Ahead of the upcoming EMEA submission deadline, Legal500 hosted a Meet the Editors Webinar on Tuesday 16 June 2026 to provide guidance on its research and ranking process. Below are the key takeaways for firms preparing their submissions.
Research schedule
The deadline for both the client referee spreadsheet and the editorial submission document is 3 August 2026. This deadline also applies to the Nordic jurisdictions for referee submissions, although Nordic firms have until 28 August 2026 to submit their editorial submissions.
Research will commence in September 2026, with the Legal 500 EMEA 2027 rankings scheduled for publication in March 2027.
Firms should ensure that referee spreadsheets are submitted on time, as late submissions may affect whether referees are contacted during the research process.
Legal 500 has also introduced a new submissions portal. Firms are encouraged to access and test the portal well before the deadline. Any portal-related queries can be directed to the Legal 500 Helpdesk via the FAQ page: https://www.legal500.com/faqs/.
New Jurisdictions and Practice Areas
Legal 500 has expanded its EMEA coverage to include three new jurisdictions:
- Botswana
- Malta
- Zimbabwe
The rankings for these jurisdictions will initially focus on Leading Firms.
Some practice area changes have also been introduced:
- Ireland now includes a new Public Procurement category.
- Changes have been made to France’s Media & Entertainment and Tax categories.
- In Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Turkey, the Commercial, Corporate and M&A rankings will now be divided into High-End and Mid-Market categories. This creates additional opportunities for firms operating in the mid-market segment to gain recognition.
Submissions and ranking criteria
Legal 500 seeks to identify firms and individuals that demonstrate genuine market leadership and can provide evidence of outstanding work. Ranking decisions are based on a combination of submission analysis and independent market research.
Key factors considered include:
- Technical ability to handle complex and innovative matters.
- Depth and strength of the wider team, beyond a small number of prominent partners.
- Capacity to advise on significant transactions and disputes, with strength across related practice areas.
- New client engagements and positive market perception.
- Overall quality and consistency of work.
Preparing Quality Submissions
A strong submission should present all relevant information while clearly demonstrating what differentiates the firm in the market.
Firms should note the following:
- Matter highlights should fall within the relevant research period.
- Ongoing matters should include recent developments.
- The same matter may be used across multiple submissions, but descriptions should be tailored to the relevant practice area.
- Lawyers who devote less than 50% of their time to the practice area should generally not be included.
- Lawyers featured in the submission should be actively involved in the highlighted matters.
To improve rankings and maintain rankings firms are encouraged to submit consistently every year, provide all required information on the submission including start and end dates as each required information serves specific purposes, provide deal values where possible, and clearly explain the complexity, significance and impact of matters, rather than relying on general or descriptive statements.
Lawyer Ranking categories
Hall of Fame – Lawyers at the very top of the profession who are widely recognised as market leaders and have been consistently ranked as Leading Partners over a number of years.
Leading partners – Established market leaders with strong reputations who lead multiple significant matters and receive exceptional endorsement from clients and peers.
Next generation partners – Typically younger partners, generally with five years or fewer at partner level, who play leading roles on important matters and receive strong recognition from clients and peers.
Leading Associates – Associate-level lawyers who regularly feature on significant matters and receive recognition from clients and/or peers.
Improving Lawyer Rankings
To maximise opportunities for individual recognition, firms should:
- Focus on genuinely outstanding lawyers.
- Provide evidence of recent and significant work.
- Include detailed lawyer biographies and achievements rather than relying solely on website profile links.
For firms with counsel-level lawyers, Legal 500 recommends including outstanding counsel in the Leading Associates section of the submission. Depending on the evidence provided and the quality of work demonstrated, researchers may ultimately place such individuals in either the Leading Associates or Next Generation Partners category.
Client Referees
The referee process is managed by a dedicated referee team that operates separately from the editorial research team. Accordingly, firms should direct referee-related questions to the referee team rather than researchers or editors. The preferred contact route is through the Legal 500 FAQ page: https://www.legal500.com/faqs/.
To maximise the effectiveness of the referee process, firms should ensure that:
- Referee spreadsheets are submitted in the correct format.
- A separate referee spreadsheet is provided for each practice area.
- Referees have worked with the firm within the previous 12–18 months.
- Referees are familiar with the firm’s work and are likely to respond.
- High-quality referees are prioritised over sheer volume.
Premium subscribers also have access to the Referee Track & Add tool and there is currently no limit on the number of referees that can be submitted.
It is worthy of note that client-led feedback remains a central component of Legal 500’s research methodology
Client Satisfaction & NPS Accolades
In addition to the rankings, Legal500 has introduced the client satisfaction and net promoter score (NPS) accolades to better utilise the data received via the feedback provided by clients. This is applied only to the top 30% of firms, purely based on client feedback and not a replacement for the core submission research process. Available categories are Billing and Efficiency, the Net Promoter Score, Sector Knowledge and Lawyer and Team Quality.
Interviews
Each research cycle, Legal 500 conducts interviews with a representative selection of firms, chambers and practitioners. If a firm is not interviewed, it does not in any way affect the firm’s assessment or ranking.
Firms interested in speaking with researchers are encouraged to contact the relevant researcher early in the research cycle. Productive interviews typically focus on significant developments within the firm’s practice over the previous year, strategic growth initiatives or team expansion, or areas where the firm believes it could get more recognition.
Legal 500 also noted that interviews are generally more effective when conducted with a small group of lawyers rather than a large number of participants.
Importantly, in the Legal500 research process, peer feedback does not determine ranking outcomes. Instead, it serves as a source of market intelligence and may highlight areas warranting further investigation by researchers.
Conclusion
Firms seeking recognition in the Legal 500 EMEA rankings should engage proactively with the research process by submitting high-quality editorial submissions and comprehensive referee information. Strong submissions, meaningful client feedback and consistent participation year after year remain key factors in ensuring that firms and individuals receive appropriate market recognition.