5 • A valuable third-party endorsement is better than a law firm’s own claims about its skills and expertise • Champions the achievements of a firm. Much of a lawyer’s work is sensitive and takes place behind the scenes, but occasionally they work on a career-defining case or transaction that leads to a great outcome for a client. Directories recognize such achievements, and celebrate the excellence and success of lawyers. • Raising the profile of a firm. Law firms are low key and will rarely grab the headlines in the mainstream news and business media, so specialist publications like legal directories have emerged to publicize law firms’ activities. • Useful for brochures, pitches, press releases, other award submissions, advertising, social media. • Tool to benchmark yourselves against your competitors. • A boost in driving lawyer recruitment – lateral hires, new hires, summer interns, etc. • Important because clients and General Counsel (“GC”) look at them when making decisions, either drawing up shortlists of firms they want to work with OR confirming their choice. A buyer of legal services can choose from a large range of potential providers for most projects. That creates demand for legal directories, as law firms seek to promote and differentiate themselves from other firms in the market so legal directories provide buyers of legal services with helpful information that enables them to make a more informed choice as to legal advisor. While directories are rarely the biggest factor that influences buyer behavior, numerous surveys show that consumers of legal services read directories, and that directories play a role in helping them to decide which law firm to select. Who are the most reputable and prized legal directories? Two British legal publishing entrepreneurs, Michael Chambers and John Pritchard, developed a new style of directory in the mid-1980s in London – both Lee and Eleni worked in senior roles as editors here. The founders of Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 respectively, pioneered a new concept in legal directory publishing in which law firms were asked to prepare written submissions highlighting their achievements over the last year. Teams of researchers and editors would review the materials and supplement them with interviews with lawyers and clients. Once the research was finalized, the directories published tiered rankings of firms and lawyers, broken down by practice, with accompanying editorial commentary and quotes. The Chambers/Legal 500 formula has been successful over the last 30+ years, despite competition from technologydriven rivals, and both organizations have expanded globally to the point where most commercial law firms of a certain size are now exposed to them and/
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