The Legal 500 FAQs

If your referees have not been able to provide feedback, or have missed the emails prompting them to do so, we have a contingency in place. Feedback can be submitted via this link:

https://www.legal500.com/referee-form/

This can be distributed to referees, who can use the form to submit feedback all year round. If this is submitted in a timely fashion, then it can be considered along with feedback submitted via the usual channels. Please note that there is no guarantee that feedback submitted outside of the research window will be published.

This also applies if email contact details have changed or incorrect details have been submitted.

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).