Legal 500 Elite Rankings Explained

The first Legal 500 US Elite Rankings were recently published, and have since expanded to cover China and US Private Clients, but what does this mean for lawyers and law firms? Below is a quick overview on what you need to know,  including practice areas, locations and who can submit. Here's a guide to the Legal 500. These rankings are ongoing with more countries, cities, and possibly practice areas, to be announced over the course of this year.  

Who do these new rankings focus on?

Key lawyers outside global elite firms who are handling work at the top of the legal market in their respective cities. Essentially, it focuses on lawyers at regional powerhouses that may be neglected by other rankings. Law firm practice groups are not ranked, only individual lawyers.

How can I get ranked?

“Our selection process begins with researchers creating a list of prospective candidates, which is extensively reviewed by our editorial team. All shortlisted lawyers are invited to make a submission and participate in a brief 30-minute interview with our researchers, while submissions and interviews are also open to all qualifying attorneys.  During the interview, we also solicit extensive peer feedback regarding other lawyers operating in their respective legal sectors. Lawyers are also invited to supply client references to support their inclusion.”

Where does Legal Elite rank lawyers?

It began with New York, Chicago and Washington DC and has expanded to include major cities across the US. A full list is available here. There are also specific US Private Client rankings currently focusing on New York, California and Florida in specific practice areas. In China, Elite rankings cover Shanghai and Beijing with expansion to other key legal markets expected in the coming research cycles.

What practice areas are ranked?

The Legal 500 Elite rankings focus on commercial/corporate practice areas and Legal 500 US Private Client rankings focus on Art and Property Art and Cultural Property, Family Wealth and Private Wealth but more could be announced as coverage expands.

Full Legal 500 FAQs here and an overview on changes to submissions and new Referee tool.

Want to learn more? We’re running a series of webinars this spring to help you craft strong submissions, navigate the referee process and understand how to grow your rankings. Keep an eye on our newsletter, website and socials for details.

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. Uniquely, we have a dedicated co-ordination team to monitor and assist law firms in the research process, from start to finish, to ensure the best possible service for our clients.

‍Get in touch to find out how we can grow your rankings.