It’s UK directory guide launch season, and there was plenty to celebrate for our clients this year.
Our clients have achieved first-time rankings, promotions and leading positions across the latest Chambers and Legal 500 UK Firm and Bar guides.
Why directory results season brings a flashback
Directory results day can feel a little like exam results day, even when you have been through it many times.
There are practices you have watched develop, lawyers whose recognition feels overdue and submissions where difficult decisions went into making the strongest possible case. You want the results to do justice to the work.
This year has given us plenty to be pleased about across our firm and chambers clients.
Our Chambers UK and UK Bar 2027 results
Across our clients in the latest Chambers UK and UK Bar guides, the results include:
153 practice, set and individual rankings.
53 Band 1 rankings.
37 rankings newly secured or promoted.
Seven rankings reaching Band 1 or Star Individual for the first time.
The first-time rankings and promotions are particularly satisfying. They reflect practices establishing themselves against ranked competitors, individuals receiving recognition for their contribution and teams building on previous results.
Retained positions deserve special recognition. Maintaining a strong ranking means continuing to demonstrate the quality of the practice as the market around it develops.
Further progress in Legal 500
Our firm clients also achieved an excellent set of results in the Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2027 guide.
Highlights included:
A consecutive promotion in a highly competitive employment table.
A litigation practice ranked on the firm’s first-ever submission to a legal directory.
Tier 1 recognition for a global firm’s tax practice.
A first submission can involve a considerable amount of groundwork. The firm needs to establish where it belongs, identify the work that demonstrates its standing and explain why the practice merits recognition alongside competitors already in the table.
An established practice seeking promotion faces a different question: what has changed enough to justify moving it up?
As the directories are a comparative guide, you need to show that a) your practice is better than those in your current band and b) on par with those in the band above.
What makes a difference during the directory submission process
The strongest directory submissions have buy-in from leadership and the people doing the work.
That means making time to discuss matters, being willing to make the tough decisions of leaving out examples that do little for the case, and engaging with the process after submission i.e. speaking to the assigned researcher and chasing your referees.
The practice overview deserves particular attention. The directories want to see evidence of upward practice growth i.e. how the team has developed, has the quality and complexity of the work grown over the last year, and how that compares with other practices in the category.
This is where it becomes more art than science.
Picking which evidence tells the right story, and indeed, what story should be told, requires buy-in from the relevant senior teams and an external voice providing strategic input.
The Elmfields team includes former directory editors, and in-house marketers at leading global law firms. That experience helps us assess the evidence, challenge assumptions and identify where a submission might not be putting the best case forward.
Referee work continues after the directory submission
Referee strategy remains an important part of the work, particularly for Chambers, where client feedback is weighted so heavily in their research compared to Legal 500.
A senior job title does not make someone the right referee. The better question is whether they can speak directly about the relevant work, the team’s contribution and the individuals being put forward.
If the recent Legal 500 UK Bar referee saga has shown anything, it’s that picking the wrong referees can undermine years of hard directory work!
When it comes to referee strategy, the following timeless advice holds.
Ask permission before nominating them. Explain which directory may contact them and when.
If you haven’t worked with them in the last 12-18 months, probably don’t include them.
If they haven’t been responsive for consecutive years, remove them from this year’s list.
Once research begins, gently reach out to remind them that they should expect a survey from the relevant directories. A bump up in your feedback rate can make the difference between a ranking promotion and another year in the same band.
Thank you to the teams behind the results
Finally, we offer a hearty congratulations to our clients recognised across this year’s guides, and to the lawyers, clerks, practice managers and marketing & BD teams who helped bring the submissions together.
We are delighted with the results and grateful to have been trusted with the work.
For firms and chambers considering the next cycle, our legal directory submission support covers strategy, drafting and coordination through to referee follow-up and researcher engagement. Get in touch for a confidential conversation about your current position and where to focus next.
About author
Mo leads our marketing strategy, with a focus on SEO, communications and lead generation bringing 9 years of B2B marketing experience. When he is not advising law firms on their marketing, he is (often painfully) supporting his beloved Fulham FC.
Mo Elmoussati
Director
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