Law firm rankings explained

What law firm rankings are

A law firm ranking is a published judgement by an independent publisher about which firms and lawyers are strongest in a given practice area and market. Clients use them to build shortlists, in-house teams use them to check a firm they have not worked with, and lateral candidates read them too. For firms, a ranking is third-party evidence that can be cited in pitches, on lawyer bios and in tenders.

Most rankings are organised by guide (a region or country edition, such as Chambers USA or Legal 500 United Kingdom) and then by practice area and location. Within each table, firms are grouped into ranked levels. Chambers calls these bands and Legal 500 calls them tiers. Firms and individual lawyers are usually ranked separately, so a lawyer can be recognised while the team is not, and the reverse.

The main rankings compared

The biggest difference between rankings is how a firm gets in. A submission is a document the firm writes about its practice, usually with a list of recent matters (often called work highlights). Referees are clients and other contacts the firm names so that researchers can ask them about the work. A peer survey asks lawyers to rate other lawyers.

How each type works

Research directories: Chambers, Legal 500 and the LBG titles

Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 are the two most widely cited. Both cover dozens of jurisdictions, rank firms and individual lawyers per practice area, and decide using a written submission, referee feedback and their own market research. Chambers says it receives about 62,000 submissions a year covering 9,000 firms, and states that "sending a submission does not guarantee a ranking". Legal 500 describes its rankings as comparative assessments based on "the totality of evidence available". Our guide to Chambers vs Legal 500 sets their rules side by side.

IFLR1000, Benchmark Litigation and Managing IP belong to Legal Benchmarking Group and share a submission portal. Each is specialist. IFLR1000 covers financial and corporate work and says "deal evidence is the decisive factor". Benchmark covers litigation only and gives more weight to "market consensus" where a firm's view of itself differs sharply from its peers'. Managing IP's IP STARS covers patents, trade marks and other IP work.

Peer-review lists: Best Lawyers, Best Law Firms, Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell

These rank mainly on what other lawyers say. Best Lawyers is described as purely peer review: lawyers are nominated, then voted on by lawyers already recognised in the current edition, and no one can vote for themselves. Best Law Firms then ranks firms, but only those with at least one Best Lawyers-recognised lawyer in that practice and metro, adding a firm survey and client references.

Super Lawyers combines peer nominations with its own research and a peer evaluation. It does not allow self-nominations or campaigning, and says it selects 5% of a state's lawyers for Super Lawyers and 2.5% for Rising Stars. Martindale-Hubbell's Peer Review Ratings, such as AV Preeminent, reflect other lawyers' evaluations of a lawyer's legal ability and ethical standards.

For a marketing team, the work here is different. There is no long submission to write. Instead, the job is making sure the right lawyers are nominated, that eligibility rules (years in practice, private practice) are met, and that profiles are accurate.

Editorial guides: Lawdragon and Lexology Index

Lawdragon's guides are chosen by its journalists, with nominations as one input and a focus on recent matters. Most guides require 10 or more years of practice. Lexology Index, which was called Who's Who Legal until its rename, researches individual lawyers through peer and client feedback, with client referees uploaded per report and an optional work highlights survey.

How firms decide which rankings to prioritise

No firm needs to be in every ranking. The firms that use directories well choose deliberately and put their effort where it pays back.

1. Start with your clients. Ask which rankings your target clients, general counsel and referring firms read. International and corporate clients tend to cite Chambers and Legal 500. Consumer-facing practices often see more value in peer-based lists.
2. Match the practice. A disputes team should look at Benchmark. Finance and M&A teams should look at IFLR1000. IP teams should look at Managing IP.
3. Be honest about readiness. Submission-based directories reward specific, provable matters and referees who respond. If a team cannot produce either this cycle, it may be better to build the evidence first.
4. Count the workload. Submission prep commonly takes 20 to 60 hours per practice area. Multiply that across guides and practice areas before committing.
5. Reuse the evidence. One master record of matters, clients and referees can feed several directories, each rewritten in that directory's own format.
6. Plan the calendar. Deadlines are spread across the year and differ by guide and practice area. Map them in one place with the deadline calendar.

Using rankings in marketing: the advertising rules

In the US, ABA Model Rule 7.1 says a lawyer must not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. The commentary explains that a truthful statement can still mislead, for example an unsubstantiated comparison with other lawyers, or a claim that creates unjustified expectations. It also notes that appropriate qualifying language may prevent a statement from being misleading.

Each state adopts its own version of the rules, and several have specific requirements on citing awards, rankings and other comparative claims. Bar regulators outside the US have their own codes. Some practical habits help everywhere:

• name the publisher, the guide or edition and the practice area exactly as published;
• do not turn "ranked in Band 2" into "one of the best firms";
• remove or update references when an edition is superseded;
• keep a record of the source page for each claim;
• check the publisher's own rules for using its name and logos.

Where to go next

• Every directory we cover, with a guide page for each
• Chambers UK and Legal 500 United Kingdom
• How to write Chambers work highlights
• The Chambers referee spreadsheet
• Why did we drop a band? Reading results and feedback

We prepare stronger, researcher-ready submissions for the research directories, working from the matters you send or gathering them ourselves. We cannot promise a ranking, and nobody honest can. Talk to us about your next submission.

Frequently asked questions