The Legal 500 deadlines for barristers in London fall on 16th April (regional deadlines have already passed) and the Chambers barristers guide deadlines for various categories fall on 6th April. If you are working through your submissions, here are some last minute tips, courtesy of Victoria Moffatt, managing director and founder of legal directories specialists; LexRex Communications.

 

1. Read the form in detail – the notes that accompany the headings tend to tell you exactly what the researchers are looking for. Follow that advice.

 

2. Put your case studies in order. Legal directories researchers are human, and just like us, by the time they get to the final case study, they are likely to be running out of intellectual steam. Don’t simply add your case studies in the order in which they appear in your inbox or alphabetically – work out which are your stand-out matters and put them at the top of the pile. Follow this process for each leading barrister.

 

3. Ensure that when you provide the detail for the case studies, explain what you did, and why it was significant. And remember that researchers are probably not lawyers – we tend to advise that you write for a normally intelligent university educated person.

 

4. Provide context where possible. If you make a statement – try to back it up with evidence.

 

5. Contact your referees in plenty of time – the referee feedback provides the most important aspect of the research. It’s really important. So make sure your referees know what to expect from the process, that they are happy to provide feedback and that they have an idea of who will contact them, how they will be contacted, and when it is likely to be.

 

LexRex Communications is a strategic marketing and PR consultancy for the legal sector with a particular interest in legal directories. LexRex has a full range of directories products ranging from its exclusive LexRex Legal Directories Toolkits, Introduction to Chambers and Introduction to The Legal 500 training courses; through to directories consultancy and drafting services.

 

Why not read our ‘Fostering new behaviour’ article on Legal Futures? Click HERE to read the full text.