The Legal 500 US 2020 – An interview with US Editors Ian Deering and Helen Donegan

2019 has seen several interesting developments to The Legal 500’s US guide. Following former US Editor Seth Singh Jennings’s move to pastures new, Senior Researcher Ian Deering was appointed joint US Editor alongside Helen Donegan, who joined The Legal 500 in 2019 and has more than a decade of experience in legal publishing. I sat down with Helen and Ian ahead of the publication of the 2020 US research guidelines (now available here) to discuss their aims and objectives for the US guide over the next 12 months and beyond – here are some key takeaways from that discussion.

On the Editors’ respective remits

Having two editors on one guide is a novel approach for The Legal 500, which has historically had one Editor in charge of the guide per jurisdiction.

Ian’s focus will be on the rankings and editorial content produced in the US guide itself, while Helen’s remit will be on creating new, US-focused content across The Legal 500’s other content platforms and products, including their GCand fivehundredmagazines.

Given the all-encompassing nature of The Legal 500 US guide, separating out the roles of overseeing the research into and production of the US rankings and editorial, and that of generating new editorial content for The Legal 500’s various other publications and initiatives, will enable the editorial team to maintain the high quality of the core US guide while also giving them the opportunity to expand the scope of their coverage into areas that would not necessarily fit within the guide’s methodology and remit.

On the topics the new content will be covering

Helen is looking at a number of topics to cover in the coming months, largely driven by discussions with law firms in the US as well as feedback from the GC community – these include areas such as legal tech and leadership, although a key priority will be diversity and inclusion (D&I). Given the increasing role that D&I is playing in client purchasing decisions, the directories have been exploring ways to showcase firms with strong D&I initiatives and stories to tell. Given the relatively structured approach to researching the US rankings and editorial for the guide, providing a specific platform to showcase D&I and other developing areas of legal business will give the editorial team space to do deep dives into these areas.

The work being done to showcase the US legal market’s approach to D&I will form part of a broader approach to D&I across the jurisdictions covered by The Legal 500.

On US law firms’ response to the new initiatives

While US law firms have primarily engaged with The Legal 500 through the guide, the response to the new editorial initiatives has been positive. The proliferation of “pay-to-play” operators has made the US legal market decidedly wary of new products from new market entrants, so an established player like The Legal 500 seeking to drive engagement through free content is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Helen emphasised the importance of dialogue with US law firms and the GC community, and encourages firms to get in touch to discuss how they can take part in these new editorial initiatives.

On the upcoming US research

In addition to the new editorial content, we also discussed plans for the rankings and accompanying editorial. If you’ve pored over the recently released submission guidelines, you’ll see that The Legal 500 will not be introducing any new practice areas. However the team has introduced practice area definitions this year, the first time The Legal 500 has done so for any of its guides.

These definitions (which are available to review in the “Practice Areas” section on The Legal 500’s US submissions page) will provide valuable guidance to firms submitting this year (if you’re weighing the pros and cons of submitting this year, this article might help), Ian was keen to stress that these guidelines are open to change, and encouraged firms to get in touch with any feedback on how these definitions could be updated.

We also discussed planned changes to the format of the guide’s editorial coverage. Editorial paragraphs will have separate sections focusing on the practice, key clients, work and individuals – long-time devotees of The Legal 500 may recall the first US guides adopted a similar structure. The new format will enable the editorial team to utilise more of the information provided by firms in their submissions.

On Ian and Helen’s US travel plans

As part of their ongoing engagement with the US legal market, Ian and Helen will be travelling extensively as part of their respective roles. Having recently returned from trips to New York and Washington DC, Ian will be jetting off to visit firms in San Francisco, and also plans to travel to Chicago and Texas in the coming months. Helen will be visiting New York in September. If you are interested in meeting them while they’re doing the rounds, do get in touch with them to set up a meeting. Here are their contact details:

Ian Deering – E-mail: ian.deering@legal500.com Tel: +44 (0)207 031 0014

Helen Donegan – E-mail: Helen.Donegan@legal500.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7070 0403.

If you have any questions about the upcoming US research and the new editorial initiatives discussed here, Helen and Ian would be delighted to hear from you.

My name is Alex Boyes and I am one of the directors at SavageNash Legal Communications. I’m a former editor at The Legal 500 and also worked at a large international law firm. Together, SavageNash Legal Communications has over 40 years’ directories-related experience, from both sides of the directories process. If you’d like more guidance on making submissions to Chambers or The Legal 500 in the next cycle, please do get in touch via our website or on LinkedIn.

The Legal 500’s New Online Submissions Process

After pondering The Legal 500’s messages in its presentation yesterday about its plan to introduce online submissions and for the publication to move to a wholly digital platform (i.e. no more heavy books – get your editor-signed collector’s copy now!), here are key points of note and some views on the subject:

  • There will be no more print editions of The Legal 500, beginning with the online-only launch of the upcoming EMEA edition (to be published in April 2018).
    • The publisher has been moving in this direction for some time, with the launch of online-only Canada and Caribbean editions, plus last year’s launch of enhanced online content for the expanded UK edition. It saves trees, recognises that online is the main modern form of the guide’s usage, and allows very substantial print and distribution costs to be reinvested in better technology and more researchers.
  • The Legal 500 will use volunteer law firms to help beta test its online submission process during the UK research (submissions in February and March 2018). Law firms wishing to be involved in the beta test can participate with some or all of their submissions and should volunteer by email to submissions@legal500.com.
    • UK law firms not wishing to participate in the beta test may continue to submit in the usual way for this year’s UK edition.
    • Encouragingly, the beta test genuinely will be used to identify usage issues and modify either process or format to fit the way in which firms need or want to use the documents.
    • A dedicated submission form is being developed for the UK Bar, to take account of the variations of the types of information needed there.
  • After the UK beta test, the online submission process will be refined and finalised, then rolled out as a compulsory process across all The Legal 500 directories.
  • Client reference process will be essentially unchanged, except law firms will have the chance to update their lists online.
  • Law firms will be given a log-in to an online upload screen which, though the layout is different, has similar functions to the one offered by Chambers (on first view, The Legal 500 version seems to be cleaner and less fiddly).
    • All archived submissions from the firm will be available – a useful facility for firms in the event that the key point person leaves the firm and incoming staff need access to older records.
    • Staff from a law firm will be able to work on multiple documents at once under one log-in platform (probably with one password / log-in per firm), although only one person working on each document at any given time.
  • Crucially – and contrary to some rumours beginning to circulate – law firms will have the option to fill in an online submission template, or to download and complete a Word version of the online submission form, so that it can be circulated internally as with previous submissions (or Chambers submissions) and then that document uploaded. The downloadable submission form can be viewed and accessed here: https://submissions.legal500.com/wp-login.php
  • I and other invitees were given the opportunity to see and comment on the draft online submission form yesterday. The Legal 500 was receptive to suggestions and the submission form will include clear instructions on what is sought in each particular section, with some suggested modifications accepted during yesterday’s Q&A, and so further clarifications may be made following beta testing. Click-button options will allow for the clear labelling of confidential content.
  • The form has been designed – and will be modified – to minimise the hassle of translating submissions between those required by the various major directories, so should have relatively easy facility to continue to modify Chambers submissions to The Legal 500 or vice versa, for example.
  • The new form necessarily steps back from the old free-form style previously invited by The Legal 500, but will still be recognisable to law firms in terms of the information sought. The Legal 500 still wants the same information in a similar style as it previously suggested, but the format is simply regimented to fit within what are readily understandable set fields.
  • As noted in my previous post on the subject, the online submission format also will do away with the danger of submissions going astray by email and law firms will be able to go to their summary page online platform after logging in and see exactly what has been submitted or not.
    • Importantly, it will be possible to update and replace submitted materials until a certain cut-off point (likely when research begins), at which point documents will be locked in to avoid researchers inadvertently working with outdated materials.
    • Later updates, such as to reflect partner moves or deal completions late in the research process, will continue to be accepted by email.
  • The new online format will make the data immediately searchable by the researchers and editors, allowing – for example – a deal spanning four countries to be pulled up and any submissions with related material brought up and searchable.
  • The Legal 500 also envisages that the planned redevelopment of The Legal 500 website on a new platform – still in concept stage at this point – will also leverage the searchability of the online submission form to make available to website visitors some of the publishable content, such as lists of clients, experience in jurisdictions or certain industries, through a much-enhanced search function. This point has been developed and planned after extensive discussion with the GC community that forms the bulk of the product’s readership. Thus, a GC in the pharmaceuticals industry, for example, may in future be able to run a search in order to map out and identify candidate law firms with experience in pharma in CEE or Southeast Asia.

In summary, the new process inevitably will cause concerns or teething problems for some firms (dependent on their internal processes) but the good news is that there is the beta test to iron out those issues, rather than a sweeping introduction of a model that had no prior road testing. The issues that might occur do not appear to be insurmountable and there are many good reasons to support the introduction of this form. The new online submission and its downloadable cousin are very similar in spirit to the material previously requested by The Legal 500 and simply apply a set layout to that. Though some conversion will be required between submissions of one directory and another, the pain of it looks to be limited.

The potential value of the envisaged future redevelopment of the website and the use of advanced search functions for GCs to get to information that could never have been made available in the past under the physical constraints of a print format is exciting and really should help to draw out the attributes and experiences of law firms. Let’s hope that comes along in the near future.

If you would like any advice on any of the above, or any other legal directory, publishing or awards issues, please do feel free to contact me (mike@savagecomms.com) or Nigel Savage (nigel@savagecomms.com).

The Legal 500 Set to Change to Online Submission Uploads

The Legal 500 has announced significant but sensible changes that will see it introduce online upload of submissions and referees as the basis of its submission process.

Key points are as follows:

Going forward, submissions and referee spreadsheets will be uploaded online – the move to online upload and automated filing is great news for law firms and barristers’ sets. It will improve efficiency by ensuring no submission ever goes astray and firms will immediately know whether upload has been successful. It also will make the documents more accessible for researchers to use and for publishable information to be made available to readers of the www.legal500.com website. Publishing director David Burgess announced that the content of submissions will be unchanged, so law firms should not worry about an added burden of work hours in their submission processes.

Redesigned and more accessible new website in development – the move to the digital platform for uploading research data is being made as part of a wider development process which will also see the introduction, in due course, of a more accessible and redesigned website with more coverage of what law firms and sets can do.

Law firms can get involved – to its credit, The Legal 500 will be looking to work in partnership with law firms to ensure that the new digital approach and enhanced information reflects what readers (potential clients and referral partners) need and want to see. Law firms in the UK will be invited to be a part of the beta testing during research for The Legal 500 UK 2018 (Solicitors), which has deadlines in February and March. See here: http://www.legal500.com/assets/pages/about-us/get-involved.html#deadlines

More details on the planned and proposed changes will be presented by The Legal 500 on Thursday, so stay tuned for further news.

 

IFLR1000 Expands, Adding U.S. State-wide Rankings

 

The next edition of legal directory IFLR1000 will feature considerably expanded coverage of the U.S. market, adding rankings and editorial in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

IFLR1000 – Euromoney Institutional Investor’s flagship legal directory, which is now in its 27th year – is unique in that it focuses its research exclusively on the corporate and finance areas. This sets it apart from, for example, the Legal 500 and Chambersguides, which cover the full range of legal services (employment, real estate, life sciences etc.)

IFLR1000‘s expanded editorial will include rankings and editorial in four core practice areas: Banking, Capital Markets, M&A, and Restructuring & Insolvency. However, the depth of the market in each state will determine which areas appear in each state – it’s unlikely that all four practice areas will be covered in all 50 states.

The state-wide rankings will sit alongside the nationwide rankings. As is the case with Chambers, firms are of course able to submit both for the state-wide sections and the nationwide sections (for the time being at least, Legal 500 prefers to adopt the nationwide-only model, and it’s working well for them).

IFLR1000‘s rankings are based on three criteria: quality and quantity of deals, peer feedback, and client feedback.

A few things firms should bear in mind when putting submissions together (this according to IFLR1000‘s press release on the expanded coverage):

  • Deals should be focused on the state in question. They should have been completed primarily by lawyers based in that state, and governed by that state’s laws.
  • Deals involving two of more states can be submitted in each individual state submission.
  • International cross-border deals should be submitted as part of the nationwide research process.
  • Firms can submit deals that have been completed, on or which they have started work on, since January 2017.

Follow these links for more information on how to take part, as well as IFLR1000‘s practice area definitions.

My Take On This

I applaud Euromoney for taking steps to expand and improve its coverage of the world’s biggest legal market. I have felt for a while now that concerted efforts by both Legal 500 and Chambers to hone their research processes and engage fully with corporate counsel have meant those two organizations have pulled far ahead of the competition, in the U.S. and elsewhere. IFLR1000 is, in my view, playing catch-up.

The rankings/legal directory space is becoming more and more crowded, and firms are increasingly reluctant – not to mention unable – to submit to everything. At SavageNash Communications, we’ve come across many large firms who are significantly cutting back on the number of rankings publications they submit to, and instead are selecting a small handful of market leaders on which to focus their efforts.

This is the challenge IFLR1000 will face.

Strong, deep research and compelling editorial coverage are absolutely essential to success of any new directory in this already overcrowded market. I sincerely hope IFLR1000 has significantly expanded its editorial team to handle the large amount of extra research this new venture will require.

As ever, please feel free to get in touch if we can help.

Legal 500 EMEA 2018: Deadlines, Guidelines Now Available + Editor Insights

Attention all European, Middle East and Africa law firms: The Legal 500 has just published its 2018 edition submission deadlines, which can be accessed here. The key dates for your diary are as follows:

  • Referee spreadsheet deadline: 4 August 2017
  • Editorial submission deadline: 14 August 2017
  • Law firm interview period begins: 4 September 2017
  • Contacting referees: during September (precise date to be determined by number of referees received to contact – law firms will be informed one week before we contact referees)

There are big changes afoot editorially at The Legal 500, which we reported earlier today (please see here). We caught up with EMEA Editor Ella Marshall to discuss changes affecting the upcoming EMEA edition.

Are the changes to the editorial coverage of the UK guide being replicated in EMEA also?

We’re expanding content in the same way as the UK. Increases will be dictated by the availability of data, but we expect to deliver around three times the content for the largest and/or more sophisticated markets and will provide editorial content for every single firm that is ranked.

ella_marshallThe content will be online only, so the EMEA 2017 edition is, in fact, a collector’s edition!

In terms of new practice areas etc, what should firms look out for this year?

We are continuing our ongoing expansion of our Africa coverage to reflect demand from website users: this year, we’re adding Botswana, Senegal and Uganda to our coverage.

There are no Regional Summary sections this year (i.e. none for CEE, Africa or Middle East) because we’re now covering more markets and more practice areas in those markets than we were 3 years ago when we introduced the summaries as a catch-all.

We have also added English Bar: DIFC (Dubai International Finance Center) to the coverage this year as part of the UAE coverage to reflect the growing trend of work arising in the free zone.

The expansion of the word count has also enabled us to add practice areas to cover gaps in other markets, particularly with the introduction of more coverage of competition law, employment law and corporate/white-collar criminal law and compliance.

Law firms are strongly advised to check the list of practice areas carefully and not assume that the practice areas are the same as last year – there may have been additions or other amendments. We change the coverage every year to cater to market demand. New practice areas are marked as “NEW” or “RENAMED” or other appropriate indicators.

Legal 500 London research – editor insights

The Legal 500’s UK research process is now underway in London. We caught up with Legal 500 UK editor Alex Boyes for a quick run-down of what’s new for this year in London. Most notable among these being significantly expanded editorial coverage of all ranked firms. Alex also provides a reminder of key things firms should be doing to ensure their references respond to Legal 500’s researchers.

The Legal 500 London research is about to begin, with the regional research having concluded. Is the London content also being expanded this year, and what is the rationale behind the change?

Yes, that’s correct. This year, we’re undertaking a large-scale expansion of our UK Solicitors editorial content. The aim of this expansion is to enable researchers to utilise the significant amount of information obtained through the submission/interview process more effectively, conveying more of the key strengths of a practice and highlighting the success stories of that year.

In previous years, researchers have had to boil down sizeable chunks of data into very small editorial descriptions of firms and their practices, primarily due to the constraints of producing hard copies. In many instances, firms in the bottom tiers of our tables received no editorial at all. This will no longer be the case – all ranked firms will now receive editorial. We will still be publishing a print version this year, however our website will feature significantly expanded content, which in turn should enable our readers to make more informed buying decisions.

alexander_boyes

Are there any other significant changes to be aware of?

We’ve introduced some new sections this year, under our Risk Advisory category. Our Brexit section will highlight firms that are devising solutions to the myriad issues arising from our impending exit from the EU, whether working at a public policy level to shape the government’s strategy for Brexit, or assisting private clients with managing operational risk as a result of Brexit. Our Corporate Governance section will cover work carried out by firms that relates to the system of rules, practices and process by which a company is directed and controlled, and by which are balanced the interests of a company’s stakeholders, including its shareholders, management, consumers, suppliers, financiers, government. The section will also cover advisory work relating to UK and international governance regulations. Lastly, this area will also cover advisory work on the operations of executive boards, D&O responsibilities and shareholder relations, as well as internal investigations of wrongdoing.

We are also introducing a new TMT section for Fintech, which will cover work for start-up firms in this space, as well as advice to investors into the firms, whether through VC funds or financial institutions themselves through their incubator programmes. Work covered includes advice on corporate structuring/contractual agreements with procurers of these services, to related IP, financial services regulatory and disputes.

We know submissions are in already, but what are some of the key things law firms could and should be doing at this stage of the process, that they tend to forget?

Firstly, don’t be afraid to reach out to the researchers with updates to the submission. Keeping us up to speed on new pieces of work or noteworthy additions to the team is always helpful.

Secondly, make sure your referees are looking out for our feedback requests and responding to them. Here’s a breakdown of when we will be reaching out to your referees:

  • Referees received on or by 3rd March will be contacted via email during the week commencing 15th May 2017
  • Referees received between 4th and 17th March will be contacted via email during the week commencing 22nd May 2017

And finally, feel free to reach out to researchers to make sure they have everything they need, or if you would like to arrange an interview. The list of researchers for London can be found here.

Interview with Chambers Europe: Georgia Brooks, Editor

For a wealth of inside information relating to Chambers Europe, check out my interview with the Editor, Georgia Brooks. I caught up with Georgia recently to discuss changes to this year’s book, and tips for how to engage with the research process.

Are you planning any changes to the structure of the book this year? Any new practice areas/changes in approach the market needs to be aware of?

Firstly, the 2014 Chambers Europe guide will look very different to previous editions.  We have greatly changed the editorial layout, to highlight a team’s key strengths as well as its main areas of activities.  Extended information, such as basic facts about the department and additional work highlights, will also be available on our website: http://www.chambersandpartners.com/guide/europe/7Georgia_Brooks

This year we have added an unprecedented number of new practice areas at both a country level and in the Europe-wide chapter.  Energy has been a key area of law for multiple jurisdictions, and we researched it for the first time in Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.  At a Europe-wide level we have seen an increase in internal investigations and regulatory work, so added two new sections to cover these: Corporate Investigations and Regulatory & Public Affairs.  Data Protection is another growing area of focus across Europe, and that too has been introduced in the Europe-wide section.

Lastly, we conducted more regional research and added separate Central & Eastern Europe sections in Banking & Finance, Corporate/M&A and Dispute Resolution.  We also introduced a Baltic-wide Corporate/Commercial section to highlight firms active in that region.  At a country level, we also added France Regions and Russia Regions sections; which will highlight firms who are active outside of the capital.

European firms have been submitting to Chambers for more than 20 years. What are some of the things firms continue to get wrong with their submissions?

The key aspect that firms continue to get wrong, or rather miss completely, is to explain why a work highlight is important and explain the specific role the team played.  It definitely helps to summarise the matter – concisely! – and put it into context.  Also feel free to send us additional information from local news sources, where relevant.

Furthermore, a lot of firms only highlight on the top-value deals, whereas it helps to show a breadth of expertise.  It’s a good idea to explain all the strengths of the team, then use the ten work matters as an illustration.

Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, but missing the deadline is a big no-no!

What’s your advice on how firms with plenty of lawyers ranked in a section should get more lawyers on the list?

I advise taking a two-pronged approach; first, make sure that you highlight the lawyers you want to see ranked in the submission.  There is space on the submission form to include key names, and it’s also crucial that their work highlights are also listed, so we can see what work they have handled.  Secondly, put forward client referees who can talk about the team as a whole and a range of individuals.  Of course make sure that the client is happy and willing to speak to us – this makes such a difference!

Tell me about your research team – is it the same team as last year, or will there be any new faces?

We do have a few new faces to the team, which is natural in such a large research team. However, the greatest change has been with the deputy editors; we promoted four individuals towards the end of 2013.  All four were extremely experienced researchers, and one (Lucy Craig) was previously the assistant editor for Germany.  I’m sure many firms will recognise them from their time as researchers.  Here they are below as well as the list of jurisdictions they oversee:

Francesca Lean – France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain
Katherine Yu – the Baltic and Nordic regions, Poland, Russia and Ukraine
Lucy Craig – Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland
William Robertson – Central and South East Europe, plus Turkey.

If firms have any queries about the research it’s best to come to me and the deputy editor for the relevant country.

When recruiting, how much weight do you place on native/fluent speakers of foreign languages?

Being able to speak to clients and lawyers in their native tongue is extremely useful, and in some jurisdictions absolutely crucial!  On the current Europe team our researchers speak over ten different languages, including French, German, Portuguese, Greek, Hungarian and Russian.  Foreign languages are a very important part of the research and thus the recruiting process.

For any new researchers, what steps do you take before research starts to educate them a little, to make sure they are not coming to it completely cold?

For most of February and March the deputy editors, assistant editors and myself interview managing partners from firms across Europe.  It is a great time for the managing partners to tell us about key market developments as well as changes at their own firm.  We use the information we gather to better allocate our resources throughout the year, and of course pass this knowledge onto the researcher before research starts.  Thus, researchers know in advance what has been happening in the market as well as new practice areas or firms to ask about.

What are your thoughts on allocating experienced researchers to the same sections as they covered in previous years. Good idea or bad idea?

For the Europe team, the most important element in assigning researchers is language.  Thus for jurisdictions where speaking the native language is crucial, such as France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Italy, then it is obviously a good idea to have the same researcher cover the jurisdiction.  That said, a fresh pair of eyes can offer a different perspective, not to mention a different research experience.  At a deputy and editor level then we try to keep consistency, as we are the ones ultimately evaluating the research.  You will notice that the deputy editors are responsible for a region, which gives them expert knowledge of various jurisdictions as well as an understanding of how those countries often work together.

Any plans for the researchers to travel to meet with firms face-to-face? It’s something that firms appreciate in relation to at least one of your close rival publications…

I and the deputy editors frequently meet with firms when they come to London.  It is definitely useful to hold face-to-face meetings, as it enhances our knowledge of the firm and likewise allows us to explain more about the research process.  I am also quite fortunate in that I can travel to meet firms on occasion e.g. in the last year I visited firms in Turkey, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Germany and Ukraine.  As much as we would all like to be travelling across Europe, we find that we can conduct more thorough research from our base in London.  You may find that surprising but the researchers couldn’t travel with the database in tow, nor would they have the wealth of material that we have in the office.

Are there any other Europe-focused initiatives you’re planning for the coming year?

For the 2015 guide we are expanding our regional coverage even further by introducing a CIS Corporate/Commercial section.  At a Europe-wide level we will research Real Estate for the first time, while in the Central & Eastern Europe section we will add Dispute Resolution.  Compliance has been the buzzword for a while now, and we are introducing the section in Germany.  The Germany chapter will also see new Commercial Contracts and Transportation sections.

Another key initiative that we are focusing on is to develop the mid-market coverage, such as Corporate/M&A sections divided into High-End Capability and Mid-Market.  This is currently in place for France and Germany, and I imagine this will only grow.  Indeed, we are seeing increased engagement from firms active at this level as well as interest from clients.

Research for the 2015 guide starts in March and the first submission deadline was 24 February.  However, we are still accepting submissions so firms should check the online schedule for further information: http://www.chambersandpartners.com/secure/research-schedule

Interview with Jonathan Rubin, Editor, Chambers UK

The launch of the 2014 edition of Chambers UK is imminent. And before the ink has dried, results have been assessed, hands have been wrung and teeth have been gnashed, it’ll be time to start all over again with preparing submissions for the 2015 edition (isn’t life wonderful?). I caught up with Jonathan Rubin, Editor of Chambers UK, to talk about how the 2014 edition will look – and about some tips and insights into the 2015 edition.

Are you planning any changes to the structure of the book this year? Any new practice areas/changes in approach the market needs to be aware of?Jonathan_Rubin

The new 2014 guide (which launches on 30 October 2013) will have a very different feel to the 2013 version.  The first thing that you will notice with the 2014 guide is the change in editorial layout.  We have done this to allow for greater emphasis on the strengths of a particular law firm, and what it is they actually do.

Secondly, this year we have written about firms on a regional basis (while maintaining city-based rankings), while also highlighting those firms outside of London, who have a national presence in new ‘National Leaders’ tables.  This shows to clients of law firms that the best possible option for them is not necessarily based in London.  For the 2015 guide, we are looking to expand our regional coverage further, by introducing new regional tables in areas as diverse as Fraud and Asset Finance.

We will also look to continue to develop the new Hotels & Leisure and Commercial Contracts sections, featured for the first time in the forthcoming 2014 guide, and we will introduce two new sections in 2015 – Art & Cultural Property Law and POCA Work & Asset Forfeiture.

UK firms have been submitting to Chambers for more than 20 years. What are some of the things firms continue to get wrong with their submissions?

The key thing firms have to remember when drafting submissions is to know their audience.  The best submissions are those that are written in clear, plain English, and talk about how the firm adds value to the client.

Additionally, I think firms think about submissions the wrong way round.  It is a mistake to use “what are our ten best matters” as a starting point.  The best submissions are those that start by telling us the story of what it is a practice can do, and then illustrate that with the ten matters.  Rather than seeing the top ten by value, or by highest profile client, we want to see breadth of expertise and ability to provide clients with business critical advice.

Oh, and of course, always get your submissions in on time!

Chambers limits the number of client references firms can submit. What is the rationale behind that, and how should firms with plenty of lawyers ranked in a section already work within those limits to get more lawyers on the list? 

The rationale is quite simply timing and resources.  In addition to generating and following up on our own leads, we speak to literally thousands of referees put forward by firms.  We only have a finite amount of time to research every section, and we place great importance on actually speaking to referees.  We are fundamentally committed to this method, as we get far better feedback this way, particularly when it comes to finding out about the up and coming stars in the market.

One piece of advice I would give is for firms to be careful how they select their referees.  I would always advise selecting those referees who are best placed to speak about the team as a whole, and a wide range of individuals in that team.  In particular, we are always interested in hearing from clients about the junior members of the team as well as the unsung heroes, rather than the established names who everyone already knows.

What can firms do to optimize response levels from their client references, and when should those actions be taken? 

There are two things firms can do:

First, before compiling referee spreadsheets, ensure that referees are both willing and able to participate.  It is amazing how many referees get put forward that are not permitted to speak to us about their service providers, by virtue of their own company’s internal policies.

Secondly, during research, follow up with the researcher to find out when they will be contacting referees.  All initial contact with referees is by email, so remind clients that they should be expecting an email, who it is coming from and what it is.  This, we find, greatly increases the response rate.

Tell me about your research team – is it the same team as last year, or will there be any new faces?

In a team of 50 dedicated UK researchers, there are bound to be people that some of your readers have not yet dealt with.  But my deputy editors Jamie Horne, Liam Whitton and Bryony Hirsch will all be familiar names in the market.  I am also delighted to be joined by Georgina Watts, who has been promoted to deputy editor following her outstanding research on previous guides.

For any new researchers, what steps do you take before research starts to educate them a little, to make sure they are not coming to it completely cold? 

The deputies and I will be spending the period after launch (30 October) to the start of research (around February 2014), going out to the market, to find out what is going on in the market and the key areas that we should be looking at across the board.  As a result, all researchers are armed, regardless of their experience, with information directly from the market itself before they start research.  This information covers both specific issues in a given practice area and the actual activity of law firms – lawyer moves, firm mergers etc.

As well as reviewing the rankings and editorial that researchers produce, it is our responsibility as an editorial team to ensure they are adequately informed of all the issues at hand throughout research.

What are your thoughts on allocating experienced researchers to the same sections as they covered in previous years. Good idea or bad idea?

I think it is important to have consistency at the editor and deputy editor level, as we are the ones who meet with firms initially, set the tone for research and then evaluate the research.  Nonetheless, it is useful for certain practice areas to have the same researchers year on year, but I think there is also a lot to be said for a fresh pair of eyes who can look at a section differently.

Are there any other UK-focused initiatives you’re planning for the coming year?

One major initiative we are certainly focusing on this year will be to develop and implement a “No firm too small” strategy.  We recognise that not all clients are FTSE 100 companies or major global private equity funds.  In fact, the clients who perhaps find our guide the most useful are smaller, sometimes family-owned businesses, who are not sophisticated users of law firms.  Accordingly, and in recognition of this, we are introducing a number of ‘SME/Owner-Managed Businesses’ subsections to existing chapters, including Corporate/M&A, Litigation, Banking & Finance and Real Estate, to highlight the work that law firms do for these sorts of clients.

Interview with Lauren Hughes, Editor, Legal 500 US

Lauren Hughes took over the editorship of the Legal 500 US earlier this year, bringing with her many years’ experience as a researcher on the US and other Legal 500 editions. I caught up with Lauren to talk about her plans for the forthcoming edition of the Legal 500 US – the deadlines for which are coming up in November – and to hear about some other new initiatives at Legal 500 that will be particular interest to the US legal market.

As the new editor of Legal 500 US, are you planning any changes to the structure of the book this year? Any new practice areas the market needs to be aware of?L500 logo

It will be much the same structure as last year’s, but with two additions: Cyber Crime will be included as a section within the Media, Technology and Telecoms chapter, and Sport has been reintroduced within the Industry Focus chapter. The timings remain the same as ever; submissions are due just after Thanksgiving, and research will take place through December and January.

You have plenty of first-hand experience of reviewing submissions, having been at Legal 500 for some years now. What are some of the things that US firms continue to get wrong with their submissions?

Not tailoring submissions for the Legal 500 is the biggest mistake. Our focus is on the elite only, so firms have to demonstrate that they have a strong national practice to even be considered. So, for example, receiving four submissions for four different offices is not helpful when trying to assess the overall capabilities of a firm. Nor is receiving a list of individual lawyers followed by each of their work highlights. We are much more interested in what the group has achieved collectively.

Another mistake is to send in submissions covering multiple sections, meaning I’d have to search it to find the bit that’s relevant for me. Firms should bear in mind that we allocate different researchers to each section, so it’s much better to send us a separate document for each.

And finally, listing lots of deals and cases with too much technical detail, without including context to explain why the matter is impressive.

But I should add that on the whole, the standard of submissions from the US is usually pretty good!

One key difference between Legal 500 and Chambers is the fact that Legal 500 accepts unlimited client references. How do you manage the process of contacting them all, and any follow up that might need doing?

We have an amazing admin team here, and they pull together the vast number of client reference emails we get each year, and ensure that we are not sending multiple emails to the same person, that kind of thing. As for how on earth they manage it, who knows! But we don’t chase the referees down as we don’t want to bug them. If they want to respond, they will.

What can firms do to optimize response levels from their client references, and when should those actions be taken?

It goes without saying that they should ask for permission before putting their names down. But they may want to remind them again when December comes round, and at that time they will also be able to provide the name of the individual researcher who’ll be emailing them. And I always advise contacting the researcher towards the end of the research period to ask if they’ve received a sufficient number of responses.

Also references don’t strictly have to be clients, nor do they have to be the GC; it can be anybody who can provide an assessment about the practice. It’s better to choose the people who are more likely to respond.

The referee feedback is a key component of the research, but for us it’s not necessarily the be all and end all. We understand that a lack of feedback can be put down to a number of different reasons, so if it happens it doesn’t necessarily mean the firm will drop a tier. Being able to demonstrate a strong track record of work is more important.

Tell me about your research team – is it the same team as last year, or will there be any new faces?

I’m happy to say there are many of the same faces as before. Continuity is important to us and to the firms, and we get a lot of good feedback about that. As the company is in growth mode, it’s inevitable that there’ll be some new faces too. And there are a few members in the team who have been promoted to other positions, but they will still be around to mentor and oversee the others’ work.

For any new researchers, what steps do you take before research starts to educate them a little, to make sure they are not coming to it completely cold?

The editors will always work more closely with newer researchers. Some will be new to the US market but will have worked on our other books, as the team rotates. For those people, we will spend some time at the start of the research to go through the slightly different approach needed for the US market. Speaking more generally, new starters always get the opportunity to listen in on interviews, and take part in a number of formal training sessions too. For the first year or so, they are assigned a ‘mentor’ who sits nearby and can answer all their questions. But the training never really stops. We regularly have practice area-specific training sessions, either conducted internally or with lawyers.

I have to mention that we always welcome hearing firms’ thoughts about our researchers. Equally, our publishing director is always happy to give feedback on firms’ marketing and BD staff, so it works both ways!

What are your thoughts on allocating experienced researchers to the same sections as they covered in previous years. Good idea or bad idea?

Good idea. Definitely. As I mentioned, firms always tell us that they appreciate it as it means they don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time and can trust that person to make a well-informed assessment of the market. M&A, employment and technology are some examples of areas that have had the same researcher for many years.

A key new initiative for Legal 500 this year is the Corporate Counsel 100, which launches this weekend. Could you give us some insights into this new initiative?

The whole concept of the Legal 500 is to produce useful copy for corporate counsel, and at the moment we do that by helping them choose which law firm to instruct. But we thought, why stop at that? So the Corporate Counsel 100 is a way of letting them know what their own peers are up to, and enabling them to share ideas. When it came to selecting people for the list, law firms jumped at the chance to nominate as it’s a way for them to give something back to their clients, as opposed to asking them to provide yet another reference!

The research and writing process for this has been consuming all my time for the past while, so I hope people will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I interviewed so many inspiring people and was quite blown away by some of the things they’ve achieved. It’s also been a great way for me as editor to learn more about what they want and need from their outside counsel, and about how the Legal 500 can help facilitate those needs.

We’ll be launching the list at the IBA and ACC conferences this month, and the full editorial will be available online. There are plans to replicate it in other jurisdictions, so stay tuned.

Are there any other U.S.-focused initiatives you’re planning for the coming year?

There are quite a few! Some are in the early stages so I won’t say too much, but we have added a new research arm to the business, who will be producing bespoke industry insight reports on request. We are also planning to do more roundtables. Then there’s the global client feedback report that’s in the works. And, the UK awards seem to be going down well over here, so perhaps we might replicate that model in the US.

Interview with Catherine McGregor, Lawdragon’s Chief of Strategic Development

Catherine McGregor, long-time member of Chambers’ senior editorial team, made something of a surprise move recently when she moved to Lawdragon as the company’s new Chief of Strategic Development. Here’s what Catherine had to say about that move, and about Lawdragon‘s plans for future development, when I caught up with her recently.

Your move from a senior editorial position at Chambers – arguably the leading legal directory globally – to Lawdragon was a pretty surprising move. What prompted the move?

Essentially it felt like time. I had been at Chambers for over 7 years, and it felt like a good point to move to the next stage. Chambers is wonderful but it’s at a very developed stage as a company.  Coming to a company that’s at an earlier growth stage is really exciting and challenging. I have equity in Lawdragon so I will be working for myself, along with my partners, which is a huge source of excitement and creative energy for me.

Why Lawdragon, specifically? Did you spot an opportunity there to revamp that product?

Well they asked me! But it’s a very well respected product with a huge growth potential. They are completely committed to the Internet and new media. I do find the mix of high-quality journalism and lawyer evaluations a really interesting model, which has huge potential.

On the face of it, Lawdragon hasn’t so far really tried to compete in the same space as classic directories like Chambers and Legal 500. Does their decision to hire you indicate a change of heart in that regard?

Yes and no. We will be growing our portfolio of products and expanding, but not competing in the Chambers/Legal 500 sphere exactly.  They both do what they do well, and frankly there’s not really any appetite or need that I can see for another comprehensive legal directory in that model.

One of your primary responsibilities is to develop new products. What new initiatives can we expect to see from Lawdragon in the coming year?

A lot. I’m currently working on some practice-/legal trend-focused guides. These will marry Lawdragon‘s journalistic expertise with my directory knowledge, as well as my relationships with, and insight into the needs of, in-house counsel. We’re also planning a hard-hitting guide to trial lawyers.

I will also be reviving my general counsel round tables, which I had previously held in London and New York where in-house lawyers can meet and discuss key topics under Chatham House rules.

All these new products are being developed in conjunction and conversation with my network of in-house contacts, who have been fabulously generous with their time and supportive of my efforts. A big thank you to them for continuing to support me.

Thus far Lawdragon has been US-focused. Are there any plans afoot for international expansion?

Yes, but this will be measured and in line with the focus of our new products.

The classic directories haven’t really changed their model for 20 years. Do you think it’s time for something of an overhaul?

Yes. I think the classic directories provide a great overview of the breadth of the legal market. I think there is a gap for products that are more detailed and which assume that the reader knows the basic landscape.

The role and profile of the in-house lawyer has changed immeasurably since the first directories came on the scene, and we’d like to provide information that can cater to the needs of current general counsel and their teams. However, any information is only going to be part of an arsenal of resources that are used in making hiring decisions.

There is much research that seems to state that clients don’t use directories, but I do doubt that; I think it’s often a dirty secret and people don’t want to admit they do use them, even in a limited capacity!

As a seasoned directories professional, what’s your impression of the current state of the directories market?

As I stated above, directories are always going to be just one resource used; there does appear to be a disproportionate burden on many firms in dealing with these, however. Perhaps there needs to be more emphasis on independent research to lessen the burden on law firms.

I think there will always be a need for Chambers and Legal 500, as they are just so well established and are both solid brands. The market is changing though, so you never know; 15 years ago Martindale was the only name in the US and that has definitely changed.

Interview With Steve Naifeh, Founder, Best Lawyers

A long-time market leader in the somewhat crowded peer-review section of the legal directories market, Best Lawyers‘ recent tie-up with U.S. News & World Report added a significant string to the directory’s bow. Here’s what Best Lawyers founder Steve Naifeh had to say when I caught up with him earlier this week.

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Best Lawyers is among the longest-running legal rankings publications. How – if at all – and why has the philosophy behind it changed since the early days?

Best Lawyers has changed a lot in the past 32 years. We now have almost 50 people in two offices (South Carolina and New York), not just me in one office. We cover hundreds of legal practice areas in over 65 legal markets, not just ten practice areas in the U.S. We rank firms as well as lawyers. We have a website that reaches about a million unique visitors a month instead of a book that reached several thousand lawyers a year.

But even though a lot has changed, the philosophy hasn’t changed. At Best Lawyers, providing the most accurate possible ratings remains our core mission – even though legal rankings have become a business since we started out three decades ago and so many competitors have entered the field.”

In a market where several of the best-known directories have made client feedback a central feature of their research, how difficult has it been to resist that, and stick with peer review?

“We believe that client feedback can be extremely valuable, and we have added it to peer-review as a part of the rating process for law firms. But we know that corporate clients – and especially general counsel who deal with many different lawyers and law firms – provide more dependable opinions than individuals who are not themselves lawyers or who have not dealt with many lawyers. Individual clients tend to focus on results and personality. Sometimes the best possible lawyer can’t deliver ideal results in terrible circumstances. And however desirable a good personality may be, it is as important to have the right lawyer as it is to have the right doctor, regardless of personality.”

Best Lawyers expanded the scope of its coverage beyond the United States relatively recently to include various key international markets, including the UK and Continental Europe. How’s that going?

“We have been working since 2009 throughout Europe and in the major legal markets in Asia and Latin America, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Because our lists run in major newspapers in many of these markets, our lists have become extremely important – the most important lists even in some markets that we have entered relatively recently.”

Best Lawyers‘ tie-up in 2010 with U.S. News was one of the biggest developments in the directories market in recent times. What prompted that decision?

U.S. News has a reputation for rankings in general, as well as a very strong platform, and is moving into many new fields beyond its obvious strengths in rating schools and hospitals. It seemed like a natural partnership to bring our new law firm rankings to the largest and most influential possible audience.”

Three editions in, how is the U.S. News-Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” product going? Has its success in gaining traction in what is a pretty saturated market matched your expectations?

“The traction was very strong from the beginning, partly because the leaders of so many of the largest law firms in the country are on the boards of schools and hospitals that are rated by U.S. News. The traction has gotten stronger each year as lawyers and law firm leaders see how carefully we undertake the research process, how hard we work to make the process better and easier each year, and how valuable the ratings are to legal marketing.”

What plans are in the pipeline for developing Best Lawyers? Or is it a case (perfectly understandably!) of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”?

“A company can always be improved, and we are constantly thinking of ways to improve Best Lawyers. A phrase I hate hearing from anyone on our team is that “we’ve always done it this way.” Innovation and technology can improve any company, as I believe they have improved ours. It is a long time, and much has changed, since I began the first peer-review list in the legal profession 32 years ago with paper and pencil and a telephone. I am still trying to believe that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Naturally, I will certainly keep Savage Comms informed of major changes.”

Being a seasoned directories’ professional, what’s your opinion on the current state of the directories market? How do you see directories continuing to play a role going forward?

“There are too many directories and too many of them are all about making money. I am sure that the market will shake some of them out, and I believe that quality will be a factor.”

Interview: David Burgess, Publishing Director, The Legal 500

The Legal 500 can lay claim to being among the best-established, longest-running research-based guides in the market; more than 20 years on, it remains an essential, market-leading publication in the rankings world. I caught up with Publishing Director David Burgess, who has been instrumental in successfully steering The Legal 500 through some testing market conditions over the past few years – and who remains as bullish as ever about the future.

What’s the one thing that, in your view, sets The Legal 500 apart from the other research guides in the market?

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“I’m not sure there is just one thing. But I’ll focus on something that I feel is important – the quality of the research team. Research guides should live or die by the quality and depth of their research, and to do this effectively you need to have experienced researchers who understand the market and the practice areas. It’s a widespread criticism of other guides that they employ only fresh graduates and that the researchers change every year – this is a cause of constant frustration for law firms, and I understand.

The Legal 500 research team benefits from having a wide range of experienced researchers (including former lawyers, legal journalists and research specialists) who return to their practice areas or jurisdictions year after year. It’s always interesting when I’m out meeting with firms across the world – many of the firms refer to my researchers by their first names, as they have known them for many years, but don’t know who the researchers are for the other guides.

It’s also important to note that each of the editors here also conduct research, they lead by example, and helps to give us a real understanding of the issues that affect corporate counsel.”

What are the key things firms most often get wrong in their submissions?

“The key thing to remember is that The Legal 500 focuses on the teams, rather than the individuals. That’s not to say great lawyers aren’t important, but from my many years of talking to in-house counsel, they focus on the strength of the team, from partners to associates, and assess the overall capability of the practice that they wish to instruct. There is a backlash against the numerous guides that focus on the individuals – what many in the market refer to as “vanity guides” – as there is no real editorial depth or analysis. So, for the submissions, that has to be the focus. And the tough part for firms, especially the larger firms, is to take that ego out of the equation and produce a submission that puts the team, not the individuals, forward.

Let me put it like this: firms should think of their submissions as a pitch document for a new client, highlighting the strength of the team, recent examples of work that show the unique aspects of that practice, and that it’s a team, not a series of unrelated individuals.

Another area that firms often get wrong is when talking about work, they focus on the technical details, instead of talking about why that work is representative of the practice (ie. why was it innovative? why is it market-leading?). And a long list of work is not that helpful – we understand that law firms work on many deals throughout the year, but focus on the ones that show the high-level abilities, and leave the cookie-cutter work off the submission.

Finally, firms have to be realistic about where they feel they are in the market – give us feedback on last year’s rankings, but be honest.”

How do interviews with partners affect a firm’s rankings? Can a strong partner interview tip the balance and get a firm promoted (and vice versa)?

“There are a number of factors that affect a firm’s ranking, and there is no exact science of formula. However, I would add here that there is a misconception that the research guides are ‘80% what the clients say’ – it simply isn’t true. The submissions, the client feedback, peer feedback and firm interviews are all important and go into the mix.

What I can say is that a good interview helps but doesn’t exactly tip the balance – that would be to suggest that we are influenced in the wrong way – ultimately we have to look at all the evidence, and weigh it up against the evidence from every other firm. Likewise, an interview that doesn’t go well is not going to lead us to drop a firm in the rankings.

We don’t interview every firm for every practice area. In fact, often we can see from the submission exactly what a firm has been doing, and when you couple that with experienced researchers returning to the area they covered last year, often an interview is not necessary as we have all we need. But if firms feel that in certain practice areas they haven’t told their story, or want to highlight changes that have been made (either in the team, or in the demands of clients) then they should request an interview. And on that point, I would also add: don’t sit back and wait for someone to contact you. There’s a reason we publish the researchers’ names (and contact details), and we would encourage you to contact them at the start of the research process to request your interviews!”

What’s your one golden rule for partners participating in interviews with your researchers?

“Be prepared. The worst interviews happen when partners haven’t read their own submission, or looked at last year’s editorial or rankings. And if you don’t have what you want to say prepared, then the interview will be vague and directionless. Fortunately many partners are well prepared, and the marketing and business development teams in most firms take the time to prep them the day before, and debrief them afterwards. If firms don’t do this, I would urge them to do it. And if after the interview, the firm feels that the key points may not have come across, by all means, follow up with the researcher afterwards.”

A firm is unhappy with a particular ranking. What’s the best way for them to address it with you?

“We are always happy to give feedback to firms (within confidentiality boundaries, of course) as to why we have ranked them as we have. The best way for us to deal with any questions about rankings is to keep on top of the enquiries, so we ask everyone to send an email to editorial@legal500.com, and our truly amazing admin team will make sure it gets to the right people who are able to deal with it. However, when we launch each book, we are usually inundated with enquiries, so it does take time to go through them all. So I would urge firms to be patient while we work through them all.

Some other tips: it is always better to have one person centrally at the firm that everything is sent through – what often delays us are questions that come from numerous people at the same firm (often with roughly the same questions) that take time to answer individually. It is better for us to get a central set of questions that we answer, and which can be sent round to the relevant people in the firm by that contact person. I would also suggest that firms gather their questions and send them through in one communication, rather than drip-feeding individual questions – which again, is more time-consuming and less efficient.”

The Legal 500 covers barristers as well as law firms. Are there any strategic differences in how barristers’ chambers should prepare their submissions?

“Of course, the Bar is a very different beast, and submissions for this should partly ignore my earlier comment about individuals! But the part about being realistic should also qualify, and when it comes to getting silks and juniors into the listings, think of the bigger picture. If we have previously recommended 5 juniors, and the set has 25, don’t put them all forward as leading juniors – it is unrealistic to think that they are all “leading”, and then it’s difficult to see the wood for the trees within that set.

The submissions for law firms should focus on the work over the past 12 months, but with sets, while we want to see the key work done over the past year, we also need to see long-term work. The length of time on each case is, as a rule of thumb, much longer that for solicitors, so sets need to present a full body of evidence of work carried out by its tenants.

When it comes to the silks and juniors, don’t simply copy and past what is on the website, as we’re able to see that anyway. Take a bit of time to explain the demands of clients, and put some context into the cases that have been worked on.”

Does The Legal 500 have any plans to do something similar to the Chambers Confidential initiative – that is, allow firms to buy the complete, unadulterated feedback gathered during the research process?

“A question we get asked a lot, and one we have given a lot of thought to. Ultimately, part of our research comes from the clients, and we guarantee that any feedback they give us is confidential. In order to ensure that clients wish to continue to give us feedback, we feel that selling that information back to the firms is not the right thing to do for us as a business. As I mentioned earlier, if firms want feedback as to why they are ranked where they are, then we are more than happy to provide that feedback – free of charge.”

What initiatives does The Legal 500 have in the pipeline for the coming year that you’d like to tell the world about?

“So many I hardly know where to begin! Some of our initiatives we aren’t telling the world about yet, but I’ll keep you updated when we are able to – in fact, I’ll be able to let you know next week of a new initiative we have here in the UK, so stay tuned.

Obviously the main one that we are focusing on is the Corporate Counsel 100 Series, which is being rolled out globally. The first edition is focusing on the United States. It’s interesting that so many companies are publishing endless (and often the same) lists of the best lawyers in private practice, and not focusing on what really matters – the clients. The Corporate Counsel 100 Series aims to highlight the very best in innovative in-house, and the interviews that we have conducted with the in-house nominees have been illuminating, so we can’t wait to share that with our 2.5 million in-house readership. And obviously a key element will be launching the results at the Association of Corporate Counsel annual meeting in Los Angeles, and The Economist General Counsel Summit in London in October, where we will be the only research guide attending both of these events.

We have more in-house roundtables in the pipeline, and a new bespoke research department that will be producing a major survey in the first quarter of 2014 – more details to follow.

The Legal 500 is now covering Canada, and the results will go online in early October ready for the International Bar Association (IBA) annual conference in Boston. I’ll be at all these events, so if anyone wants to meet me there, then please do drop me a line at david.burgess@legal500.com.

In November we are launching The Legal 500 Deutschland, an expanded German-language guide that will cover approximately 500 of the leading firms in Germany, primarily for the domestic market. We’ve had a dedicated team of German researchers working on that since December of last year, so finally Germany will have an independent, in-depth research guide that clients and firms can rely on.

Any and all new initiatives, I will of course let you know about for you to let your readers know about over the forthcoming months.”

All the key directories. All the key people. In one place.

Beyond the directories’ own websites and Twitter pages, it can be tough for law firms to keep track of every development, initiative and nugget of information from the array of publications that rank lawyers and firms.

Throughout the year, the Savage Comms blog will feature regular, in-depth interviews with all the senior editorial people at all the major legal directories, as well as those at myriad other awards and rankings publications.

Here, you’ll find breaking news about current initiatives and plans for future development. You’ll find regular tips and tricks – direct from the horse’s mouth – as to how best to approach each directory’s research processes. And, you’ll hear their thoughts on the directories market in general – including how the market is developing, and why directories remain relevant in today’s legal market.

First up, watch out for my interview with Steve Naifeh, founder of Best Lawyers, coming today.

Next week: Catherine McGregor, Lawdragon‘s Chief of Strategic Development, and former Managing Editor of Chambers and Partners.

Welcome to the Savage Comms blog.

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