Guide to the legal directory submission process

Legal directory submission timelines & deadlines

Legal directory submissions operate on an annual cycle, and while the timing differs depending on the directory, practice area, and jurisdiction being covered, they typically remain similar year on year for each directory and guide.

Chambers: For UK guides, Chambers deadlines usually fall before Legal 500, with the bulk of the deadlines between late November and early February.

Legal 500: Legal 500 usually announces the requirements & deadlines for its UK guide in December each year, with deadlines between February & March for law firms (and in April for the Bar guide).

They may be subject to change each year, so it is best to find the most up to date information in the research schedules which are published on the Legal 500 and Chambers websites.

Meeting legal directory submission deadlines

Each directory receives thousands of submissions every cycle, with rankings released anywhere from 5 to 10 months from the submission deadline.

The researchers and editors not only need to consider each submission in detail, but also conduct research interviews and reach out to referees. The research period typically lasts a month.

We’ve also heard that researchers tend to give preference to firms that submit on time when it comes to research interviews. This is why it’s important to try and get submissions in on time, and it’s particularly crucial to get referee spreadsheets in by the deadline.

The directories can give a short deadline extension, but confirm with the respective guide editor or researcher.

The legal directory submission process

While Chambers and Legal 500 each have their own research methodology, they do follow similar mechanics. Both require 2 documents as part of the submission process – the Submission Form and the Referee Spreadsheet.

You can find the Legal 500 submission templates here, and the Chambers templates can be found here.

1: The submission form

This is the document firms will use to demonstrate the reasons they should be considered for a new or higher ranking in the upcoming guide, and it is usually made up of the following 3 components.

Lawyer biographies:

A factual element detailing the individuals involved in the practice area. The temptation here is to add as many lawyers as possible, but the directories will notice if lawyers mentioned in this section don’t feature at all in the work highlights. Stick to lawyers who spend at least 50% of their time working in that practice.

Narrative pitches: 

This is the ‘sell’ section which, funnily enough, shouldn’t be too salesy. In close to 500 words, firms should explain what the practice is best known for and outline the firm or department’s expertise, key clients, types of work and areas of recent growth. Is the firm acting alongside / against other ranked firms? This will be backed by evidence in the work highlights section.

Work highlights:

In this section law firms back up the arguments made in the narrative pitch by providing an overview of up to 20 standout matters they have worked on in the previous 12 months.

Each work highlight should relate to the relevant practice area and focus on one matter per highlight, rather than a general description of the type of work carried out for a client on an ongoing basis – for example, as part of a panel appointment or general retainer.

Effective work highlights will focus on why the matter was important for the client, practice, firm or industry, and why it was innovative, complex, or impactful. This section can be a mix of publishable & confidential entries.

If you are prepare a submission to Legal 500 for the first time, then you are allowed to include up to 10 matters from the previous 24 months.

Ensure that lawyers recommended for a ranking are well-represented in the work highlights.

The Legal 500 submission features an additional question on diversity, innovation and other similar initiatives introduced or maintained by the firm to benefit clients.

For firms submitting across multiple practices, responses to this question can refer to either practice-specific and/or firm-wide innovations.

Use this section to expand on innovative client facing measures that may only have only received brief mention in the equivalent Chambers submission.

2: External/referee feedback

In what is referred to as the Referee Spreadsheet, firms are asked to submit a list of contact details for clients and peers for each practice area as part of the submission process.

Researchers contact referees directly to obtain feedback on the firm and the lawyers they worked with, as well as any other firms they may have instructed.

For Chambers submissions, a maximum of 30 referees are required for the UK guide, but for Legal 500 there is no upper cap. 

Referee selection is a crucial element of the legal directory submission process and as such, it requires a strategy of its own. 

It’s safe to assume that most firm’s submissions will describe how amazing and deserving of a ranking their firm is, so it’s the feedback from referees that will help to give credibility to the submission, especially in highly competitive practice areas.

In our experience, referee feedback is the single most important aspect of a firm’s legal directory submission.

For B2B firms in particular, it isn’t just about including 20 of the most-impressive GCs on the referee list. It’s important to include referees who will respond (positively!) about the firm and its lawyers when contacted by the researchers.

By listing only very senior referees, then the chances are your competitors are also listing that person. The problem is that Chambers have a 3-month rule: if a referee is successfully contacted for feedback, then they will not be contacted again for 3 months. Therefore, if your listed referee is popular then they are more likely to trigger a 3-month ruling in which they will not be contacted in respect to your submission.

Including a diverse mix of junior and senior contacts that work/worked closely with the firm can improve the referee response rate.

It is also vitally important to ask each contact for permission before including them as a referee.

Firstly, to ensure compliance with GDPR; secondly, because it could frustrate clients and negatively impact the ongoing relationship if firms don’t; and finally, because it simply looks bad to a researcher if a referee is contacted for feedback, and they had no idea the firm provided their contact details as part of the submission.

3: Researcher interviews

Researchers may ask to interview a firm’s practice leader (or another senior member of the practice area) after the submission deadline has passed. The researcher will ask questions around the practice, the work done over the last year, the firm's views on the market and peers. This peer feedback is an underlooked part of the submission process, and shows the importance of maintaining a strong, positive profile with your peers in the market.

Both Chambers & Legal 500 maintain that interviews have no impact on rankings, especially as there are only so many slots available during each research period. In our experience though, it doesn’t hurt to be proactive and get one booked in.

An interview is an opportunity to speak to the researcher, contextualise the overall submission and reinforce the case for a ranking.

4: Feedback interviews

This is becoming less utilised as the directories push participants to buy their insight reports, but depending on your relationship with the researcher / editor, then they are very often willing to attend a brief feedback call after rankings are published.

If you are unhappy with this year's results, it is worth reaching out to schedule a call where you will hopefully gain an understanding of the rationale behind ranking decisions.

5: Post-submission process

As the research process is cumulative (i.e. directories consider multiple research cycles when determining rankings), it’s important to have a multi-year strategy for achieving a ranking, and to not be disheartened in future submissions.

How Elmfields can help with legal directory submissions

We understand that law firms may not have the time or resources to manage every aspect of the legal directory submission process. It’s time intensive, and the process doesn’t just stop once the document is submitted – it’s an ongoing project.

We prepare compelling submissions for as many practice areas as needed, including collating, drafting and editing all content, and providing guidance on referee selection.

Our dedicated team also takes care of all post-submission requirements – from managing referee outreach and responding to researcher enquiries, to promoting a firm, Partner, or lawyer’s rankings.

For more information, learn more about our legal directory consultancy.