Guides
Legal directory submission guides
Practical guides for the people who prepare directory submissions. Each one answers a specific question, quotes the directory's own published guidance with links, and shows the date we last checked it.
Law firm rankings explained: the main directories compared
How Chambers, Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Benchmark, IFLR1000, Lexology Index, Martindale-Hubbell and others work, and how firms get included.
Read the guideHow Super Lawyers nominations work
Who can nominate, the selection steps, state-by-state timing and what a marketing team can sensibly do.
Read the guideHow Best Lawyers nominations work
Nominations, peer voting, eligibility, the edition timeline, Best Law Firms and what to prepare.
Read the guideMartindale-Hubbell ratings explained
What AV Preeminent, Distinguished and Notable mean, how peer reviews work, and how the rating differs from directory rankings.
Read the guideWho's Who Legal is now Lexology Index
What changed with the rename, what stayed the same, and how its research schedule works.
Read the guideChambers vs Legal 500: how the two directories differ
Bands vs tiers, matter limits, referee rules, confidentiality marking and timing, side by side in one table with official sources.
Read the guideHow to write Chambers work highlights that researchers can use
The 20-matter limit, publishable vs confidential, the four questions each highlight should answer, and a clearly labelled illustrative example.
Read the guideThe Chambers referee spreadsheet: rules, errors and choosing referees
Current referee caps by guide (30, 20, 5 per barrister or none), the mistakes Chambers flags, and how to pick referees who respond.
Read the guideWhy did we drop a band? Reading directory results and feedback
What the directories say about how rankings move, what a result can and cannot tell you, and how to use the feedback section next time.
Read the guideEvery guide is checked against official directory pages.