Leveraging value from the directories process

Legal directory submissions have been a regular business development fixture across global legal markets for years – starting with the UK market more than 25 years ago. Participants have undoubtedly become savvier about what it takes to produce compelling submissions. Yet,...


Is being controversial the safest brand strategy?

Unless you've had all news and social media switched off recently you'll have seen the latest Gillette ad. The one which shows a range of suboptimal male behaviour, including sexual harassment, before switching to examples of men at their best...


Do you need a nickname?

The Times carried an article last week by Nick Freeman, the lawyer known as ‘Mr Loophole’, whose stock in trade is representing clients facing charges related to motoring offences. Freeman noted that in a crowded legal market "branding and marketing are...


Thought Leader Interviews: Jason Smalley

In the first of our series of Thought Leader Interviews, we spoke to Jason Smalley of The Legal Director about the challenges faced by GCs, how they select their external legal advisers and the value of a legal directory ranking...


How to make the headlines through Twitter

If you have a Twitter account, you’ll know that ‘cracking’ this micro-blogging platform isn’t as easy as you might think. The time between joy at gaining a small flurry of followers and realising that @KimKardashian has 59 million is short. And then...


How feedback can improve your directory rankings

Hot on the heels of The Legal 500 UK results, the Chambers UK 2018 rankings were launched online today. While many firms will celebrate good news stories through Twitter and joyous press releases, there will be firms less keen to...


Don’t be spooked by your latest directories rankings

With Legal 500 and Chambers UK rankings released this week, it may not only be Halloween night that provides screams of horror up and down the country. Hopefully you achieve the rankings you want but if you don’t, you’re not alone....


The legal directory question: can a ranking help your reputation in a crowded market?

People buy people was one of the main areas of discussion on the IBA panel yesterday and also a key conclusion of our second white paper looking at the role and utility of the legal directories. Lest you think that’s unsurprising,...


New white paper: Legal directories – are they keeping pace in a connected world?

We are just a year on from the last MD Communications white paper on the directories. In year one we had found people keen – hungry, even – to let us know what they thought and then to scrutinise and...


Can independent law firms build a global brand?

I have just arrived in Rome for the annual IBA (International Bar Association) Conference which starts on Sunday. The event is expected to draw record numbers of attendees this year – probably topping 6,000. The weather is very warm, everyone's diaries are...