The Legal 500 FAQs

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No.

We take data security very seriously, and we are not prepared to accept confidential or third party information (such as Law Firm Submissions and Client Referee lists) via email. Any submissions sent by email will be regarded as a security risk and not be processed.

If you want to submit to The Legal 500 then you must register for The Legal 500 Portal and then upload your information via the Portal. No exceptions!

We have been entrusted with confidential information from law firms for 35+ years. The credibility of The Legal 500 is based on the fact that firms can trust us with confidential information – knowing we will take care of it.

Firms can only upload information to us via the secure, dedicated, Legal 500 Portal. We have comprehensive data protection policies. All law firm information is ring-fenced. Note that we do not accept email copies of Law Firm Submissions or Client Referee lists (because of the security risks). We are Cyber Essentials certified. Our Staff cannot copy, print, or email any the files sent to us. You can download our Privacy Policy and our Third Party Information Undertaking here.

If you are unsure how to complete the Word and Excel templates then you can get help below –

Word template help

Excel template help

We use standardised templates, although they do vary from edition to edition. You can download the latest version for each edition from:

Asia Pacific; Canada; Caribbean; Deutschland (in English); Deutschland (in German); Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA); Latin America; United Kingdom (Solicitors); United Kingdom (The Bar); United States

You need to download two templates:

Client Referee lists: this is an Excel template. Help on filling it in can be found below.

Law Firm Submissions: this is a Word template.

Yes. For data security reasons, you must use our pre-formatted templates.

If you don’t, then you will not be able to upload the documents to us via the Legal 500 Portal – and remember that we only accept files via the Portal (we do not accept them via email).

You can download the latest version for each edition from:

Asia Pacific; Canada; Caribbean; Deutschland (in English); Deutschland (in German); Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA); Latin America; United Kingdom (Solicitors); United Kingdom (The Bar); United States

Remember that you will need to download two templates:

Law Firm Submissions: this is a Word template.

Client Referee lists: this is an Excel template.

Get a reminder of your username or get a new password.

You use the Portal to send us Submissions documents and Client Referee.

Follow these steps:

Which Edition you are submitting for? Choose between: Asia Pacific; Canada; Caribbean; Deutschland (in English); Deutschland (in German); Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA); Latin America; United Kingdom (Solicitors); United Kingdom (The Bar); United States.

Check the submissions timetable for that Edition, visit our Submissions Information page.

Check which Country and Practice Areas you are submitting for. There is a list of Practice Areas here.

Do you want to create a Law Firm Submission or a Client Referee list (or both)?

To create a Law Firm Submission: download the pre-prepared Word template for that Edition here.

To create a Client Referee list: download the pre-prepared Excel template for that Edition here.

For data security reasons, you must use the pre-formatted Word / Excel templates, and cannot alter their layout, or delete any unwanted sections. If you do, the file will be rejected as a security risk.

You will need a separate Word / Excel file for each Practice Area

Upload the file(s) to us

You can come back and add new files, or amended files (but check the Submissions Timetable, to make sure you will not be too late – see (1) above)

You need to pre-register on behalf of your firm. Please apply here. We will then email you with login details.

The client research undertaken for The Legal 500 has two main threads and encompasses both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Each year we write to firms inviting them to provide information on their specialist areas of practice and requesting specific details of work undertaken in the preceding year (some of which will be confidential and not in the public domain). This approach gives us a standard level and quality of data which, in turn, enables us to benchmark legal services providers with both more precision and more assurance.

We conduct interviews in person or by telephone with specialist attorneys in each subject area – generally the head of department or nominated partner. We also conduct interviews with chief executives, managing and senior partners of law firms, and practice managers. This helps us to obtain a clear picture of the direction the firm is taking and its strategy.

We contact 300,000 clients asking for feedback on the lawyers they instruct. Additionally, our team has regular contact with commerce and industry throughout the year as part of our ongoing research. Although interviewees are often in-house counsel, they are by no means exclusively so; in many cases it is the chief executive or finance director who has strategic responsibility for the buying decision, even where it is the in-house function that may have more day-to-day dealings with the actual providers. We interview investment bankers, commercial bankers and accountants who work regularly with lawyers.

Interviews are based on a standard-form questionnaire. However, supplementary questions and more wide-ranging conversations about both specific law firms and the key issues which inform the purchase of legal services are in fact the norm. This is not least because interviews are conducted by experienced journalists and researchers with a considerable depth of market knowledge. All interviews are non-attributable. Over the course of the year, we also receive numerous unsolicited comments and recommendations from clients.

As well as contacting those clients referred to us by law firms for the purposes of verification of their submissions, we benchmark these findings against a detailed representative sample of the world’s leading companies. In particular, we ensure that we have contacted a statistically valid sample of leading clients when ranked either by market cap, by business sector, or by region.

When reviewing the performance of a firm or department we use various criteria; our focus is on the bench strength of the team (including partners and associates), and the consistency of quality of the individuals within the team. Our assessment will be influenced by all the things that make the complete practice in that field. Areas that are considered include (but are not limited to):

• Very strong technical ability available for the most complex and innovative work
• Most prestigious clients
• Individuals with the contacts at, and credibility with, the top clients
• In-depth capability beyond star partners
• Capacity for the biggest transactions/cases
• Market share
• Historical track record on top deals/cases
• Clear investment for the future in a particular practice area
• Progress made with acquiring new clients/ market share
• Strength in associated areas – eg can an M&A department undertake competition work to an equal standard?
• Reputation for handling complex, innovative deals
• Capacity to handle all client requirements in an area – eg international offices/connections
• Commitment to IT and the use of IT to improve client services
• Perception in the market.

We encourage firms and sets to use the recommended logos on their web sites, email signatures and marketing materials, and where possible, to credit www.legal500.com as the source. Logos can only be used by firms, sets and individuals who have been recommended as part of our independent research in the editorial sections of The Legal 500.

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific logos

The Legal 500 Canada logos

The Legal 500 Caribbean logos

The Legal 500 Deutschland logos

The Legal 500 EMEA logos

The Legal 500 Latin America logos

The Legal 500 Paris logos

The Legal 500 UK logos

The Legal 500 United States logos

Top Tier Firms: a firm that is listed in the top tier of one of our tables can use these logos.

Leading Firm: a firm listed in one of our tables can use these logos.

Leading individual lawyer: any individual recommended as a “leading lawyers” can use these logos.

Next Generation Partner: any individual recommended as a “next generation partner” can use these logos.

Rising Star: any individual recommended as a “rising star can use these logos.

Recommended Lawyer: any individual recommended in our editorial text can use these logos

Yes.

All historical data, showing firm and and selected editorial for the past 5-13 years is available as part of a firm profile package on our Historical data website (data varies from region to region; data includes all firm rankings tables; individual recommended lawyers are included within the text but are not listed in tables).

If there are broken or non-functioning links, please contact us.

If there are factual errors then please contact us.

We do not accept Law Firm Submissions or Client Referee lists other than for the practice areas listed for that particular edition of The Legal 500. See the list of practice areas, for each of the various editions, here.

If you think we should add a new practice area for future edition, then please contact us.

It is impossible for our editorial to meet the aspirations of every firm and we know that there will always be firms that feel their abilities have not been properly recognised.

Please understand that our editors and researchers use their own judgement. They take into account a wide range of factors (including, but not limited to, Law Firms Submissions, Client Referee feedback, work handled, market feedback, client satisfaction scores, and historical performance).

We welcome constructive criticism and critical feedback. If you think we have got it wrong then do contact us (and set out the justifications for why you think we are wrong). We do not, however, enter into correspondence about our rankings and our editorial commentary.

If you would like further analysis of your submission,  editorial ranking and position in the market, we have a range of reports that can be commissioned before, or after, publication of the rankings. Please contact Tim Verbrugge for further information.

Law Firm Submissions are an important part of our editorial research process. If you don’t provide us with background information, then we have to rely solely on publicly available data. In practice, this means that a firm that does not send us a Law Firm Submission is unlikely to feature as prominently in our editorial and in our rankings.

We speak to many firms but we cannot speak to every firm. In practice, it is the Law Firm Submission and the Client Referee list that are important to our researchers – that usually provides them with the core background information they need. If they need to speak to an individual lawyer then they will email.

So our advice is to focus on ensuring your Law Firm Submission is as comprehensive as possible, and that your Client Referee lists contains as many referees as possible.

The first step is to provide us with a written editorial Law Firm Submission. You can upload that to us via The Legal 500 Portal. You will need to register to use the Portal – apply here. You should also send us a list of Client Referees that we can contact (to request their confidential feedback)

Please refer to the editorial Submission Guidelines for advice on the information we ask for. There should be a separate Law Firm Submission, and Client Referee list, for each practice area you want to be considered for.

No. However, the size of the team, and its strength and depth, are among the factors which the editorial researcher will take into account when assessing a practice against its competitors. Others include the quality of work handled, the calibre of clients, referee feedback, and the reputation of individual practitioners. But a small department can still be worthy of recommendation in The Legal 500.

The task of the editorial team is to research the legal market, practice area by practice area; to assign rankings to firms’ practices; and to write accompanying editorial. There is no cost associated with making an editorial submission. Our editorial is independent and we do not give preferential treatment to advertisers.

The sales side of The Legal 500 relates to the paid-for firm and partner profiles. The profiles are written by the firms, not by The Legal 500.

The editorial and sales sides operate independently. Some firms pay for profiles but are not recommended in the editorial. Others are recommended but choose not to take profiles.

If you have any queries regarding sales, you should contact Amy McDermott.

The editorial research is based on firms’ written editorial submissions, and follow-up research with firms and their referees. The first step is to provide us with a written editorial Law Firm Submission. You can upload that to us via The Legal 500 Portal. You will need to register to use the Portal – apply here. You should also send us a list of Client Referees that we can contact (to request their confidential feedback)

Please refer to the editorial Submission Guidelines for advice on the information we ask for. There should be a separate Law Firm Submission, and Client Referee list, for each practice area for want to be considered for.

Yes. We encourage firms and sets to use the recommended logos on their web sites, email signatures and marketing materials.

Click here for guidance, and how to access the logos.

We survey over 300,000 law firm clients each year. We have more research data on law firm clients than any other organisation in the world.

Legalease Research Services provides client satisfaction data reports to many of the world’s leading firms.

We are the most used global law firm website.

We are also the only one that publishes its web stats. We have some 18.5 million page views per year. We believe this is far more than any competitor or any other comparable legal website. We believe our traffic is 2.3x greater that of the Chambers & Partners website (Source: semrush.com; ahrefs.com; similarweb.com)

In practice, it converts the vast bulk of the information. However, the Chambers (Word) template is different from The Legal 500 (Word) – in particular, there are differences in the information they ask for and in what we ask for. In most instance, the converted document will require a small amount of tidying up; it may not always be a perfect conversion, but the amount of tidying-up needed will usually be minimal.

Important: do not alter the standard Chambers (Word) template. If you alter it, ConvertNow will not work.

If you have problems getting ConvertNow to work, please contact us using the form found here.

If you have bought a commercial profile in the country that you are submitting for, then you can access ConvertNow. If you do not have a profile for that country, then please speak to your account manager.

No.

ConvertNow is optional. It has been designed to help firms with the submissions process. Many firms report it saves them an enormous amount of preparation and processing time. However, its use is optional – you do not have to use it!

ConvertNow automatically converts a Chambers & Partners submission into a Legal 500 submission. In practice, this can save many hours of work for firms that book in both publications:

ConvertNow is free to firms that have taken a profile in the relevant country of The Legal 500. It is not available to other (non-profile) firms. Nor is it available to firms that have booked in one country but want to use it for a document relating to another country.

It works on .docx format Word documents. If your documents are .doc then resave them as .docx before using ConvertNow

Submissions Consultants, and third party directories, must have permission from each firm they work with to use ConvertNow. If ConvertNow is used on a file relating to a firm that has either not given permission, or which is not authorised to use ConvertNow for that specific country, it will be a breach of copyright.

No. For data security reasons, you have to use our pre-formatted Word template, and upload it to us via The Legal 500 Portal.

However, what you can do is convert your Chambers & Partners submission into a Legal 500 Law Firm Submission, using out ConvertNow tool. ConvertNow automatically converts a Chambers & Partners submission into a Legal 500 submission.

We have been entrusted with confidential information from law firms for 35+ years. The credibility of The Legal 500 is based on the fact that firms can trust us with confidential information – knowing we will take care of it.

All Law Firm Submissions are held in our secure (Sharepoint) internal system (we are Cyber Essentials certified). Our Staff cannot copy, print, or email any Submissions. We have comprehensive data protection policies. You can download our Privacy Policy and our Third Party Information Undertaking here.

If there are new/updated practice areas, these will be highlighted when the guidelines are released.

In some jurisdictions, major clients will select a ‘panel’ of law firms to act for them. If you are on a ‘panel’ then do please tell us.

If you are not on a ‘panel’, or if your jurisdiction does not have panel appointments, please leave the entire section blank.

No – we do not undertake to speak to all firms. In practice, our editorial team relies primarily on information from the written Law Firm Submission and from clients contacted via the Client Referee list.

If you feel strongly that you want an interview, then you should (once the submission deadline has passed) email the relevant researcher to request one.

Yes. We will withdraw (and delete) a Law Firm Submission if you ask us to. Please email us using this form.

Yes. But if the submission deadline has passed, then it may be too late for the editorial team to take into account.

Yes. Editorial researchers do not see the profiles provided by firms (the editorial research is independent of the sales process). The editorial team will expect you to supply a Law Firm Submission and a Client Referee list (for each practice area you think you should be recommended in).

Yes. We understand that one piece of work may involve several practice areas. So feel free to include it in the Word document for each of those practice areas.

Include it as a publishable work highlight, but leave the client’s name blank (empty).

On our Law Firm Submission template (Word) we leave space for you to provide up 20 matters (10 publishable, and 10 confidential/non-publishable). But feel free to add more.

For how to add more space, so you can add more work highlights, follow the instructions in that section of the Word template. But do not add an appendix, a new section, or a separate document; if you do, you will ‘break’ the pre-formatted template, and you will not be able to upload the file to us via The Legal 500 Portal.

We encourage you to supply additional information – the more the better. But if something is confidential then do ensure it is clearly marked as ‘confidential’.

Log in to The Legal 500 Portal

Select ‘Add a File’

Complete, Step 1 (Country, Practice Area)

At Step 2 (Law Firm Submission) select your Word file

Complete, or skip, Step 3 (Client Referee list)

Complete Step 4 (Submit Files)

You must use the pre-formatted Word template (check here for to understand why). For security reasons, you cannot use your own version of it, or amend it in any way. In particular, do not delete, add, or re-order columns. If you do, your file will not be processed (ie it will not have been successfully submitted) Note: the link is to the page where the Word templates can be found

You can come back and add new Law Firm Submission files, or amended files, at a later date (but please check the dates for submissions deadlines for the edition you are submitting for via the Submissions Information page, to make sure you will not be too late).

For data security reasons, you cannot email your Law Firm Submission to us. Nor can you email a Client Referee list. You must use the The Legal 500 Portal.

Yes. For data security reasons, you must use our pre-formatted template.

If you don’t, then you will not be able to upload the documents to us via The Legal 500 Portal – and remember that we only accept files via the Portal (we do not accept them via email).

You must use our pre-formatted Word template for your Law Firm submission.

We use different templates for each. You can download the latest version for each edition from:

Asia Pacific; Canada; Caribbean; Deutschland (in English); Deutschland (in German); Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA); Latin America; United Kingdom (Solicitors); United Kingdom (The Bar); United States

(1) Download the Word document; (2) complete it; (3) upload it to us it via The Legal 500 Portal. Our FAQs set out each of these steps.

Our editorial research and rankings are based, in part, on public information and our knowledge of the market. However, we also rely on Submissions from law firms in which they provide detailed background information about their firm’s strengths (such as: the work the firm has been involved in; areas of expertise; the experience of partners and other staff). Some of that will be strictly confidential. The success of The Legal 500 is based on firms’ knowledge that they can rely on us to keep that confidentiality.

This background information (containing both confidential and non-confidential information) is an important part of our editorial and rankings process.

For data security reasons, and to maintain confidentiality, all Law Firm Submissions must (i) use our pre-formatted Word template, and (ii) be uploaded to us via The Legal 500 Portal.

We have been entrusted with confidential information from law firm for 35+ years. The credibility of The Legal 500 is based on the fact that firms can trust us with confidential information – knowing we will take care of it. For example:

• Email addresses are held on a secure server (we are Cyber Essentials certified).
• All email addresses and personal data are deleted 28 days after that edition is published.
• We do not accept Client Referee lists by email (because of security concerns).
• We never sell emails, and not do we ever allow any other organisation to access those email addresses.

We have comprehensive data protection policies. You can download our Privacy Policy and our Third Party Information Undertaking here.

Yes, we can check. Please contact us here.

You do not need to do anything. We will ignore the duplicate (provided both lists are sent to us before the submissions deadline).

Yes. If a Client Referee appears more than once in a Practice Area Client Referee list, the duplicate entries are automatically deleted. Note: this only applies if the duplicates were sent to us before the submission deadline.

Yes. You can add one or more referees to your Client Referee list if you email us before the submissions deadline. After that date, it may be too late.

To add one or more referees, prepare a new Client Referee list (using the standard Excel template). Use The Legal 500 Portal to upload that file to us.

Yes. You can remove one or more referees from your Client Referee list if you contact us before the submissions deadline. After that date, it may be too late.

To delete one or more referees, please contact us.

Log in to The Legal 500 Portal

Select ‘Add a File’

Complete, or skip, Step 1 (Edition, Country, Practice Area)

Complete, or skip, Step 2 (Law Firm Submission)

At Step 3 (Client Referee list: select Excel file to upload), select your Excel file (containing the Client Referees for this Practice Area).

Complete Step 4 (Submit Files)

Note: You can find Help on completing the Excel file here

You must use the pre-formatted Excel template. For security reasons, you cannot use your own version of it, or amend it in any way. In particular, do not delete, add, or re-order columns. If you do, your file will not be processed (ie it will not have been successfully submitted).

To locate our referee spreadsheets, visit our Submissions information page and select the edition you are submitting for.

You can come back and add new or additional Client Referee lists at any time.

Follow these steps:

Step 1 – Organise your data: get all your client data together. You will need this information, in this order: Title, First name, Surname, Job title, Company, Industry/Sector, Country, email address

Step 2 – Open the pre-formatted Excel file

Step 3 – Go to Cell B1: delete the text in merged cell ‘B1’ (the cell is coloured pink) and enter the name of your law firm name

Step 4 – Go to D1: use the drop-down list in merged cell ‘D1’ (coloured yellow) to select the country

Step 5– Go to F1: use the drop-down list in merged cell ‘F1’ (coloured green) to select the practice area

Step 6 – Client data: fill in the client details. The order of the columns is as in Step 1, so if you have organised your data in the correct order, you can copy it straight into the spreadsheet

Job done! You can then upload the spreadsheet to us via the Portal.

Yes. For data security reasons, you must use our pre-formatted templates.

If you don’t, then you will not be able to upload the documents to us via The Legal 500 Portal – and remember that we only accept files via the Portal (we do not accept them via email).

You must use our pre-formatted Excel Spreadsheet for your Law Firm referee spreadsheet.

You can download the latest version by visiting our Submissions information page, and selecting the edition you are submitting for.

From here, you must (1) Download the Excel spreadsheet; (2) complete it; (3) upload it to us via The Legal 500 Portal. Our FAQs tell you how to do each of these steps.

No.

The whole basis of the Client Referee system is that it is confidential. Clients must know that their comments are not being fed back to the firm and that their anonymity is preserved.

No.

The whole basis of the Client Referee system is that it is confidential. Clients must know that their comments are not being fed back to the firm and that their anonymity is preserved.

Only one, plus scheduled reminders.

If an individual is named as a Client Referee by multiple firms, and/or for multiple practice areas, then the one email from us will include multiple links (enabling them to comment on all those firms, and all those practice areas).. This may reduce the chances of getting a response but we do it to avoid client-fatigue (ie clients being sent too many emails), and it is why we always advise firms to use a wide range of Client Referees.

Yes.

But be aware of ‘client fatigue’ – which is when one client is asked to give references for multiple practice areas (and may also be asked by other firms). In that situation, a client may not bother to respond, or may give a cursory response. So do consider whether you should be using a wider variety of different clients.

We will email you shortly before we send emails to your Client Referees; typically we try to give 5 days advance notice. This will let you contact them to encourage them to respond to our emails.

No. You can include any client as a referee, provided the client has worked with the firm in the past 18 months.

We welcome the full range of Client Referees – senior, junior, and mid-ranking. We especially welcome clients who have direct experience of working with a firm (rather than a more senior person who may have no personal knowledge of how the firm performs).

As many as possible! A good minimum guideline is at least 20 per practice area.

Firms are encouraged to provide as many referees as possible per team, per practice area. This increases the amount of positive feedback we are likely to receive.

Please ensure that referees have given their consent.

We email Client Referees asking for their opinions on strengths, weaknesses, innovation, individuals, and the general legal market. All comments and feedback from Client Referees is on a confidential, non-attributable basis. A referee may be a client, an introducer or referrer of work, or counsel.

Yes. We want to hear from anyone who can legitimately comment on the firm’s abilities. For example In-house counsel, Direct access clients, Corporate clients, Barristers (leaders, juniors, opposition), Other/referring law firms and judges.

We want the referee to have worked with the firm in the past 18 months (or be in a position to comment on work done in the past 18 months).

Anyone who can legitimately comment on the firm’s abilities. This may be someone other than a client – for example, In-house counsel, Direct access clients, Corporate clients, Barristers (leaders, juniors, opposition), Other/referring law firms and judges.

We want the referee to have worked with the firm in the past 18 months (or be in a position to comment on work done in the past 18 months).

The Legal 500 and Chambers have different editorial structures and timetables. They also have different editorial categories, practice areas, and specialisations.

What do we offer is a way of converting a Chambers & Partners Law Firm Submission into a Legal 500 Law firm Submission, using our ConvertNow tool.

If you submit late then it is at your risk – we cannot guarantee that a Law Firm Submission will be considered.

Our deadlines are fixed so our research team can spend as much time as possible in analysing Law Firm Submissions and obtaining as much feedback as possible from Client Referees. If you miss a deadline then our researchers may have done the bulk of their work on a section of the editorial by the time you submit – in which case, you may well be too late.

Law Firm Submissions: whilst we will do what we can to examine late Law Firm Submissions, they may not be reviewed in detail by our research team.

Client Referees: Client Referees lists submitted after the deadline may still be processed, but we cannot guarantee when they will be processed. And bear in mind that client responses may arrive too late to be taken into account by our editorial team. Note that if you submit a Client Referee after the deadline, and that referee has already been named by another law firm, then it will be too late for us to contact that client (if the client has already been emailed, we will not email them again).

It is best to stick to the submission deadlines. If you want to tell us that your Law Firm Submission or Client Referee list will be late then please use this form.

It depends on which edition of The Legal 500 you are submitting for.

We publish over 10 different editions, and each has its own deadline. Click the link below to find the submission deadline for the edition you want to submit for:

Asia Pacific; Canada; Caribbean; Deutschland (in English); Deutschland (in German); Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA); Latin America; United Kingdom (Solicitors); United Kingdom (The Bar); United States

There is also a Deadlines Calendar which contains all deadlines (for all editions), on a month-by-month basis.