In his latest column for The Business Exchange, John Davies looks at one of the law’s most consistent, curious and cumbersome tasks.
For many of us in the legal profession, springtime comes with a spectre – the submissions to the legal directories.
Designed as a ranking system for firms, teams and individual practitioners, the two most prominent directories are meant to provide a platform by which prospective clients can compare and contrast those they are seeking to advise them – and they do, with different practice areas, regions, and niche and emerging areas of the law all represented.
For some, it’s an ego-stroking exercise, for some it’s a great promotional/marketing tool, but as any of my esteemed peers from other firms will tell you it always feels like a lot of work.
They happen at the same time each year and I’ve been doing these things for the past two decades (ranked for 18 years don’t ya know) but I always end up leaving it until the eleventh hour because there is always something more pressing – a deal that needs closing, a client awaiting vital advice or a colleague that requires help with something.
Every year I say I’ll be more prepared and every year I find myself scratching the head to recall the past 12 months (yes dear reader, the true reason for my follicle scarcity is out there) – but therein lies a wonderful opportunity for reflection.
Looking at the year that has passed, considering what went well, what didn’t, where the challenges were and where you and your colleagues were able to innovate and collaborate is an outstanding experience. It helps you recognise growth, gives you a chance to reconnect with those individuals you have acted for over the year and find out how things have gone since.
As each submission comes in from the team, rather than from individuals, it’s also a wonderful chance to appreciate the work my colleagues do. I’ll be aware of most of it, but every now and then I see something that a junior colleague has done that I think “I couldn’t do that when I was their age”, about how this profession moves on and that this firm is in good hands with the next generation – sadly, more than I can say about my beloved Welsh rugby at present…
We won’t see the rankings until much later this year as the researchers scurry off to get references from our willing clients (thank you!) and prove there is substance to the guff we have submitted but I’m happy to wait.
Do these ritualistic processes exist in abundance within other professions, or if we lawyers are just stricken by our own vanity? I have no idea, but I think, for the best part, there is something to learn each and every time we groan as we open the form…