7 It’s about what they need to see, not what you want to say. So we must be familiar with their methodology, meet their submission criteria, and submit before the deadlines. Between the guides, there are slightly different ranking weights but a firm’s chances hinge on the 1) quality of work 2) client feedback 3) peer feedback and acknowledgement. Let’s take each of these in turn: 1) The quality of work is showcased in “matter descriptions” or “work highlights” which ask the lawyer for some basic facts, as well as the key factor: What made it complex or innovative? This can be determined by a range of factors, such as whether the transaction or case had cross-border and multi-jurisdictional elements to it, whether the work tested a new piece of legislation, was very high value, was on trend, even against trend, or especially critical for the client or the industry in which they operate. It is very important to be clear here when writing as the researchers will often scan these documents, as they receive so many submissions with so many matters to review. The more confusing or long the text is, the less likely they are to reread it and try to fully understand. 2) Client feedback comes from referees selected by the law firms. They should be willing, available, enthusiastic and keen to speak to the researcher for 10-15 minutes by phone or via email. There are stronger referees, such as GCs and other lawyers, as well as other professionals, such as accountants, surveyors, etc. These referees’ details are manually entered onto an excel spreadsheet template created by the publisher of the directory and a requirement and good general recommendation is not to go over 20 referees. Referees will be contacted by the researcher once the submission research has started. Often at the start, they will be contacted a few times if there is time, so the referee should check their spam folders to see if they have been contacted. A key reason why law firms or lawyers do not make progress in the firm or individual rankings is the lack of client feedback, which denies the researcher and editor the evidence to make any changes. 3) While the work and client feedback are paramount, there still needs to be market acknowledgement from other law firms in the field or sector that you are active. Your visibility can be based on attendance at network or industry events, hosting seminars, posting valuable posts on LinkedIn and expanding your followers. * a shop window is the section in the Chambers, Legal 500 or IFLR Word template that asks for the firm’s strengths and selling points – hence we refer to it as a shop window. Typically, around 500 words, this should be a clear, concise story of the firm’s strengths, new wins and hires, niche areas of expertise and market share, if we can add that.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzNzA=