Directory submissions for publications such as Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 are very important in the legal world, they are your firm’s opportunity to showcase both your team’s legal expertise and separate your lawyers from others working within the same practice area or jurisdiction.
Most legal ranking submissions will ask law firms to give short profiles of their key team-members. This sounds easy to do, but you will be surprised how many times we come across overly long profiles full of information that is irrelevant. Let’s have a look at what a legal profile should and should not include.
The purpose of the submission
Although crafting the perfect submission takes time, they provide researchers in the legal directories with useful insight into your approach to work and your annual achievements.
Your submission is designed to summarise your annual highlights in a clear and succinct way. Much of what your write on your submission will be used by the directories to write a review of your firm. With this in mind, your legal profiles should not only help researchers understand your team’s strengths but also entice prospective clients into working with you.
What the profile should include
A legal profile for a directory submission must contain certain key information about your personnel. More specifically, you’re looking to include:
- The lawyer’s name
- Their role within the firm (for example, if they’re a Partner or Associate)
- The team they work with, and their practice area (examples being commercial litigation, energy, public law, etc.)
- Industry specialisation within their practice area
- Key clients they’ve worked with this year
- Work highlights within the last 12 months
- Word count of 200 words maximum
Word count and formatting of your profiles
Each form has a specific section for highlighting key team members. Legal directories such as Chambers & Partners have pro-forma templates that cover your entire directory submission.
However, a good rule of thumb is to remember that less is more—it’s okay to draft a profile that’s, say, between 100 and 200 words in length. You’re highlighting someone’s unique selling points (or USPs), and key work and you can do this succinctly and effectively in few words.
Be sure to vary the wording you use from profile to profile, so they don’t all sound the same. It should be obvious that you’ve put thought into each profile.
Include your key Partners and Associates. However, only include associates who have been involved in matters your are putting forward in the submission.
What not to include in your profiles
Submissions are highlight reels. Don’t include extra details such as education, languages spoken, publications or career milestones and history. Focus on the work the lawyer did in the last 12 months mentioning the key matters and clients. Don’t pad your submission with marketing fluff—remember, less is more.
The perfect legal profile showcases your team in as few words as possible, for maximum effectiveness.
If you need help preparing your submission or profiles get in touch.
