ernest J Cantillon Solicitors have created a 90-second animation to cut through complicated legal jargon and instead use straight-talking to explain the services its team of lawyers can offer.

The firm has been involved in several high-profile cases over the years, most recently the landmark case taken by abuse victim Louise O’Keeffe against the State to the European Court of Human Rights.

The animation was created by Dog Day Media, which specialises in creating communication pieces using current media trends.

The team at Ernest J Cantillon Solicitors worked closely with Dog Day Media to break down the legal jargon in their bid to eliminate confusion about certain legal processes.

Lyndy Cantillon, a solicitor at the firm, played a key role in the project.

“We wanted to create something that really told the story of who we are and what we do, in a modern light,” said Ms Cantillon.

“We wanted it to be straight-talking and articulate, leaving out any confusion that people often have around the legal process.

“The legal sector is not usually known for embracing technology, so this online animation is an innovative step for the profession and for us it is part of our on-going philosophy of embracing new media as a tool to show people what we do.

“All of our team have received training in social media and many of us are blogging, tweeting, and using Facebook on a regular basis. With this animation, we have a really quirky way to show people online exactly what we do and what makes us different.”

Eoin Devlin, director of animation with Dog Day, said he and his team were delighted to get involved in what they believe might be the first project of its kind for a legal firm in Ireland.

“We like to set new boundaries in what we can do and it was refreshing working with the team in Ernest J Cantillon’s who approach their work in the same way,” said Mr Devlin.

* www.cantillons.com