AFTER THE SUBMISSION: MAXIMISING VALUE FROM THE LEGAL DIRECTORIES PROCESS

It stands to reason, you work in a busy law firm marketing team and you want to get the best return on your effort. The process of submitting entries to legal directories such as Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners can often seem arduous and thankless. You are not alone if you question the value of the process and whether it’s really worth it for your law firm. However, beyond the submission, there is a wealth of strategic activity that can enhance your law firm’s profile and influence your rankings. Importantly, if you start to view directory submissions and the legal directories process as a ‘year round’ process, rather than a few weeks of frenzied activity, the value can be significant.

1. UNDERSTANDING THE POST-SUBMISSION LANDSCAPE

Once submissions are uploaded, they undergo a rigorous review process. Directories evaluate legal services submissions over several months, during which they may contact referees, conduct interviews, and analyse provided submission documents, as well as doing significant desk-research.

Understanding the timeline as it applies to you is crucial. It provides a framework for follow-up communications and managing expectations internally and with clients. So, the first job is to make sure you’re keeping on top of when categories are being researched, when referees are being contacted and who has responded. Both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 publish this information on their websites so you simply need to check. Armed with this information you can structure a programme of communication grounded in client care and business development.

2. MANAGING AND ENGAGING WITH REFEREES

The role of referees cannot be overstated in the directories’ decision-making process. Effective referee management within the legal directories process starts with choosing individuals who not only know your work intimately but are also articulate and willing to advocate on your behalf. Once selected, it’s imperative to:

• Inform them about the directory’s potential contact and provide guidance on how it will likely work.
• Provide a brief on key points they might discuss that you have highlighted in your submission.
• Follow up to see whether they’ve been contacted (and where necessary, liaise with the researchers to encourage contact/resolve issues). If you pay for law firm profiles with Chambers and Partners their ‘back end’ system is superb at telling you, real time, how this is going.
• Thank them for their participation, regardless of the outcome, maintaining these relationships for future submissions.

3. EFFECTIVE FOLLOW-UP STRATEGIES ONCE THE RANKINGS ARE OUT

Following up with directory editors after the law firm listings are published is more an art than a science but don’t overlook it. In theory they will not provide feedback directly to you (they will encourage you to purchase the more detailed reports) but it can be possible to communicate your own feedback (for example, about people missing, mistaken messaging etc) if you strike a balance between assertiveness and courtesy. A single follow-up email or call can not only often result in online corrections if you notice particular errors, it can help to get the right message across for next year.

Importantly, over the year, don’t forget to share relevant legal industry news with the directories – for example, press releases about new people, major deals and developments and award wins. Once again, for elite law firms it helps to build a dialogue with the directories and to help them recognise the value of the information you provide.

4. DO AN INTERNAL REVIEW

After the dust has settled and the results are out, conducting an internal review is crucial to understanding any potential gaps or areas for improvement. You might want to consider the following:

• Volume of work submitted: It’s advisable to utilise the allowance of up to 20 matters (or 5 for barristers), as directories often use the number and complexity of submitted matters as a key metric of activity. Submissions with significantly fewer matters may not showcase the true capability. How well do you think you did with this and what can you learn for next year?
• Diversity of work: Ensure that the matters submitted reflect a broad range of your firm’s capabilities within the relevant practice area. Over-concentration in a niche area might be perceived as a lack of breadth. However, considering whether the matters provided communicate the message of specialism is important. If you want to demonstrate expertise in particular areas, do the matters reflect this? If you want to highlight particular individuals or clients, do the matters showcase their involvement?
• Detail in case descriptions: The depth of information provided about each matter directly influences the assessment of your firm’s quality of work. Merely brief descriptions can fail to convey the significance and complexity of the matters handled. Particularly in transactional work, disclosing deal values can provide a quantifiable measure of the work’s scale and impact. And don’t forget that explaining why a matter is significant, and what it demonstrates about why you should be ranked – why it is supporting evidence – is important. Are there gaps and places you didn’t do this that need to be addressed next year?
• Relevance and timeliness of work: Matching the work precisely with the directory’s practice area definitions ensures relevance. Also, demonstrating ongoing engagement with current and new instructions highlights a thriving practice. What can you do differently or better next time?
• Team stability: Significant changes in key personnel, particularly departures of noted partners, can impact your rankings, as these individuals often carry individual recognitions. Now is the time to start considering any on the horizon – as well as recruitment and growth – and how you want to communicate this next year.

5. SEEKING FEEDBACK ON THE LEGAL DIRECTORIES PROCESS, TOO

Once the results are published, it’s important to engage with your team to dissect the process and how it did and didn’t work. Gathering perspectives from those who prepared the submission can uncover changes in the process or content that may have impacted the quality. Use these discussions to improve next year’s submissions, focusing on areas identified as weak or underrepresented. You might want to consider, for example:

• Whether internal deadlines were clearly communicated and/or enforced/kept to?
• Was information shared appropriately and on time?
• Are there changes to how information is communicated and shared that need to be implemented?
• Were templates for submissions clear and sensible, to ensure consistency and save time?
• Was there a dedicated team to oversee the legal directories process, ensuring everyone knew their roles and responsibilities?
• And what about after submissions? Were you sent information to help you prepare for the research process?
• How were referees chosen and communicated with? Did the team cross-check to ensure that the referee information was correct and that there weren’t referees lost to the ’rule of three’?

5. BEYOND THE SUBMISSION: USING THAT CONTENT FOR MORE

Submissions are rich with detailed information about your firm’s accomplishments. This content shouldn’t be confined to directory submissions alone. Consider repurposing these detailed case studies and testimonials for:

• Marketing materials and pitch documents.
• Longer case studies and client stories/testimonials
• Content for your firm’s website or newsletters.
• Updates for LinkedIn profiles and other social media platforms.

THE JOURNEY DOESN’T END WITH THE SUBMISSION OF YOUR ENTRIES TO LEGAL DIRECTORIES.

A strategic approach to managing the post-submission phase can significantly impact your firm’s rankings and reputation. Pulling together a good submission document is only part of the process. Good referee management, engaging with the legal directories themselves and building on internal feedback is crucial. Importantly, if you do all of this you will gain a wealth of marketing content as well as opportunities to engage referees and build relationships. In this way, directory submissions really can be of benefit year-round and even lead to prospective clients.

If you’d like to discuss how you can improve the entire legal directories process – your recent submissions and plan your next steps – book a consultation with us today. We’re experts in working with legal services of all kinds, across the whole directory submissions process. Having done this for 20+ years we don’t think it’s too much to say that we can help to transform the seemingly mundane task of directory submissions into a cornerstone of your firm’s marketing strategy.

WRITTEN BY HELEN FOORD

Helen Foord is a legal sector wordsmith and directories wizard. Specialising in the legal sector, she has over 20 years' experience, across a number of in-house and agency roles. She's a specialist in ESG-focused marketing and business development for the legal sector. Helen is CEO of ELE and one half of Helen Squared along with Helen Burness.