Scharnhorst Ast Kennard Griffin

About SAKG

Scharnhorst Ast Kennard Griffin (SAKG) is a Kansas City boutique civil litigation firm, founded in 2006 and built for the trial. Their team of more than 20 trial attorneys represents Fortune 500 companies, healthcare institutions, construction firms, design professionals, governmental entities, and businesses of every size in complex, high-stakes matters across the country. With over 5,000 cases resolved across six focused areas of practice, SAKG has built a reputation grounded in preparation, precision, and results.

The Challenge

SAKG had a problem familiar to many established firms. The quality of their work and the caliber of their attorneys had grown well beyond what their existing WordPress website was able to communicate. Their digital presence was dated, visually inconsistent, and failed to reflect the polish, confidence, and trial-first identity clients experienced in person.

The issues went deeper than aesthetics. Attorney profiles across the site varied widely in tone, length, structure, and depth, which made it hard for prospective clients to compare attorneys, evaluate experience, or get a clear sense of who SAKG really is. The firm’s story, values, and core differentiators were under-told. SAKG needed a partner who could rebuild the entire digital experience from the ground up while honoring the brand they had spent nearly two decades establishing.

“Our previous website was dated and no longer reflected who we are or the level of service we deliver. We needed a digital presence that matched the quality of our practice, told our story clearly, and gave us a foundation we could grow with.” Sean P. Hamer, Shareholder

Why SAKG Chose UPWARD

SAKG selected UPWARD for our depth of experience working with professional service firms, our process for tying messaging to design, and our commitment to delivering a product the client could confidently own and manage long after launch. From the very first conversation, it was clear this would be a true collaboration rather than a transactional handoff.

Crafting the Message

UPWARD led the messaging work from the ground up. We collaborated closely with Sean, Jeff, and the broader SAKG leadership team to clarify the firm’s voice and craft content that struck the right balance: confident without being boastful, experienced without arrogance, direct, and always grounded in what matters most to their clients. Every page, from the homepage statement “A Civil Litigation Firm Made for the Trial” to the brand principles section (“Principled. Purposeful. Proven.”), was written to feel human, professional, and unmistakably trial-focused.

A Modern, Purposeful Website Design

We designed and built a clean, contemporary website on Webflow that reflects the discipline, focus, and quality of the firm. The design includes purposeful brand details such as a custom CSS-driven right triangle motif inspired by the SAKG logo, along with a draggable, CMS-powered slider on attorney profile pages built with Slick.js. Every interaction was crafted to feel intentional and polished.

Standardizing the Attorney Profile

One of the biggest hurdles going into the project was the inconsistency across attorney profiles. UPWARD worked with SAKG to define a clear, repeatable profile standard that captures each attorney’s background, areas of focus, education, and trial credentials in a cohesive way. From there, we rebuilt every profile on the site to align with the new standard, the firm’s voice, and the broader visual design. The result is a team page that feels unified, professional, and easy to navigate, no matter which attorney a prospective client lands on first.

Professional Photography in Kansas City

To make sure the visuals matched the quality of the messaging and design, UPWARD helped SAKG identify and coordinate professional photographers in Kansas City. We managed the planning and creative direction of the shoot to ensure the resulting headshots and environmental imagery were consistent in style, beautifully lit, and on-brand for the new site. The photography now elevates every attorney profile and gives the firm a strong, modern visual library they can use across the website, presentations, and marketing materials.

Built for Self-Management with UPWARD as a Safety Net

A core priority for SAKG was being able to manage the website on their own for everyday updates, such as adding attorneys, publishing articles, or refreshing content, without depending on a developer for routine work. We built the site with that in mind, structuring the Webflow CMS to be intuitive, well-organized, and approachable for non-technical users. For deeper technical needs, future enhancements, or strategic support, UPWARD remains available as the firm’s ongoing partner. SAKG gets the autonomy of a self-managed site with the confidence of a trusted team behind it.

Fully Optimized for SEO and AEO

The new SAKG website is built to perform across both traditional and emerging search environments. UPWARD implemented a complete SEO foundation, including page-level metadata, semantic page structure, optimized images, thoughtful internal linking, and JSON-LD schema markup tailored for a multi-attorney professional services firm. We also addressed Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), structuring content so it is easily understood and surfaced by AI-powered search tools and assistants. The result is a website positioned to be found, understood, and recommended in the channels where SAKG’s prospective clients are actually searching.

The Results

The new SAKG website delivers on every front. It tells the firm’s story with clarity, presents their team with consistency, and reflects the quality of their trial practice. Internally, the SAKG team can confidently manage the site day to day. Externally, prospective clients now arrive better informed, with a stronger first impression of who SAKG is and what they bring to the table.

“UPWARD didn’t just build us a website, they helped us tell our story. The new site finally reflects the caliber of our team and gives us a foundation that’s easy to manage and built to grow with us.” Jeffrey A. Kennard, Shareholder