The Legal 500 FAQs

Submissions Analysis Reports (SAR) represent The Legal 500’s quantitative feedback product and offer firms objective data regarding their submissions, all relative to market peers and average scores within a certain jurisdiction. These reports are typically booked directly before, or immediately following, a guide launch but before a firm’s next submission deadline, and are designed to help target specific areas for future improvement. We also include full and unedited client testimonials.

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

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.