While it may feel like we are doing directory and award submissions all year round, the formal season for directory submissions is upon us. Over the next six or so months, you can expect your partners to get you working on submissions to:

• IP Stars (September – October)
• Chambers (December – January)
• IFLR (January – February)
• WTR1000 (February – March)
• Legal 500 (May – June)

So I thought it might be helpful if we take a deep dive in to the joys of whether or not to submit for that directory listing!

Should we even bother submitting?

Great question!

To be honest, if you’re just starting out and have not submitted to a directory before, then the answer is probably “no”.

The Return On Investment (ROI) – particularly now that private equity has an investment in directories such as Chambers and Best Lawyers, is low at best.

On the other hand, done right (see below for some helpful hints) you can get some useful material for your marketing collateral – such as client feedback quotes to use in capability statements and tenders.

At the end of the day though, directories have nailed the ego trips (aka endorphins) of lawyers and so the decision of whether or not to submit might be out of your control, so…

If you are going to submit, do it right: Some helpful hints

• Be selective: First off, don’t go for every directory/award submission possible. Best selective and go for those where you know the research is done properly.
• Don’t pay-to-play: Some directories/awards require you to pay a fee to boost your ranking or use client feedback in your marketing collateral. Resist the urge to pay for a better ranking or award!
• It’s a long game: Most people [read: partners] think that by submitting a response the world will change over night and they will go from Rank 3 to Rank 1. Unless you have had a dramatic change at your firm, like a big hitting lateral hire – that is not going to happen! Shifting the dial on your directory ranking is glacial, and goes some way to explaining the comments on the ROI above. So if you are looking to invest time in directories and this is tied to your ranking rather than the brilliant client feedback you might get, then look to a 3 to 5 year timeline and make sure you cover off the partners to be profiled comment below.
• Referee feedback is vital: Referee feedback is vital to the success of your submission. Get good referee feedback that can be published in the directory and you’ll reap the benefits. What does this mean? Well you’ll be tempted to put the most senior people forward as your referees (such as General Counsel or Chief Financial Officer), but that’s not always the best strategy as they are either too busy to respond to the researcher’s queries, or else have too many firms asking them to be a referee so don’t provide feedback on any. Much better to use a more junior referee who will be delighted to have been asked to provide feedback and give [hopefully] gushing feedback that can then be used by the publication and subsequently by your Marketing and Business Development team!
• Case studies: Typically you can submit up to 20 case studies. If you mark all of your case studies as being “confidential”, then you won’t be listed – no matter how impressive those case studies are! Why? – again, the directory publisher will have nothing to publish. So make sure you give the directory publisher material to work with.
• Referee-2-case study: Try and link the referees you provide to the case studies you are submitting. You’d be surprised by how may submissions I have seen where there are 20 referees and 20 case studies and absolutely no link between the two. You need to ask yourself what message you are sending the researcher if you are not willing to provide a referee that is linked to the case study you are submitting?
• Partners to profile: You are probably thinking this is a no brainer – profile your most senior partners! But, that would be a mistake. Why? Well, in all likelihood they would have been profiled in any event. Much better for you would be to select a mix of partners from senior to junior to profile that shows your firm has in place a good succession and continuity plan – that you will be in business for the next 100 years, not just the last 100 years!
• Submit on time: Yes you can get extensions, but they are not looked upon favorably so make sure you submit both your submission and referees on time.

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation criteria for most directory/award submissions are:

1. So what/Who cares? – Why is your case study important? What sets it apart from other deals that year? Was it the biggest deal that year? Was it the first time something like this had been done? Try and work-up a case study that answers: “So what, Who cares?”.
2. Validation – This is the client feedback section, so make it count. TIP: Don’t use the same referees every year, kind of looks like your practice might be a little stale!
3. Peer review – Most people walk past the section where you are asked to nominated peers from other firms you worked with. Again, that’s a mistake. Peer review is a really important part of the evaluation criteria. And why would it not be? – Nothing better than having a lawyer at another firm say how good a lawyer you are and how they wished you worked with them!

Should AI be writing your directory submission for you?

Now, if you have read this far, and want to know whether there are any benefits in AI helping you draft (at least in the first instance) your directory submission, then take a look at an article I contributed to earlier this year on: ‘Why AI should be writing your directory and award submissions‘ [Note: you’ll need to provide an email to get this. If you don’t want to do that, DM me].

And finally

As always, get in touch if you need help with your directory submissions or if you just need them peer reviewed.

And if you are submitting – best of luck!

Richard & GSJ

*this post was first published to my LinkedIn account as a BD Tips Wednesday post