We had a truly awesome response to our rankings/directories post last week. The Mad Clientist received an abundance of questions so — we wanted to continue the conversation and share more about this new research with you.
As we discussed, clients use the most credible directories on at least 11 occasions. Corporate counsel head to the directories to validate or help them understand attorney behavior. Few (only 11%) go to the directories as a source of law firm hiring. Clients overwhelmingly rely on peer referrals for finding new outside counsel, but directories have grown into a widely used supportive tool.
You can find dozens of directories. However, our in-depth focus groups and broad research with top legal decision makers uncover the 4 directories standing out as most credible.
Client input is the largest driver behind credibility. The BTI Consulting Group relies solely on client input — many of whom we interview as part of our ongoing independent research we have been conducting for the last 31 years. They know us and use our benchmarks and research. Chambers also interviews a large number of clients as a core part of their process.
Honorable Mention
Best Lawyers
Legal 500
Top legal decision makers tell us Best Lawyers’ credibility is based on the directory’s large pool of peer (attorney-to-attorney) reviews which play a supporting role to client input about attorneys. Legal 500 is typically used by the very largest clients — especially those with direct international exposure.
Directories gain more importance at companies with more than $650 million in revenue. Top legal decision makers at companies under this threshold will typically head to LinkedIn as their first stop. But again, this is a validation and rarely a sole hiring factor.
Rankings and directories are part of the law firm world. 36% of clients are new to their role in the last 2 years. These clients want to learn as much as they can about the attorneys they inherit. This is especially true because, so few attorneys reach out to new corporate counsel. Directories and rankings help quench this thirst.
Best in the market ahead.
MBR
The Mad Clientist
