Joining
the
hall
of
famous
rebrands
somewhere
between
Meta
and
the
Artist
Formerly
Known
as
Prince,
AffiniPay
announced
this
morning
—
at
8am
local
time
—
that
they
officially
changed
their
name
to
8am.
The
logo
even
sort
of
has
an
Artist
Formerly
Known
as
Prince
look.
The
name
“AffiniPay”
was
too
tethered
to
payments,
perfect
branding
for
the
parent
company
of
LawPay,
but
a
little
limiting
after
acquiring
MyCase,
CasePeer,
and
DocketWise.
While
lawyers
cordon
off
a
special
place
in
their
hearts
for
getting
paid,
AffiniPay’s
offerings
had
outgrown
the
“Pay”
moniker.
That
said,
8am
could
comfortably
identify
anything
from
a
wake-up
call
service
to
a
donut
joint
that
charges
$11
for
coffee
and
awkwardly
forces
you
to
reject
the
default
25
percent
tip.
Not
that
names
have
to
be
self-explanatory.
Blackberry
sounded
like
produce
company
until
it
became
the
most
important
business
device
in
the
world.
Still,
a
name
has
to
trigger
a
connection
with
the
audience.
Like
if
LexisNexis
rebranded
as
“2am,”
bringing
us
back
to
the
moment
we
realize
we’ve
been
researching
the
wrong
jurisdiction
for
six
hours.
Chief
Marketing
Officer
Nate
Skinner
said,
“The
name
8am
captures
the
energy
and
focus
we
bring
to
our
customers
every
day…”
which
suggests
the
company
approaches
8am
very
differently
than
the
rest
of
us
because
my
8am
energy
is
“bleary-eyed
contempt.”
That’s
the
time
in
the
office
when
lawyers
peruse
personal
emails
and
order
coffee
while
trying
to
work
themselves
up
to
the
idea
of
real
work.
Skinner
continued,
“It’s
about
making
our
value
clear
and
helping
our
customers
build
momentum
from
the
moment
their
day
begins.”
This
latter
explanation
makes
a
lot
more
sense
than
evoking
the
energy
and
focus
of
the
early
morning,
so
we’ll
just
forget
about
that
first
part.
8am
(the
company)
handles
the
tasks
that
lawyers
dread
tackling
during
that
half-asleep
8am
(the
hour)
period.
That’s
when
they’ve
slunk
into
the
office
to
handle
billing,
conflict
checks,
calendaring,
and
all
the
other
back-office
chores
that
they
can
only
accomplish
before
everyone
starts
swamping
them
with
calls
and
emails
about
the
actual
law
at
9am.
It’s
an
implied
pledge
to
help
lawyers
—
and
other
professionals
—
get
their
8am
hour
back.
In
small
law,
trying
to
balance
running
a
business
with
practicing
a
profession,
getting
back
any
hour
is
important.
Getting
back
the
precious
8-9
hour
is
golden.
For
a
company
with
such
a
long
history,
the
name
change
is
going
to
take
some
getting
used
to.
Especially
in
November
when
they
have
to
change
back
to
“7am”
to
comply
with
professional
business
platform
standard
time.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
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Joe
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Managing
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