How do business and government entities buy professional services?
Professional services categories (law, accounting, management consulting…) are largely homogeneous. There’s little to distinguish one firm from another. Because of this, business and government buyers often rely on analyst ratings to sway or validate their decision.
Analyst ratings provide independent corroboration of a firm’s experience and expertise.
In the legal industry, the two most reputable industry analysts are Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. These two analysts have, over the course of several decades, been probed for good governance – for impartiality, integrity and procedural fairness – and have gained the confidence of the legal profession across 150 jurisdictions. Consequently, Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners carry more weight than all other legal industry rating agencies or analysts.
Participating in these programs is not easy. The research process is challenging and necessitates business development investment.
So, are the ranked firms the best firms? Certainly, the ranked firms are deserving of being listed – they’ve presented their credentials and have withstood the scrutiny of the research teams. However, there could be (inevitably are):
- firms that warrant being ranked, or are deserving of a higher ranking, but that were let down by their submissions
- firms that warrant being ranked, but aren’t because they don’t participate in the research.
While that might give you some satisfaction, the market doesn’t recognise this.
If your law firm is not ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, your target clients, prospective employees and business partners will likely assume you didn’t make the grade.
Have the courage to put your credentials to the test:
- Become familiar with the research processes and then identify the areas of law where you have the best prospects of being recognised.
- Designate responsibility to someone experienced in these submissions – the firms that are the highest ranked tend to be those that invest in the process.
On that note, Chambers & Partners has published its 2022 Australian research schedule. Submission dates are below and further information can be found here.
2022 Research Schedule: Chambers & Partners – Australia
26 February 2021
Anti-Bribery & Corruption
Competition/Antitrust
Construction, Infrastructure & Project Finance
Energy & Natural Resources
Environment & Planning
Financial Services Regulation
Native Title
31 March 2021
Banking & Finance
Capital Markets
Corporate/M&A
Employment
Health & Safety
International Trade/WTO
Private Equity
Restructuring/Insolvency
Shipping
Tax
30 April 2021
Investment Funds
Superannuation
18 May 2021
Aviation
Charities
Dispute Resolution
Government
Insurance
Intellectual Property
Life Sciences
Real Estate
Sports Law
TMT: IT & Telecommunications
TMT: Media
Legal 500 is expected to release its research schedule in February.
