Writing a high-impact legal directory submission that captures a researcher’s attention is difficult. It can take up to 7-10 days to prepare one single submission (Kelso PR Survey) and each submission costs firms approximately US$2,250 in terms of opportunity cost (LMA).
Recommendations
Submissions Best Practices
- Work Highlights: choose these carefully and include only key matters – less is more! Explain why each matter is impactful;
- Partners to highlight: be selective and include the partners in the decision-making process on who to put forward. These can be both partners already ranked and new ones;
- Keep it short and concise: use bullet points to give researchers a snapshot of impact. Include matter reference numbers at the start of the submission which can direct researchers to the evidence in the Work Highlights section;
- Don’t use jargon: make your submission easy for a lay person to understand, don’t get caught up in technical legal terms.
Technology
- Consider using third-party project management platforms to project manage and coordinate the different parts of the submission process eg: Monday.com;
- This can be useful if multiple parties are involved in preparing each submission;
- Also, set internal deadlines to make sure your submission gets in on time.
Referee Lists
- The referee lists must go in on time!
- Extension can often be sought for the submission itself;
- Researchers at Chambers and Legal 500 all agree that the referee list is the single most important part of the submission process;
- Free up space for referees of up-and-coming lawyers;
- Response rate is crucial so follow up with your referees to ensure they provide feedback.
Contact Bonnie if you’d like more tips and insights on the submission process – she has 15 years of experience drafting them for law firms in jurisdictions including the U.S., Hong Kong, Macau, Norway, Montenegro, Switzerland, India and Dubai!
