Attorney Lists and How to Increase Your Odds of Being Recognized

Legal publications’ lists of lawyers can increase the reputation of a particular attorney, practice or law firm. While getting listed can be a boon for a firm’s marketing efforts and for lateral and associate recruiting, unfortunately, “Sorry, maybe next year,” is the most common phrase heard by law firms vying for these sought after spots.

Identifying a firm’s exemplary candidates is the easy part. Stellar pitches to distinguish one firm’s outstanding candidates from another’s require more thought.
 
First know a list’s qualifications. If a publication is looking for litigators don’t pitch someone in a management role that is in trial one third of the time, even if that person is a law firm chairman. And certainly do not pitch a corporate attorney.

Review the nomination form and submit only what is asked for in the requested length. Find out in advance of submitting your nominations if there is a limit on how many candidates from one firm can be accepted. If there is no limit, but only one lawyer from a firm will make the list, be sure to pitch the most outstanding candidates. Also, look for themes in lists from previous years. For example, 20 under 40 lists sometimes lean toward the 37 to 39 year-old candidates, because younger lawyers still have time to develop.
 
Send your nomination early. Some editors review nominations right away, others wait until the deadline closes. If the editor is reviewing candidates as submitted, early nominations are less likely to get lost in the hundreds of emails that will come in the final day.

File your nomination on time, and don’t ask for an extension, no matter how well you know the person organizing the list. At the least, you loose credibility, in the worst case your candidates aren’t even accepted.
 
Tips for getting on the lists:

• Editors review hundreds, sometimes thousands, of bios, emails and nominations for the lists. They need you to clearly and quickly point out why this candidate above all others should be included.
• Be as specific as possible. Include case names, client names, amounts of deals, settlements or awards and pertinent dates. If it’s a defense win, be sure to include what could have been the implications if your client lost the case.
• Editors want to know how the lawyers’ cases or practice and his or her recent wins or big deals fit into the big picture of the California legal and business communities.  Be sure to include statewide or national news the lawyers’ work made in the past year.
• Back up your claims with quantitative facts. There’s a difference between saying “a large victory against Microsoft” and “the largest payout Microsoft has ever faced.” If you’re saying someone donates a lot of pro bono time, how many hours and to which programs did they donate time to last year? And how does that time compare to other lawyers in the firm or a national average of pro bono contributions?
• Leadership roles in the firm or community can be highlighted, but no more than a couple sentences. Again, back it up with quantitative data. Don’t just say John Doe lawyer is active in the community, if he single handedly got a nonprofit off the ground, the editors want to know the specifics. If the lawyer is responsible for a new recruiting or training effort in the firm, how does it work? What have the results been?
• Though your submission should focus on work a lawyer completed in the past year or pending work, it’s good to include famous work in just a sentence or two. For instance, Charles James is often on a lot of lists because he’s the general counsel of Chevron, one of the California’s largest companies. While his most recent success is Chevron’s nearly $18 billion acquisition of Unocal in 2005, it is always mentioned that while he was with the U.S. Department of Justice he was credited with resolving the government’s antitrust dispute with Microsoft.
• Attention will also be given to rainmakers and lawyers with big books of business, and how the amounts compare to other lawyers within the firm and at other firms.
• Sometimes editors will look for minority candidates, age diversity, and geographic diversity to get lawyers from offices all over California.

A timely application with as much specific information as possible is a sure way for lawyers to get noticed. If a nomination includes a clear big picture perspective on your candidate’s work “Congratulations, you’re on,” will replace, “Sorry, maybe next year.”