Ace Your Legal Directory Submissions

We believe that legal directory rankings are one of the best forms of legal marketing that a law firm can have. They are often the first port of call when looking to instruct counsel and act as a recruitment guide for law students and trainee solicitors. However, we also understand that the legal directory submissions process can be time-consuming and frustrating when it doesn’t result in the desired ranking.

Across our team of legal marketing experts, we have reviewed tens of thousands of legal directory submissions and know how to attract the attention of a researcher. We’ve put together some key considerations to support your legal directory submissions:

: Get strategic

Use a strategy tailored to each directory’s methodology to establish who to showcase on your submission; from ranked lawyers to those with the potential to be ranked and both senior and junior members of the practice group team. Ensure that everyone understands what information you need and when. This improves partner engagement and helps you gather relevant information ahead of deadlines. Using a multi-year strategy is also important to maximize the chances of your firm entering rankings or being promoted in ranking because the research process is cumulative. In particular for Chambers, it can take two to three research cycles to gain or improve a ranking.

Don’t forget to include junior partners or associates.

Having well ranked lawyers across all levels of seniority elevates the reputation of the firm as a whole and often leads to an improved ranking for the practice area group in question. It demonstrates that expertise and capability run through the entire firm and does not sit solely with the Senior and Managing Partners. For firms concerned about resources when embarking on the legal directory submission process, it is understandable why some would hesitate to expend limited resource on junior partners and associates with less experience behind them than more established partners. However, should Chambers be a target directory, it is important to begin the process sooner rather than later, to take advantage of Chambers’ cumulative research methodology.

: Identify what each directory prioritises

Each legal directory employs its own research methodology. Understanding what impacts ranking decisions for different directories is crucial but can be difficult for business development teams to determine. For example, referee feedback contributes up to 60% of a ranking decision for Chambers. This often leads to many questions when trying to craft a viable referee strategy for Chambers. For instance, how many referees should a lawyer supply? How do we improve the group’s overall referee response rate? Who would be a good referee to include? Kidd Aitken has the answers to these questions and the necessary expertise to act as a trusted project manager alongside your business development teams.

: Pitch your firm effectively

All legal directory submissions include a section about your firm. This is your ‘statement’ which will be supported by your work highlights. It should introduce your lawyers (ranked and unranked), demonstrate your standout attributes and how you differ from your competitors in that practice area. Directories may have different standards when it comes to the level of detail they require, but always ensure that your pitches are reflected in your work highlights and referees. For example, if you suggest a lawyer should be ranked more highly, it is best practice to include them on work highlights and a few referees who will provide feedback for them specifically.

Make your pitch clearly and succinctly.

Our consultants handle thousands of submissions a year so know that brevity is best. Moreover, we arewell placed to review and write persuasive pitches tailored to each legal directory.

: The ‘write’ content for work highlights

Many clients initially provide only surface-level descriptions for their work highlights. Don’t forget to detail any novel legal issues or transaction structures, as well as any information about matters being landmark within the market context. Of course, not every matter can be novel or landmark. However, there are many ways to emphasise the significance of a matter, whether through the relative complexity of the legal work, the market context, matter value or the importance of the outcome for the client.

At the other end of the spectrum, filling a work highlight with technical terms and legalese might seem like an opportunity to impress the researcher. However, even though researchers and Editors are highly skilled in their field and jurisdiction, many do not have formal legal training. Using technical language may make your submission harder to analyse. Instead, focus on using simple terms and language that make the matter easy to understand.

More information to support your legal directory submissions is available here:

- Why participate?

- Your guide to Chambers submissions (broadly applicable to Legal 500,IFLR1000 and more)

-The benefits of submitting Junior Partners for a legal directory ranking

- How long does it take to compile a legal directory submission

- Highlighting complexity in your submissions

- Role of strategy meetings in legal directory submissions

Kidd Aitken is one of the largest legal directory consultancies with over a decade of experience building legal rankings for top tier law firms around the world. Our consultants are are former directory Editors, Deputy Editors, researchers, in-house marketing executives and solicitors. Each year we handle 3,500 – 4000 submissions per year for Chambers, IFLR1000, Legal 500 and other prestigious directories for our clients, which truly gives us a unique insight into best practice for strong submissions. Get in touch to find out how we can build your rankings.

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