LEGAL RANKINGS – WHAT LAWYERS NEED TO KNOW

Legal Rankings are a lengthly and often complex process. Finding the right rankings to submit to, putting together the submissions, confirming client referees- the task is never ending. However, without dedicating time and resources to the submission process, even the most well regarded firms and individuals in the market can be overlooked when the rankings are published.

For larger law firms, especially those with multiple practice areas, the firms are able to hire a team member who can dedicate almost 100% of their time and efforts just to managing research submissions and legal responsibilities. This person, who usually sits on the marketing team, is responsible for monitoring calendars, reviewing and submitting research forms, cases and client lists prepared by lawyers at law firms.

This is not a standard process for all firms though. In many cases, even for firms with teams dedicated to research in rankings, the people overseeing the rankings and research can still find it overwhelming to stay up to date on all of the rankings, awards, and directories. It is estimated that there are already over 80 institutions specialized in ranking the legal sector, with new ones popping up every day. Among these publications are: Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, Leaders League, Latin Lawyer, Latin Finance, ITR, IFLR1000, and IP Stars, to name a few. Not only do these directories have standard rankings, they also have distinct awards ceremonies which require additional submissions and requests for client referees.

Therefore, many law firms of all sizes choose to work with a dedicated external team of Legal Marketing Consultants, such as LETS Americas to help them manage their research calendars, communicate with research directories on their behalf, research and evaluate the legitimacy of new rankings on the market, produce the strongest research submission forms possible, and to assist with the creation of their firm profiles in numerous directories.

WHY ARE LEGAL RANKINGS IMPORTANT?

Legal Rankings and awards provide a third-party endorsement of your firm, and increase the firm’s exposure in international markets. Any firm can claim to be the best in the market, but the directories break down the expertise of firms by practice area and professionals, to showcase where each firm stands out, and uses their own write ups (gathered from their research process) and oftentimes client quotes to highlight the most relevant insights on the firm/ individuals to the market. International rankings have a particular importance they allow for firms to be found and promoted to a vast audience, in a way that is standardized so that the information can be most easily accessed and understood by global users.

Legal Rankings are a key resource for corporate and in-house counsel to turn to when making hiring decisions, they are an important metric for individual practitioners to use to compare themselves to others in the market, they connect firms to international firms looking for overseas partners to do business with, and they reassure clients that their business is in the hands of a trusted and well respected firm.

HOW DOES THE RANKING PROCESS WORK?

The most common methodology for the research/ rankings process, follows the following steps:

• Directory releases the research calendar (usually research dates are correspond to different practice areas)
• Directory creates a research form template (or a webform) for firms to fill out
• Directory shares the research form, and invites firms to participate and submit their research by the appropriate deadline
• Editorial team of the directory reviews the submission form and arranges interviews the firm, as well as with their clients and peers (other lawyers) to gain a better understanding of the firm as well as of the particular market
• The results are announced, publicized and shared with the markets

Directory rankings are well known in the legal field, but it is a fact that companies from different economic sectors are still familiarizing themselves with this method of assessing law firms. Nowadays, some companies already use legal awards as a qualification method when searching for and hiring lawyers, and so it is important to  be engaged with the rankings to stand out in front of potential industry clients.

HOW TO WIN A RECOGNITION FOR AN FIRM OR ATTORNEY

It is common to think that delivering an impeccable and well-written form is enough to secure a firm a place in a ranking. However, for the most respected directories, becoming ranked is not an easy task, especially for a ranking in which the firm is participating for the first time.

First, a leader from the firm must examine the list of offices and professionals from previous rankings announcements (their competition) and assess whether their practices are comparable to the other firms in the rankings. Understand if your office has relevant cases (in quantity and complexity), and determine if there is a good relationship with your customers and competitors so that they will support you in this process.

If the understanding is that the position of the firm is lower than the other firms in the rankings, it might make sense to wait a year before investing in the rankings process. Before devoting efforts to be part of these rankings, it is recommended to invest in building the practice, understanding the market, searching for new clients and cases, promoting and branding of the office, generating relevant content, recruiting top talent, building relationships with stakeholders ( customers, partners and competitors), etc. These efforts will help the firm win considerable cases and that the brand is known.

Hiring a professional to manage participation in research is an important step and it can help to identify the right moment and in which rankings the office should compete.

This specialist will be the facilitator of the process: following deadlines, mediating contact with publications, reviewing the quality of texts written by lawyers, identifying new opportunities for the office, delivering the submissions on time, and following up with directories to make sure all information is well received. This figure is also important for the interpretation of legal jargon, and to emphasize the story behind the data presented, remembering that, in most cases, whoever evaluates the submitted content is not a professional trained in law. However, while not all researchers have a law background, the top directories have editors and researchers with a strong knowledge of the peculiarities of the different legal markets, and who act in a professional and ethical manner, adding a lot of value to the legal sector.

The activity of ranking offices is constantly evolving and sophisticated, also due to the interaction of the participants, who question classification methods, areas surveyed and a series of other matters involving the research process.

An exceptional lawyer may not be included in a recognition for several factors inherent to the research work, but what we usually say here is that “a legal ranking is like a beauty contest: there may even be more beautiful people out there , but if you didn’t walk, didn’t memorize the speech and didn’t show your charisma to the evaluators, you certainly won’t win ”.

WHAT KIND OF RANKINGS CAN YOUR FIRM PARTICIPATE IN

Legal rankings are not exclusive to large or full service firms. Although the largest firms are always ranked, there is space and incentive for small and medium-sized firms to participate as well – especially for those specialized in specific practice areas or sectors, which can be an advantage in relation to full service offices.

In fact, there are publications that evaluate only specific practices, as is the case, for example, with the International Tax Review and the Global Competition Review.

As long as they have good work done on the date stipulated by the survey, representative customers and recognition from peers and competitors, all offices can participate.

IN CONCLUSION

One of the most important marketing activities of an international law firm should be to create an annual plan of legal directories that the firm will contribute to, which an emphasis on determining which rankings are credible, and which make sense for the strategic objective of the firm. Managing the research and rankings is a lengthy process and requires great care, and for any firm that is looking for assistance or guidance on this process should consider working with LETS Americas, a professional legal marketing team well experienced in the nuances of this practice, and dedicating to delivering great results for our clients.

Alexandra Strick is the founding partner of LETS Americas and a professional with experience in the business development area of respected international legal publications of the Euromoney Legal Media Group (which operates through publications ITR, Managing IP, IFLR and Expert Guides).