Attorneys Michael Olecki and Allen Grodsky start brainstorming their firm’s holiday card as early as July.
The pressure starts building early on because the four-lawyer litigation shop has a tradition of creating witty, entertaining, and relevant cards. Around October or November, Olecki and Grodsky really hunker down and come up with the concept.
“We think way outside the box,” Olecki said. “Ultimately, when we feel it’s good, we show it to other people. We know it’s right when everyone laughs.”
This year, they considered current events in the L.A. and the theme quickly emerged: the ongoing writers’ strike. “At least in L.A., it’s on everyone’s mind.” Grodsky explained.
They came up with a card that lays out a suspenseful scene — involving a figure lurking in the shadows as the duo walks toward their office building on a dark, stormy night— but cuts off abruptly because, well, there’s a writers’ strike.
“In its place, please enjoy our new reality series: Sexy/Hot Lawyers of Santa Monica,” the card ends.
The theme was especially relevant for the firm’s entertainment clients, a range of writers, directors and producers.
“It’s this tricky thing — You want to get a matter of public interest— and it’s even better if it’s controversial — and you want to say something funny that doesn’t pick sides,” Grodsky said.
This year’s holiday card (we've got a .pdf) is the fifth one the litigation shop has done. Past cards have made fun of the governator's pronouncing of "California" and even hit on political blue-state/red-state humor — all in the name of being less generic with their holiday cheer.
“We personalize every card, and if we were concerned someone would take it the wrong way, we could diffuse that through a personal message,” Olecki said.
So far, the reaction has been great on the writers’ strike spoof, with both writer and producer clients finding the humor. The firm has received dozens of e-mails saying it was the most entertaining card the client had seen.
But perhaps the best reaction was a client who played along. The client, a writer, wrote back with the “script” to the first episode “The Hot/Sexy Lawyers of Santa Monica.”
“It was hilarious,” Olecki said.
— Kellie Schmitt
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