INSIGHT: Law Firm Rankings and Five Lessons From the Democratic Primaries

Back in June, I was watching the first night of the Democratic primary debates when I received an email from a client in Mexico, forwarding a message from a salesperson at one of the ranking organizations confirming that my client would be in their upcoming Latin American edition. Of course my client was thrilled, but also eager to know in which band he’d been ranked.

This happy accident of timing, coupled with the second round of debates and the publicity surrounding more debates got me thinking about how the Democratic primaries and the directory rankings have a number of things in common. Painful as it might be, law firm leaders would do well to pay attention to the realities of the primaries and these five applications of those lessons to the submission process.

1. The Field Is Crowded

I truly believe that each firm is unique. However, the differences are often imperceptible to those who don’t spend time inside the firms. And like primary candidates talking to voters from a crowded stage, firms have only a brief time to make their case for distinctiveness to researchers.

Firms must put their most compelling, succinct argument forward. Don’t waste precious limited submission space on boilerplate language, or more matters than the ranking organization asked for. And if your practice description reads dangerously similarly to that of 15 competitors, can you really blame the researchers for not being able to distinguish among the herd?

So the next time your intrepid marketing professional suggests new text or tries to enforce the number of matters limitation, resist the urge to argue against their good advice.

2. The Longer You’ve Been Active, Successful, and Respected, the More Favorability You’re Likely to Garner

Joe Biden, even after what many say was a very poor showing during the first two debates, is still holding a lead. Whether you like Biden or not, it’s hard to argue that there’s another Democratic candidate that has his decades of depth and breadth of public service experience on the world stage.

The same is true for the Band 1 firms that you’re staring at with some measure of envy and disbelief. If interviewees continue to name that firm as the leading firm, it’s hard to make the argument to a directory researcher that everyone is wrong. To counter that impression, you’re going to have to work harder at your own visibility and distinctiveness.

Even with sustained efforts, you cannot expect to jump into the top category without climbing the ladder over time.

3. It’s a Long Road to Victory

The first Democratic candidates began announcing their run for president more than 20 months before the election. I’ve heard partners from a variety of firms criticize their marketing teams for not garnering them a higher ranking, only to find out that they didn’t even focus on the submission until the day before it was due.

This is, to put it mildly, counter-productive. Why on earth should a researcher take you seriously if you haven’t taken the submissions they’ve asked for seriously? Why not treat the process more like a year-long campaign and less of a submission? Are you sharing success stories throughout the year; does the legal world know what you’ve done?

Creating a sustained campaign will help create a lasting impression in the minds of clients and commentators who are interviewed as part of the ranking process.

4. Candidates Have Internal Pollsters

Despite the questionable precision of polls at any given time, polls do provide directional accuracy for candidates over time. Polls help candidates understand whether their message is resonating, and make adjustments as needed.

Whether for the sake of directory submissions or not, law firms should be interviewing their clients and potential clients regularly. Lawyers would never put a witness on the stand without prepping her first. Why would you ever allow a researcher to speak to a client without really understanding her views?

My partners and I have interviewed hundreds of law firm clients, and in every set of interviews, there are always some real surprises. Even when the client loves the relationship partner, sometimes he dislikes another partner. If that comes out during a directory reference check, it could sink the chances of the support partners’ ranking and may very well affect the overall ranking of the team.

5. It’s Not the DNC’s Job to Make Candidates Look Good

Just as the DNC has a responsibility to bring the debates to the American voters to better inform us, the ranking organizations consider it their responsibility to provide information to their clients—e.g. in-house counsel and purchasers of legal services.

While there are some very obvious differences here, if you think about the DNC setting thresholds that candidates must exceed to get on the debate stage and then leaving the debate performance up to the candidates, it is similar to the thresholds that ranking organizations set to get ranked in the directory. Whether you participate is entirely up to you. (In fact, there are many lawyers and CMOs who think the directory process provides very little return on the investment of time, at best.) However, if you are going to submit, then treat the process with the respect that you would afford a client assignment. That submission is your debate performance. That means submitting on time, respecting scheduled telephone interviews and providing the information they’ve asked for in a way that will make a lasting impression and will be supported by the views of clients and others.

Conclusion

I realize this is a fatally flawed analogy—practicing law is very different from running for elected office. But make no mistake: you are in an increasingly intense competition for any client’s time and business. While there are many other variables including price, history of relationship and client politics, don’t diminish the importance of their perception of who you are and what you have to offer when your clients “vote” for the next lawyer to take on an assignment.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. or its owners.

Author Information

Yolanda Cartusciello is a partner at PP&C Consulting, advising law firms on strategic planning, business development , and marketing function organization. She is also the former chief marketing officer of Debevoise & Plimpton and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.