6 tips to improve your firm’s ranking in Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500

When it comes to law firm ranking, the research process carried out by prestigious international directories Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 around the world consists of market research. In order to carry it out, both directories appoint specialised researchers to study and analyse the legal services market in each of the countries for a period of one year.

Although in this research it is inevitably the market that ends up passing judgement, in our experience, after years of experience in this type of process, we have identified certain variables that can help and assist law firms to gain positive points in the research stage.

In order to improve your law firm ranking: Use of clear and simple language

It is not as obvious as it seems. One of the most common mistakes we have detected in the submissions sent by firms is the use of extremely technical, convoluted and unfriendly language. Most researchers are not lawyers – speak to them in their ‘language’.

Select your referee’s list carefully

A referee is any contact who is able to give a reference or assessment of the work of the team, partners and the practice area to be included in the law firm ranking. Referees can be clients, colleagues, members of associations, chambers of commerce and bar associations, to name a few.

It is crucial that they are contacts who are in the field and have first-hand knowledge of the firm’s work. All referees are of great value in the research process; however, client feedback and perception are the most valued aspects by international directories.

Try, therefore, to include in your referee’s spreadsheet clients who are satisfied with the firm’s work, who are close to the Partners and who give positive references about the work carried out by the team.

 Tell your referees about the research process.

Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 are already part of the everyday world of lawyers; however, for many businesspeople and contacts in other sectors, international directories are still completely unknown.

We have seen many cases where researchers have failed to receive sufficient feedback from a firm due to the lack of response and knowledge their referees have about the research process. So, crucially, make sure you contact them beforehand and take a few minutes to explain to your referrals what the research process is all about and how important it is to the law firm ranking and the firm itself.

Strategically select the matters to report in your submission.

Focus on quality, not quantity. Even if your firm has handled hundreds of thousands of cases over the past 12 months, not every matter your firm handles is worthy of being reported on the form. After completing many submissions and participating in many research processes, we recommend thinking about the following variables when including matters in your form:

Think about leading international, multinational companies that are widely recognised by everyone. Remember that this is a market study and, therefore, what is being evaluated is the perception and positioning of your firm in the legal services market. If you have internationally recognised clients, it is because your image in the market is strong and stable.

Not all firms have a large portfolio of multinational clients. This does not mean that in your jurisdiction your firm is not recognised and well positioned. Think also of national companies, leaders in a specific sector of the economy or industry. If your clients are local, but are heavyweights in their areas of expertise, you will also score positive points in the research process.

Include relevant news or milestones of the firm.

In addition to client recognition, your firm’s involvement in transactions, litigation or matters of high media coverage or relevance to the development of the country or a specific industry also earns positive points.

Do not forget to include all links to news items related to the matters your team handles, and remember to communicate in your submissions the reasons why the matter you are reporting on is of national relevance.

The legal complexity of the matters handled by the firm is also important. For example, whether you have been involved in a multi-jurisdictional negotiation, whether your firm has managed to change case law precedent, or whether, through your advice, you have managed to avoid a multi-million dollar fine for your client, among many other success stories that can be included in submissions.

Highlight the firm’s values

The research process is not the place to be modest about the firm’s work. On the contrary, it is a space to communicate and highlight all the added values that the firm, the Partners and the team have. Explicitly point out the reasons why your firm is better than other firms doing the same thing.

Don’t just say “we are a firm that provides personalised service”, “we are a firm with more experience than others” or “we are a firm with the highest ethical standards”. Really think about differentiating values, about niches or industries that you know better than the competition, about internal processes that your firm has that others do not, about innovation and technology projects in which your firm is a pioneer, etcetera.

Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 are very powerful marketing tools for a law firm. Taking advantage of them will undoubtedly mean visibility, recognition, positioning and new business opportunities for your firm.

Gericó Associates is pioneer on Legal Marketing Consultancy services, LegalCom and Business Development in Europe and Latin America. If your firm needs councelling looking for new trends and challenges within the legal sector, do not hesitate to contact us by clicking here.