How to make the most out of your legal directory rankings
Legal directory rankings are worth so much more than a humble brag a couple of times a year. Given that they take BD and lawyers an obscene amount of time to compile, it seems like a missed opportunity just to use them for marketing purposes. If all you’re doing is updating your website or sharing an “I’m delighted to be ranked” post on LinkedIn, you’re missing out on some serious business development opportunities. Here’s how you can make your rankings work harder for you: The basics 1. Share on LinkedIn While we joke about the ‘humble brag’, sharing your rankings and testimonials does make marketing sense. Some tips for maximising the post: Include one or two testimonials Ensure you have sufficient spacing between paragraphs to make it easier to read Tag the Legal 500 or Chambers in your post Make sure to thank clients and intermediaries (it’s good manners) Link to the webpage of the ranking (though please note that linking to pages outside of LinkedIn may impact your reach If your firm has created imagery be sure to include this – posts with images tend to fare better 2. Add to your website profile Adding the logos, rankings, and some testimonials is something run-of-the-mill for most firms, and it’s a sensible approach – directory accolades are external validation and are something that can sway some clients. 3. Add to your pitches and proposals As with the website, rankings are an excellent way to build credibility in pitches and proposals. Incorporate relevant quotes and logos from the directories to show how your strengths align with a potential client’s needs. 4. Use in your marketing collateral While the tendency is to just add logos or quotes onto marketing brochures, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot include a quick note in your regular newsletter about your rankings. Go further than the usual content and perhaps link it to an anonymised case study. 5. Add to email signatures This one doesn’t need any explanation really. Our tip is if you’re going to add them to your email profile ensure that you have a page set up on your website which talks about your rankings and has a clear user journey mapped out after this (i.e. you’ve thought about where you would like your audience to go next). Linking to the Legal 500 or Chambers & Partners just directs your website traffic elsewhere and potentially to your competitor profiles. Next level 6. Use it as an excuse to connect with clients and intermediaries Your ranking is a perfect excuse to check in with clients and intermediaries. At the very minimum you should be sending a personalised thank you note to each client or contact that agreed to be a referee, but you should also be using this as an excuse to catch up, continue the conversation and learn (and possibly win work). 7. Analyse your market The directories have a wealth of information that firms rarely use. Think about: What trends are emerging in your practice area/sector? What are your competitors doing? Who’s climbing the ranks, and why? Use this data to help you spot new opportunities and areas where you need to improve. 8. Learn what clients are really interested in Client feedback (and not just your own) is hidden gold, in our opinion. Personally, I love to know why clients are raving about my competitors and benchmark myself against them. Law firms should be doing the same thing. A note on best practice Keep a Database for Future Legal Directory Submissions This is aimed more at BD and Marketing teams, but the last-minute scramble by organising your testimonials, client feedback, and rankings in one place. By keeping a central repository, you’ll be able to not only track how your rankings evolve over time but also make your lives easier. Start preparing now If you haven’t already started thinking about the process for the upcoming 2026 legal directory submissions – start now. Chambers & Partners has some deadlines as early as November. If you’re a lawyer start thinking about your biggest and best matters from the last 12 months, and any clients or contacts who might be willing to give positive feedback about you. If you’re in BD start pulling the data, case studies, check on the recent changes to the submission templates and enjoy the calm before the storm!
Directories 101: Six easy ways to boost your peer and market feedback throughout the year
Your directory submissions, whether Legal500 or Chambers comprise three important elements: the submission itself, the client and peer or market feedback. Most firms invest the majority of their time into the submission itself as it requires the most effort – getting the work highlights together and crafting compelling bios – and the next thing is the client referees. Peer and market feedback is often not thought about at all, yet it’s a really helpful part of the process to help researchers understand more about your competitors and intermediaries you work with, which in turn, helps showcase your relationships and demonstrate the level at which your firm is operating. In fact, those who have interviewed with a researcher will notice that 90% of the call is aimed at getting market feedback. What most firms don’t realise, is that there are things you can do throughout the year that will boost your peer or market feedback for the next round as well as your firm profile and client relationships. Here are six of those activities that you should be doing to boost your peer and market feedback throughout the year: 1. Warming up your clients Okay, so this one doesn’t strictly relate to peer feedback but your clients may be listed by other firms as referees. The goal is to leave such a positive impression that when asked by a researcher, “Are there any other firms you’d recommend?” your name is the first to come to their minds. So, keeping in touch with your clients and making sure they are happy are still considerations when it comes to feedback – as well as being essential to your BD efforts in general of course. A client who receives excellent service and a check-in call every two months is more likely to act as a referee and provide positive feedback (whether you or your competitor nominated them) than someone who hasn’t been in touch for months. Incorporate this into your process, and it will alleviate some of the stress during the submission process. 2. Write articles Researchers look beyond your submission when researching your firm, looking at things like your website and online presence (see below), and evaluating your online activities to gauge your expertise in the field. By consistently producing well-researched and relevant articles, you are demonstrating to the researcher (and the wider market) that you are an expert in your field and that your firm is an authoritative and knowledgeable player in the industry. 3. Boost your market feedback with LinkedIn Similarly, LinkedIn is a fantastic way to bolster the market profile of your firm, and is a brilliant space to showcase its activities through the company page, providing insights into the teams, and the sectors it’s active in. However, the impact goes beyond the firm, with LinkedIn also being a great opportunity for individual lawyers who are looking to be ranked in the upcoming submission. Personal brand counts for a lot nowadays. By sharing updates, and articles, and offering insightful commentary on your specialism, you are demonstrating your expertise to the researcher beyond the word count of the submission. 4. Update your website bio Your website is one of the first places your researcher will look when looking into the firm and your leading individuals. The website serves as a digital showcase, offering a comprehensive view of your firm’s capabilities. The individual and team bios provide an excellent opportunity to include additional information that might not find its way into directory submissions. Incorporating awards, qualifications, and notable successes in the relevant profiles adds credibility and reinforces the expertise of your team. In the eyes of researchers, an up-to-date website profvides a clear view of the firm’s achievements and strengths, which may not feature in the submission but is still valuable to understanding the firm’s positioning. Pro tip: Schedule a bi-yearly meeting with your BD team to make sure the sector information, team and individual bios on your website are regularly updated (and time this in line with the research period!). Most firms link to website bios in their submissions if you’re listed or nominated as a leading individual – ensure it doesn’t let you down. 5. Be proactive and present in your industry Identifying and maintaining connections with your peers, intermediaries, and clients is a strategic move that can contribute to a successful submission round. Remember, the researchers speak to your client referees and other partners at your competitors (your peers). Attending conferences, and seminars, and joining professional associations and committees provide a platform to become known to your peers and establish a visible presence within your industry and adds to your market profile. It’s all about being at the forefront of their minds when a researcher asks about you, directly or indirectly. 6. Proactively warming up peers and intermediaries While attending events, and engaging with your peers on LinkedIn is a great way to boost your peer feedback throughout the year, feel free to be more direct with it too. Don’t have time or the budget to do the circuit? A successful partner we work with actively reaches out to friendly competitors and intermediaries, demonstrating the power of proactively building positive relationships within the industry. If you have a great relationship with a few of your peers, why not reach out to them directly and ask them to put in a good word for you? BONUS TIP: Get bragging! Something that law firms are consistently not great at is bragging about their achievements. Being prepared to boast more about your firm is a fantastic way to boost peer feedback. It’s not uncommon for exceptional firms with impressive clients and matters to fall short in rankings due to a lack of market feedback or visibility. The correlation between market visibility and ranking outcomes underscores the importance of actively showcasing your firm’s accomplishments. Make sure you are sharing your success stories, notable cases, and significant milestones – shout about how great you are throughout the year! The success of your legal
Directories 101: Five mistakes to avoid with your legal directory referees
Legal directories can play a huge role in establishing a law firm’s reputation and sometimes in its ability to win new work. There are three key components to a successful directory submission – comprehensive work highlights, referee feedback, and market feedback. This post will focus on referees, which is often a neglected element of the submission process, but one which can have a big impact if you get it wrong. 1. Not including enough referees (or too many) It’s important to remember that the limit for Chambers & Partners is 20 referees, and there is no limit for the Legal 500. If you choose to include more than 20 referees for Chambers, you run the risk of these referees not being contacted. This is a wasted opportunity – don’t take that risk. While there is no limit on the number of referees you can include for The Legal 500, be careful here – listing every contact who could comment on you reduces the chances of you having new/fresh referees for the next submission round (see point 3 for more). 2. Not being strategic about the referees you put forward In an ideal world, you’d put forward the CEO or the GC of the most prestigious companies you’ve worked with over the past 12 months, but sadly, that often isn’t the best approach. The most senior people are usually the busiest – even with the best intentions, they often don’t have the time to respond. Remember that detailed and positive feedback from someone more junior is better than no feedback at all (and listing the name of someone senior but who didn’t respond doesn’t have an impact). The most important thing to consider when you’re making your referee selections is that they are willing and able to give positive feedback. This might mean that instead of a general counsel, you choose the assistant general counsel, or instead of the most senior barrister in a set, you choose a junior or a clerk. 3. Overusing or reusing the same referees If you choose to use the same referee twice per year (in February for Chambers and March for Legal 500 for example), you run the risk of causing ‘referee fatigue’. This is where the referee either incorrectly presumed they have answered one or the other directory (when in fact, they haven’t), or they’re simply just tired of the process and don’t respond. Maintain a list of potential referees throughout the year, which you can then review ahead of deadline day. Try to ensure that you have a good number of new referees when you compare the two referee spreadsheets. 4. Not asking permission in advance One of the biggest mistakes we see partners and associates making when compiling their referee spreadsheets is just adding the details of clients or intermediaries without asking their permission first. It seems obvious, but you don’t want the email or call from the researcher to be a surprise to your referee; this can damage the level of trust between you and your contact, and it means that they might not be sufficiently prepared to give the best response possible. Have a template email asking permission from your referees stored in Outlook, and make sure you send that email out before the referee spreadsheet is uploaded on deadline day. It should go without saying that if you don’t receive a response, don’t use that referee. 5. Not warming up your referee It’s equally important that you remind/forewarn your referee that the researcher’s email or call will be coming in the next couple of weeks. At this stage, you can usually also provide the referee with the researcher’s details so your referees are able to look out for the contact. This significantly reduces the chances of an email or call being missed or going into the junk folder. Bonus: Not using the directories as an excuse to develop a relationship with your client The vast majority of people you’ve listed in your referee list will be a client or a potential referrer of work. Not only do they deserve an email saying thank you for the effort they went to, but it is also a great opportunity to continue a conversation or strengthen a relationship. View this as a business development tool, not just a tick-box exercise. If some of these mistakes feel familiar, you’re not alone! The legal directories process can be painful and time-consuming – drop us a line or book a call to find out how we can help. Read more from our directories series here: Four foundational steps you should never skip when compiling a submission.
Directories 101: Four foundational steps you should never skip when compiling a submission
Whether you’re an associate, a partner or in BD/marketing you’ve likely spent more than enough time working on your team’s legal directory submissions and understand the importance of the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. These directories can play a crucial role in showcasing your firm’s expertise, and a leading individual ranking can significantly impact an individual’s career. Here are five steps you should never skip when pulling together your submission. 1. Understand what the researcher/directory is looking for Before you even begin the submission process, take the time to remind yourself of the criteria that the directories use to evaluate firms and individual lawyers. Each directory has its own unique set of guidelines, and it’s essential to align your submission with these criteria. Read through their guidelines carefully, and make sure you address all the relevant aspects they’re looking for, preferably before you agree on which matters you’re going to include. For example, don’t disregard a matter because the value is low – remember that complexity and context count too. Even if it’s a small monetary value, if it was instrumental in helping your client’s business, it’s worth including. 2. Showcase your expertise and achievements (without overdoing it on marketing speak) When it comes to the submission, don’t be modest. The researcher will be reviewing tens of submissions for the same practice area, so make it stand it out and make it count. Highlight your achievements, successful cases, and areas of expertise, but without relying too heavily on what we call ‘marketing speak’. We recently interviewed Simon Christian and Al Marsh at Chambers & Partners and overuse of marketing speak was one of their top gripes. An example: “we are 100% committed to our clients’ best interests” (as opposed to what?) – look at your content with a critical eye, make sure to add context, and provide specific examples that demonstrate your team’s capabilities. Use metrics and data wherever possible to substantiate your claims. Remember, the more evidence you can provide, the stronger your submission will be. 3. Be smart about your referees Client and referee feedback is gold – it’s near impossible to be promoted without it. There is so much to say about referees that this will be a dedicated article on this topic later in our series. In short: collate a list of potential referees well before the deadline (preferably throughout the year) so it’s not a last-minute scramble. Make sure all your leading individuals have sufficient referees (don’t fall prey to politics), and be sure to obtain their permission to use their feedback in your submission. 4. Keep it concise (and remember the researcher is a layperson) While you want, and often need, to provide comprehensive information, it’s crucial to present it in a clear and concise manner. Legal directory researchers see hundreds of submissions to review in one submission round, so make their job easier. Remember that while the researchers go through intensive training, they often come from a non-legal background. Littering your submission with legal jargon isn’t going to impress them without content. Review every matter with a critical eye – for teams with BD support – do they understand why a matter is important? If not, consider how it can be rewritten. Interested in finding out what else Simon and Al from Chambers said about how associates can get ranked? Sign up to our newsletter. Feeling overwhelmed by the directory process? Get in touch for a chat with Gemma. Keep an eye out for the next instalment of our series, focusing on mistakes to avoid with your referees.