Tag: EMEA

SavageNash: The Power of Three

Posted on | by Mike Nash

Confession: Okay, the dog has nothing to do with this article but we thought it was cute.

The SavageNash legal directory double act has been in full swing for the past year or so, but it’s time to change things up!

We are delighted to announce the arrival of our third amigo: Alex Boyes, formerly Editor of The Legal 500 UK – Solicitors and Editor of The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, has joined SavageNash Legal Communications.

Alex is a meticulous editor with excellent insights into what law firms need to do to produce persuasive and compelling submissions.

He will assist in serving our existing clients in new markets and driving the growth of new business in the UK and Asia region, leveraging his deep knowledge and ties in those markets and his decade of legal directory experience. Mike Nash commented, “having worked closely with Alex for most of the past decade, I know that he brings excellence, commitment and knowledge to everything that he does and will prove to be a trusty guide to law firms seeking to navigate legal directory processes, particularly in this era of changing research methods. He’s also useful to have around when you need to know about films or restaurants!”

With three former directories editors, two of whom have also worked in marketing and business development at international law firms, you will be hard pressed to find another specialist legal directory consultancy with the same level of senior talent as Savage Nash Legal Communications. Together we have held editorships of directories covering the United States, the UK, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and command almost forty years of dedicated directories experience between us.

This is great news for SavageNash Legal Communications and our clients – 50% more senior level capacity – as we continue to help firms improve and streamline their legal directory efforts. Stay tuned for future updates. We’re here to help if you are looking to reassess your directory processes – please do get in touch.

 

Mike, Nigel and Alex

SavageNash Legal Communications

Please visit our website at www.savagenash.com to learn more

New Practice Area – Foggy Thinking?

Posted on | by Mike Nash

Alternative title: “It’s New! Should I Be Excited?!”

Look carefully through new directory guidelines and you will often see that there’s been a change to the coverage – something changed in some way or something is being looked at for the first time, whether that’s a new jurisdiction or a new practice area.

What do you do when you see one (and after you’ve checked if your firm has such a practice)? Here’s some brief advice:
1) Ask the directory in question for a practice area definition (if none has been provided)
2) Correlate your firm’s own practice area definition to the directory’s description
3) Don’t be constrained – assume that a new practice area will be open to some modification, dependent on the research information accrued. That means you have a chance to shape the new practice area coverage – maybe there is something your firm does that is clearly relevant to the area but which is not covered by the directory’s definition
4) Check with the lawyers – ask them for an honest view of whether the practice is deep or expansive enough to compete with leading practices in the area
5) Check the other directory – if one major directory launches a new practice area, check if the other major directory already covers it, or vice versa. The directories tend to obtain similar information and while the minutiae of results may vary, typically the nature of the practices and the bulk of contenders will be similar. If there is existing coverage by one directory, it will give you a sense of the level of opposition
6) If it’s entirely new – if the practice area has not been previously covered by either major directory, it is worth making a submission in the first year because nobody knows the level of the opposition. If you can substantiate your arguments, you have a fair to good chance of a ranking and the chance to establish your track record from the very beginning of the coverage
7) Outline prior track record – consistency of practice is a key judgement, so outline your firm’s prior track record in the area, whether that’s from decades back or examples of work from the year prior to the main time period under review
8) Get an interview early – in a new practice area, the researcher will be feeling their way through the subject. Obtain an interview and get in early, so that your lawyers can help the researcher to understand the subject and to help shape their view. That allows you to help them and, in doing so, to help them see what’s good about your firm’s proposition.

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

Posted on | by Nigel Savage

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.