A New Name
Atlas Orange – A New Name
The last six months of practice as Atlas Law have been an absolute joy for my team and me. Even though many things stayed the same when we made the jump from CGO to Atlas (same people, same space), the new name and new brand has been liberating for us as a group. We’ve been lucky enough to stay absolutely hectic through the first five and a half months of operation. We’ve closed almost four hundred real estate transactions, even with a limited schedule, and drafted a slew of Wills, Powers of Attorney, Seller Documents, Quitclaim Deeds, Combination Deeds, etc. We expect the rest of 2022 to stay just as busy!
So, we are changing our name from “Atlas Law” to “Atlas Orange”. Pause for dramatic effect.
Why We are Changing
Seriously, we have just started getting into our stockpile of pens. All the “Atlas Law” apparel has been embroidered and delivered, and now we are changing the name? Four months in?
The simple version of things is that, once we started practicing as Atlas Law, one of the many law firms that use the same moniker across the nation (more than ten we can count) threatened to sue us for trademark infringement. I’ll be as direct as possible in confidently saying we have and had the absolute legal right to use the name Atlas Law, despite this firm’s threat.
I talked with my team about it—they gave me good insight. The name is representative of who we are, but it is not the definition of who we are. Honestly, we did not love the fact that so many law firms were out there using the same name as us.
The idea of defending a trademark lawsuit fighting for something that was not essential to our success made the decision obvious. We needed to change the name. None of us wanted to walk away from the momentum we have built as Atlas. Certainly, we did not want to completely shift gears to something generic or gimmicky.
The sentiment from the group was that Atlas Law was too stoic, too monolithic. We needed something that helped set off the institutional feel of Atlas. The word “Atlas” is still a big part of who we are… enduring and capable of carrying the weight of the world.
Why “Orange”
It started as a good suggestion, early on, that we have a secondary color to offset our blue/grey color scheme. As the last four months have passed, it became very clear that the color orange was a big part of how we wanted to market and present Atlas to the world. We realized that it wasn’t the color orange, but the idea of orange that spoke to us so much.
Orange is representative of the things that we value as a firm, the very things that set us apart as a business: enthusiasm, change, creativity, determination, optimism. Orange is sometimes called the “energetic color.” Orange is the color of joy.
If fire is red and the sun/light is yellow, orange is the merging of those two things—the tempered change of fire and the lifegiving illumination of light. Orange is bold enough to stand on its own, but dynamic enough to change and grow into others.
Orange is the perfect counterbalance to the stoicism of Atlas. It really does describe our firm much more accurately—what is like to work here and do business here. As we have been known to say, we like to practice “happy law” at our firm. Every time you walk in the door, we want you to feel the joy and enthusiasm that we get out of what we do. Most law firms have to be serious, buttoned-up places. We have the luxury of coming alongside our clients and friends to handle some of the happiest and most important moments in their lives.
How Will They Know
We certainly understand that taking the word “law” out of our name is a bold move for a new law firm. People might drive by our sign in the middle of town and wonder what we do and who we are…
We have always said that our firm is more than just a law firm. First and foremost, we are a group of people that cherish relationships and connections with our clients/friends way before we prioritize the transactional aspect of law practice. We hope to be business and community leaders, not transactional attorneys. Putting “law firm” in our name should not, by default, make us trusted professionals or respected advisors—that is something you earn though experience and iteration.
Besides, we prefer to come alongside the people with whom we work. Those people will know that we are a law firm, and that we are the best law firm they know. Many of you already know it! Having it in the name doesn’t get us there any faster.
What to Expect
Not much will change for our clients, agents, and colleagues, honestly. You will still be able to write “Atlas Law” on checks or see our website by typing in “atlas-law.com”. Over time, we will begin to phase in new marketing material, which we will all enjoy. The pens and folders will gradually convert over from Atlas Law to Atlas Orange.
We’ll be sure to communicate changes with you in the coming months, but please feel free to keep using the same email addresses, phone numbers, portal links, templates, and pet names that you have been using with the old name.
If you have ever dealt with our firm, we value communication above all things. Please feel free to reach out with questions, comments, praise, and criticism. Make sure you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, where we will continue to entertain ourselves while pretending it is for your benefit!
More than anything, thank you for your patience and support as we make changes and grow. As Dagny Taggart says, “Do it first and feel about it afterwards.” The last four months of success and happiness have been humbling for us all, and still we are committed to pursuing the best version of our firm, such that today is better than yesterday. Love you all!
