Today marks the launch of Chambers & Partner’s 2024 UK coverage, following on from The Legal 500 which launched its UK guide on October 04th. Chambers marked the occasion with an approximately 20-minute webinar, revealing some intriguing statistics and trends.
Overall, 5,500 individual departments were recognised, with 13,000 lawyers ranked on an individual basis, this marks an increase of 220 newly recognised practices and 834 additional lawyers.
Firms who have been submitting for years to no avail will have taken heed of the example of US-headquartered Armstrong Teasdale who, after numerous years of participating, received its first ever recognition in the UK via a ranking for its sports department. Evidently, a story reminding firms that persistence, and a desire to improve on submissions each year, can pay off.
Likewise, Chambers provided the example of Mann & Co which received a ranking upon its very first submission. The message all-around was that most firms were being recognised than ever, and that no outfit should be deterred from submitting, evident through the anecdote that numerous boutiques had received recognition for the first time.
Chambers also announced that it will be adding new SME-focused tables to its 2025 edition, a move which will no doubt continue the theme of increased focus for smaller- and mid-sized firms who will have noted that, in place of the usual suspects, it was actually Hill Dickinson, DWF and Foot Antsey who received the most newly ranked individual lawyers this year.
The door is certainly open to firms who may not involved in multi-million transactions, or act for household names, so long as they can clearly convey why their work is of significance beyond sheer matter value or profile.
The market leading directory also extended its welcome to female lawyers, who were noted to now outrank males by approximately 1/3 in the Up-and-Coming rankings. While it will likely take many years for the legal industry’s more inclusive trends to be represented at the more senior levels, Chambers did note that the 60/40 barrier was close to being broken, with 505 of the 834 newly ranked names being female.
Evidently, The Legal 500 and Chambers’s recent encouragement for firms to put forward more female lawyers is paying dividends, though firms still need to do more and ensure that candidates are properly and fairly advocated, namely through sufficiently exhibited work.
Chambers noted that its market research had been informed by more firm interviews than ever, along with 54,000 market responses from referees. Firms will have been reminded that the directory process is threefold between a strong submission, an insightful follow up interview, and a large, illuminating exhibition of client endorsements.
At Tier One Rankings, we are home to over 20 years of experience at Legal 500/Chambers, including three former editors. We naturally believe we are well-equipped to support on all fronts so please feel free to reach out, ahead of the December 6th deadline for the UK 2025 edition, should our services be of interest. For more information, please contact Galit Imbo at galit@nishlis.com.
Key Statistics
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- 5500 Departments Ranked (220 New)
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- 13,000 Individual Lawyers Ranked (834 New)
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- 505 Newly Ranked Women
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- 54,000 Market Responses
New Practice Areas
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- Restructuring/Insolvency: Disputes: Introduced due to a recent uptick in this line of work
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- Employment: High Court Litigation: Promoted by an increase in such matters, particularly in respect of team moves, restrictive covenant breaches and the protection of confidential information
Reconfigured Practice Areas
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- Private Equity: Buyouts – The ‘High-end Capability’ section is now called ‘500m and above’ while the ‘Mid-market’ section is now ‘Up to 500m’
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- Corporate/M&A outside of London – Most regions have had their ‘Mid-market & Private Equity’ and ‘Lower Mid-market’ tables replaced by ’25 million and above’ and ‘5 million and above’ sections
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- Capital Markets and Real Estate Finance – These tables are now UK-wide, as opposed to London only.
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- Investment Funds – Secondaries now ranks firms and lawyers in distinct bands, while Venture Capital and Credit Funds rank lawyers in different tiers. Credit Funds also has a spotlight table for departments
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- Sanctions – Previously a spotlight table in the 2023 guide, Sanctions now includes three tiers for both department and lawyer rankings
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- Inquests and Public Inquiries – As these areas of UK law continue to grow, both of these tables now include bands for lawyers and law firms
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- Financial Crime – Firms now have the opportunity to be ranked in Financial Crime: Private Prosecutions alongside our lawyers’ rankings
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- Energy & Natural Resources – Mining: International and Mining: Domestic ranking tables now include department insights and analysis
