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