The best legal directories for participation in 2024 / 2025
Overview
Analyse von Mag. Alexander Gendlin
Gründer und Managing Partner des Unternehmens, seit 2004 in der Rechtsbranche tätig.
Zuständig für Business Development & Sales, Coaching von Kanzleipartnern und Anwälten, Kanzlei-Positionierung & Profitabilität, Kanzleirankings, Marketing, Litigation PR und Verhandlungstraining.
Autor des weltweit ersten Buches über Kanzleirankings: „Kompass Kanzlei-Rankings“, erschienen in C. H. BECK, MANZ, STÄMPFLI.
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1 What is a legal directory?
Legal directories, also known as law firm rankings, are publications that analyze and publicly rate law firms and individual lawyers. The ratings serve as a decision-making aid for readers when selecting law firms.
The evaluation is carried out at country level as well as at the level of the respective legal areas. For example, there is a separate rating list of the best law firms in the area of capital markets in the UK.
Alternatively, you can view our own rating list for the best patent attorneys in the field of patent applications in Germany.
In large jurisdictions, the degree of differentiation is sometimes very high. In the UK, for example, the capital markets sector is split into numerous sub-sectors such as debt or equity.
However, there can never be just one best law firm per country or per practice group. Law firms and lawyers are divided into tiers. A tier is a collective term for law firms that have the same level in a rating list.
A tier can therefore also be described as a level. For example, there are around seven different tiers for the Capital Markets sector in the UK. Tier 1 includes the best law firms and lawyers, whereby the size of the law firm must also be taken into account. It is possible that a law firm that meets the required quality criteria is not represented in the Tier 1 ranking because it does not have the required size.
Find out more in the Compass Law Firm Rankings.
2 Origins of the Legal Directories
Rankings have been around for a long time. One of the first was Martindale-Hubbell (founded in 1868). The directory contained a list of US law firms organized by state. It also included international law firms and an initial rating. This was very useful at the time because there was otherwise no such clear directory of law firms and lawyers. The Inclusion in the ranking was against payment. Die angeführten Kanzleien wurden jedoch nicht bewertet. In the 1990s, new legal directories came onto the market, for example “Chambers and Partner” (1990) and “Legal 500” (1992). JUVE started working in Germany in 1998. Instead of simply listing law firms and lawyers, these directories now openly communicated the subjectively measured quality of the legal work of law firms and lawyers to the outside world. The industry was initially skeptical. In Germany, JUVE was sued by a lawyer. The case went all the way to the highest court and ended in a victory for JUVE. The rankings are now used worldwide. Chambers, Legal 500 and others cover over 190 countries.
Types of legal directories
- When evaluating law firms, all possible practice groups in numerous countries are taken into account. The best known of these include Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and JUVE. Practice group-specific directories also evaluate law firms across many countries, with a focus on specific practice groups. These directories include, for example, numerous rankings specific to patent law firms such as IAM 1000 or MIP Managing Intellectual Property. Another example is GAR 100 (Global Arbitration Review), which specializes in arbitration and dispute resolution.
- The IFLR 1000 ranking represents a hybrid form. Although the directory focuses on the area of financing, it now evaluates so many financing-specific fields that it can no longer be considered a practice group-specific directory.
- Local directories rank law firms in numerous practice groups, but only in one country at a time. One example of this is the JUVE ranking, which is only active in Germany. A change is also emerging here, as Juve is now also active in patent law in the Netherlands.
- So-called turnover-driven directories are a special form. In these directories, law firms are primarily ranked based on the size of the firm’s turnover. Such a ranking is compiled by Thomson Reuters, for example.
- It should also be mentioned that there are rankings that also present so-called awards in addition to the current rating lists. These awards can be found in almost all of the directories mentioned.
- There are also directories that only present an annual award, such as The Lawyer.
3. how ariseen the valuations of law firms and lawyers?
Analysis of the “Submission” by Directory Researcher
A submission is usually a Word document that is structured according to the templates of the respective directories. Law firms must complete this document according to the template and send it to the directories or upload it.
Among other things, the law firm must send the following information to the Directories:
- Size of law firm (number of partners, lawyers, legal staff, non-legal staff)
- Inflows/outflows
- Practice groups
- General information on the advantages of a law firm compared to competitors
- Winning new mandates, etc.
Under these links we have we have provided you with templates from Chambers and Partners and Legal 500.
Chambers:
- Submission form (Asia-Pacific)
- Submission form (Brazil)
- Submission form (Canada)
- Submission form (Europe)
- Submission form (Greater China Region)
- Submission form (Latin America)
- Submission form (Middle East, Israel, Africa, Caribbean, Offshore)
- Submission form (UK Bar)
- Bar submission form for Sole practitioners
- Submission form (UK Solicitor)
- Submission form (France)
- Submission form (Germany)
- Submission form (USA)
- Submission form (Global Market Leaders)
- Foreign Expert and Foreign Desk Form (Global)
- Referees form
Wir helfen Ihnen sich und Ihre Kanzlei in den wichtigsten Rankings zu platzieren und verbessern eine bereits bestehende Platzierung Ihrer Partner und Ihrer Kanzlei …
Legal 500:
- Asia Pacific Submissions
- Canada Submissions
- Caribbean Submissions
- Germany Submissions (German)
- Germany Submissions (English)
- Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Submissions
- Green Ambassadors Submissions
- Latin America Submissions
- United Kingdom (Solicitors) Submissions
- United Kingdom (The Bar) Submissions
- United States Submissions
- US City Leaders Submissions
Client Referees
In addition, law firms must provide so-called client referees. Client referees are names of people who are willing to provide information about the quality of the firm’s work. These client referees are then interviewed by the rankings with questionnaires about the work of the law firm.
Less solid research and fraudulent rankings
There are other rankings, but they do not ask for submissions and client referees. Instead, they collect votes on the quality of law firms on the Internet. This type of search is much less meaningful than the one mentioned above and is therefore much less respected in the industry. In addition, there are publications that simply send out “awards” and offer the recipients the opportunity to publicize the award in return for payment. Such pay for play publications are to be strictly avoided. Word has already gotten around in the industry that such rankings exist, and law firms that appear in such fraudulent publications only show that they do not work carefully.
4. providers of legal directories
- Chambers and Partners
- The directory is based in London and has been publishing ratings of law firms, lawyers and patent attorneys since 1990, with Chambers and Partners analyzing over 200 countries. Numerous practice groups are analyzed for each country.
- In addition to the evaluation of the practice group per country, there is an annual prize for the best law firm in a country.
- Inclusion in the ranking is achieved by the law firm compiling documents and uploading them to Chambers. The documents consist of the submissions and the client referrals.
- Participation in Chambers and Partners is free of charge.
- Chambers and Partnerswas sold to the US investment group Abry Partners for over 400 million pounds in 2024, reports the Financial Times. The former owners of British private equity firm Inflexion will receive around four and a half times their original investment.
- The practice groups cover a wide range of areas of law, including broad and well-known areas such as banking and finance, capital markets and real estate as well as specialized fields such as intellectual property, arbitration and litigation, white collar crime and many more.
- The ranking enjoys a high reputation and is one of the leading companies in the field of directories.
- It is undoubtedly one of the best legal directories in 2024. You can look up the exact quality of the directories in the Law Firm Rankings Report: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Chambers Matter Structure (c) ChambersAndPartners
Advantages and disadvantages
- The Law Firm Directory offers all law firms the opportunity to participate.
- Ein weiterer Vorteil für Kanzleien aus kleineren Ländern ist, dass Chambers in so vielen Ländern Ergebnisse publiziert.
- The directory includes all relevant practice groups and also offers small law firms the opportunity to position themselves highly in the rankings.
- Chambers is one of the few top legal directories that offers lawyers the opportunity to receive their own ranking.
- This means that individuals also have the opportunity to be ranked highly if the law firm's rating is poor or non-existent. This is a decisive factor for smaller law firms in particular. It is also of great importance for individuals from large law firms, as not every practice group always has the necessary strength to be represented in the Top Lawyer Directory.
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- Chambers enjoys such a high reputation in the industry that decision-makers at client law firms ask directly for the Chambers ranking when applying for a job.
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- The process of being accepted into Chambers is not trivial.
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- It is vital to present a flawless submission and strict client referee management is essential.
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- The presentation of the ranking results could be optimized. Although there has been an improvement compared to the previous year, it would be easier for the reader if they did not have to click through an overview to get to the individual countries. Other Top Lawyer rankings have done this better.
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- During processing, it would be desirable if the link to the questionnaires could be copied by the client referees directly from the Legal Directories website. Instead, Chambers sends the link to the client referees by e-mail. However, this process is associated with a high risk of error, as the emails often end up in the spam folder by mistake.
- Legal 500
- The Top Legal Directory Legal 500 is a British company based in London. The publication has 30 years of experience in rating law firms and lawyers and also rates patent law firms around the world.
- The practice groups evaluated cover a wide range of areas, including broad and well-known areas such as banking and finance, capital markets and real estate, as well as specialized areas such as intellectual property, arbitration, litigation, white collar crime and many more.
- Participation in Legal 500 is free of charge.
- In addition, the Legal Directory presents an annual country award for the best law firm in a country.
- Legal 500 is active worldwide. The publication employs researchers and analysts worldwide with the aim of rating law firms and patent attorneys accordingly.
- The Legal Directory is one of the leading companies in the field of evaluating legal services. The directory is used by clients, journalists and prospective lawyers to select and obtain information about law firms.
- Inclusion in the Top Lawyer Directory is achieved by submitting law firm submissions and client referee lists to Legal 500.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directory in the Law Firm Rankings Report. https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Legal 500 Matter Structure (c) Legal500
Advantages and disadvantages
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- Like Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 also enjoys the highest reputation in the legal sector. For law firms that are ranked here, this means a clear advantage in the acquisition of mandates over unranked competitors.
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- The Legal 500 website is intuitive to use and allows users to quickly find the results they are looking for.
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- Like Chambers, the Legal Directory also includes almost all available countries and practice groups. This is an excellent opportunity for law firms and patent law firms to present their services accordingly.
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- For around one and a half years now, Legal 500 client referees have been able to copy the link to the questionnaires from the website themselves. This represents a significant advantage over other rankings, as client referees can answer the questionnaire directly via the web and do not have to be sent an e-mail first.
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- A dedicated website in German has been available for the German market for many years.
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- If you are submitting a submission to Legal 500 for the first time, masters that are older than one year can be used. This makes the submission process much easier for newcomers. Please note that only masters that are no more than one year old can be used for a subsequent submission.
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- The Legal 500 website was revised in 2024. Unfortunately, a consistently well-functioning solution has not yet been created. The website sometimes has limited functionality, making it difficult to access the content you are looking for.
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- In general, Legal 500 is interested in the further development and optimization of IT tools, but this sometimes leads to more difficult submission.
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- It can also be observed that Legal 500 unnecessarily splits up submission deadlines. For example, two different submission deadlines have been created for submissions and client referees in Germany.
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- The one-time delivery of all practice groups per country on one date is also associated with challenges, as the entire law firm is involved here. Dividing up the practice groups at different times of the year is common practice at Chambers, JUVE and, for example, the Leaders League.
- JUVE
- The Legal Ranking has been present on the German market since the 1990s and specializes in the evaluation of law firms. Together with the other major rankings, it occupies a leading position.
- The ranking is only of secondary importance outside Germany. There is still a Top Directories publication in the Netherlands.
- This publication also collects submissions and client references from the law firms and publishes the results of its analysis.
- In 2016, JUVE was taken over by NWB Verlag.
- From the 2024/2025 submission season, JUVE will offer a flexible submission deadline for all areas of law. Like Chambers and Partners, JUVE now also has three submission deadlines throughout the year. On these dates, a search is carried out in various areas of law.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directory in the “Law Firm Rankings Report”: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Advantages and disadvantages
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- JUVE is the longest serving directory for the German market.
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- Both practice groups and regional focuses are analyzed as part of the research. This represents a promising opportunity for smaller law firms to be included in the directory.
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- Publication in German is a significant advantage for the German market.
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- The lack of publication of the results in English represents a serious disadvantage for the directory, as it artificially excludes itself from other markets.
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- Another disadvantage of the Directories is the very complex and time-consuming system for entering submission data.
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- The entry is made in a web form specially developed for the directory. However, the form is very complex and requires time-consuming handling. A very complicated process has to be gone through when submitting in Microsoft Word and then uploading the data to the law firm ranking portal. Finally, the data must be transferred from the Word form into CSV files in order to upload them.
- Zusätzlich hat JUVE seit 2024 seine Ergebnisse zu einem wesentlichen Teil hinter eine teure Bezahlschranke gelegt. Rankings funktionieren primär deshalb, weil Mandanten, Journalisten, Studenten und andere Multiplikatoren sich dort informieren können, wenn sie aus unterschiedlichen Gründen eine Kanzlei suchen oder eine Kanzlei, die sich ihnen vorstellt, entsprechend bewerten können. Und diese Zielgruppen werden zu 100 Prozent keinen Euro dafür bezahlen, diese Informationen bei JUVE zu bekommen, solange es eine ähnliche Funktion bei der Konkurrenz, bei Chambers oder Legal 500 gibt.
- GAR 100 Global Arbitration Review
- GAR 100 was launched in 2006 and specializes in arbitration.
- The Top Level Ranking is active in numerous jurisdictions.
- Alphabetical ranking of law firms and lawyers, with only the top 100 included.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directories in the Law Firm Rankings Report: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Advantages and disadvantages
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- In contrast to other directories, the results are not displayed in different categories, but in an alphabetical list.
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- Of course, inclusion in such a list is a special honor.
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- The ranking enjoys an excellent reputation, as only the best companies are considered here.
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- Inclusion in the ranking is relatively difficult for smaller law firms.
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- When law firms submit applications, a careful and convincing presentation is essential, as only a limited number of places are available and competition is fierce.
- IFLR 1000
- IFLR1000 is another leading top legal directory that focuses on the valuation of financial and commercial law firms and lawyers.
- The ranking is active in over 250 countries, whereby the evaluation is limited to practice groups that are active in the financial sector.
- The practice groups include, for example, “Banking and Finance”, “Capital Markets” and other areas of law specializing in financial products.
- Like all top legal directories, the ranking collects submissions and client referrals from law firms.
- The exact quality of the directory can be found in the Law Firm Rankings Report: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Advantages and disadvantages
- The ranking reflects the high degree of specialization in the financial sector. The analyses of the practice groups are more comprehensive than in other rankings and therefore provide a much better picture of this sector.
- The submission of submissions is the most complex process at IFLR 1000 compared to all other top-level directories. This process was introduced by IFLR 1000 about three years ago. It is to be hoped that the Top Lawyer Directory will reverse this process in the near future.
- DLA PIPER: "...können das Team von Law Business sehr empfehlen."
- EVERSHEDS SUTHERLAND: "...Law Business hat uns geholfen, unsere Platzierungen bei Top-Rankings zu verbessern...."
- FRESHFIELDS: "...kennen die Materie sehr gut...haben unsere Equity Partner beeindruckt."
- TAYLOR WESSING: "...kennen den Rechtsmarkt ausgezeichnet ."
- IAM Patent 1000
- IAM Patent 1000 is a top international legal directory specializing in intellectual property.
- Compared to the large, comprehensive directories such as Chambers or Legal 500, the ranking is particularly impressive due to its high level of detail and comprehensive scope of research.
- The directory researches numerous jurisdictions with a similarly comprehensive scope as the large, all-encompassing rankings.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directory in the “Law Firm Rankings Report”: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
IAM 1000 Matter Structure (c) IAM 1000
Advantages and disadvantages
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- The directory is highly regarded in the field of intellectual property and has a reputation at least equal to that of comprehensive top rankings such as Chambers and Legal 500. In some cases, it is even better rated.
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- Another advantage is that not only law firms but also individuals are researched and recognized. This also allows smaller law firms to integrate individuals into the ranking.
- The website's search function could be optimized to make it more user-friendly. The search is relatively time-consuming in order to obtain the desired results.
- IP Stars MIP 100
- The directory focuses on intellectual property and analyzes law firms in the following practice group areas: Copyright, Designs, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets.
- The ranking once again includes a large number of countries.
- In addition, the Top Legal Directory provides results that are at least as good as those of Chambers and Legal 500, and in some cases even better.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directories in the Law Firm Rankings Report: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Advantages and disadvantages
- The high degree of specialization in intellectual property also gives highly specialized law firms and lawyers in smaller units the opportunity to position themselves here.
- Of course, the law firm is free to register in another top legal directory if it already participates in Chambers or Legal 500. However, we recommend that you participate in MIP 100, especially if you work in an IP law firm.
- ITR World Tax
- The Top Legal Ranking specializes solely in the area of tax law.
- It is active in numerous jurisdictions and evaluates law firms and lawyers there.
- Like the other leading legal directories, the ranking collects submissions and client referees.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directories in the Law Firm Rankings Report: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Advantages and disadvantages
- The high degree of specialization in the field of tax law has rightly earned the ranking a reputation for results that are even better than those of the top directories such as Chambers and Legal 500.
- It is worth considering for a large law firm whether to join Chambers and Legal 500, and perhaps the other top legal directory, before adding another such highly specialized lawyer directory.
- WTR 1000
- World Trademark Review is another directory specializing in intellectual property that operates worldwide.
- The ranking focuses on the areas of Trademark Litigation and Trademark Prosecution.
- Like the other leading law firm rankings, it conducts research by soliciting and analyzing submissions and client referees.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directories in the Law Firm Rankings Report: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Advantages and disadvantages
- Our high level of specialization in the field of intellectual property enables us to provide excellent analysis, which leads to results that exceed those of comprehensive rankings such as Chambers or Legal 500.
- The publication has introduced a registration barrier for a comprehensive search, which somewhat weakens the effect of the results.
- Leaders League
- The ranking is a French publication and collects submissions and client referees in numerous countries.
- You can look up the exact quality of the directories in the Law Firm Rankings Report: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
Advantages and disadvantages
- The Legal Directory offers French law firms in particular the decisive advantage that the publication is in French.
- The ranking is still in a relatively early phase of its activities. It is therefore much easier for law firms to enter the ranking compared to Chambers or Legal 500.
- The publication has a significantly poorer reputation in the market than Chambers or Legal 500, which is due to the fact that entry into the directory is comparatively easy. For law firms that are already well placed in Chambers and Legal 500, participation in this ranking is therefore not necessary.
5. pay-for-play legal directories
- Unfortunately, we have to realize that there are also dubious providers in this sector.
- So-called “pay-for-play” directories are a dubious practice in which prices are arbitrarily communicated to recipients. Recipients are led to believe that they can receive and publish the stated price in return for payment.
- We recommend that you avoid such publications.
- The Law Firm Rankings Report clearly shows which rankings are important: https://lawfirmrankingsreport.com.
6 Importance of legal directories for law firms
- Why directories work and how much they are worth
- In the course of my ongoing support of law firms with regard to rankings since 2004, the question of the value of participating in these rankings is still regularly raised.
- The value of a ranking is directly related to the popularity of the publication. This means that with a high investment in your own brand and a high level of brand awareness, law firms can also be found via this brand.
- In order to determine the amount of investment in a directory, the amount of capital available for the ranking must first be determined.
- It should therefore be mentioned here that Chambers and Partners 2024 sold on May 2 for the enormous sum of over 400 million pounds. There are only a few law firms that would probably be sold for such a sum. It is therefore a great advantage for law firms to position themselves under a strong brand that has a significantly higher market capitalization than the law firm itself.
- You can find more figures below: In the UK, over 75% of all lawyers already work in law firms that are listed in legal directories.
- Legal directories are also very important for the acquisition of new clients. They have become an extremely effective tool in the recruitment process.
- In addition, legal directories are of crucial importance for reference business with other law firms.
- Creation of objective comparison systems
Due to the complexity of legal services in particular, it is difficult to assess the quality before the purchase. Even if the client has had a positive experience with a law firm in the past, the question arises as to whether the law firm has maintained the level of, for example, three years ago, whether the lawyer involved at that time is still working for the law firm, how the interaction of the necessary legal areas within the law firm works and whether the law firm is (still) suitable for the client’s company in terms of its size and orientation.
Personal recommendations or experience are always a good basis for selecting a suitable law firm. However, rankings are often the only structured and objective source of information. This is certainly a positive aspect. Recommendations from third parties are generally more meaningful than your own opinion of the law firm where you work. This is certainly to be welcomed. After all, recommendations from third parties are generally more meaningful than your own opinion of the law firm where you work. This makes it easy to obtain information about the quality and scope of services offered by law firms and lawyers.
Even today, personal recommendation is still an important factor in attracting new clients. However, this system can only be successful if the decision-makers can present an objective argument based on figures for the selection of a law firm. It should also be borne in mind that, despite careful selection of the law firm, litigation losses or errors in the drafting of contracts cannot be completely ruled out and therefore the responsibility for selecting the law firm lies with the client. We recommend paying attention to objectivity and quantifiability when selecting a law firm. I am convinced that rankings meet this need.
A ranking is also an excellent way for the reference business to find its way around. For example, how can a Finnish law firm name a partner law firm in Austria to its clients if it is not in regular contact with the market there? It is possible that you have met colleagues from Austria at the IBA. A personal acquaintance says nothing about the specific way of working.
– Translation for non-lawyers
- Until now, it has been possible for lawyers to classify their own colleagues in certain categories without rankings, at least through personal contact or by reading their colleagues’ specialist articles.
- For non-lawyers, such options have unfortunately been completely lacking until now. Unfortunately, specialist articles are often difficult for non-lawyers to understand. And even in personal contact, it is often difficult to tell whether the person you are dealing with is highly qualified in law or not.
- A ranking list, on the other hand, is a wonderful way to quickly and easily understand who has the highest qualification in a particular field. A ranking list is really something that everyone understands.
- The rankings also endeavor to communicate in a language that is also understood by non-lawyers, so that all interested parties can inform themselves well. Mattern (cases) are presented here in a very clear and understandable way so that you can get a good idea of how Law Firm X is positioned in mergers & acquisitions. The law firm is primarily active in the IT sector and advises top clients in this area.
- A leading IT firm would therefore probably, without knowing the legal intricacies of Law Firm X’s cases, at least once include this law firm on its shortlist because it is convinced of its outstanding capabilities.
7. “C.Y.A. – Cover your ass” strategy from clients
- In almost all cases, the selection of a law firm involves a residual risk, regardless of the client’s perspective.
- In legal matters, there is by definition no certainty about the outcome of legal proceedings, contract negotiations, etc. In the event of failure, the responsible parties are usually sought in a timely manner. “Who recommended this law firm to us?” – “What criteria were used to select them?” “Why wasn’t law firm X commissioned from the outset?” “The law firm drew up a suitable rental agreement for us ten years ago.”
- It is obvious even to managers without legal training that law firm X as number 1 in four banking law rankings must be better than law firm Y, which is only number 3 in the same rankings. In this case, the person who selected the objectively better law firm can hardly be blamed. However, if there is a reason for complaint, it is difficult to put forward adequate counter-arguments. The search for objectively measurable criteria that enable a satisfactory decision to be made involves a certain amount of effort.
Further links
Video “How Law Firm Rankings Influence The Legal Industry”: Quantification Approach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i5UcfOBBFc
8. summary: Do law firms benefit from law firm rankings?
- The introduction of legal directories has fundamentally changed the market conditions for legal services.
- For law firms that are listed in legal directories, there is evidence of better opportunities for client acquisition, higher hourly rates and easier recruitment.
- The latter is due in particular to the fact that when selecting a law firm, the results of third-party research are often used to justify the decision.
