CHAMBERS & PARTNERS

LEGAL PUBLISHERS

The Chambers Guides

How clients use them
The Chambers Guides to the
World’s Leading Lawyers

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In a legal marketing world that is literally awash in gratuitous
and duplicative listings, pay-for-plays, unresearched ratings,
rankings and scams – over 900 at last count – there are
innumerable ways for lawyers and marketing departments to
waste their time and money. Amid the confusion and noise,
there are only a few islands of sanity and dependability left.
Among those, Chambers & Partners stands out for its
comprehensive view of the marketplace, depth and quality of
research, and commitment to reporting integrity. To be sure,
there is time and effort involved in our commitment to
Chambers, but this is work that both our attorneys and
marketers undertake willingly because Chambers commands
clout and credibility with key clients.
Mark P. Messing , Chief Marketing/Business
Development Officer, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Seldom are rating services and surveys of lawyer reputations

taken seriously by current or prospective clients, with one
significant exception – Chambers. We have discovered that a
Chambers recognition is valued by both our clients and our
fellow attorneys as a mark of informed distinction that gives us
instant credibility and respect.
Bruce Culpepper, Akerman Senterfitt

HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS 1

chambers shown to lead
in recent survey
An independent journal, International In-House Counsel,
conducted a survey in September 2008 of over 20,000 in-house
counsel from around the world. They were asked: If you use
directories to identify law firms/individuals, which one/s
do you use?

Their answers gave Chambers an astounding lead.

Chambers & Partners ....................................................51%

Legal 500 ......................................................................22%
Martindale-Hubbell ......................................................14%
Practical Law Company ..................................................7%
Who’s Who Legal............................................................6%

These figures are reproduced from the International In-house

Counsel Journal. For full results see Table 6 at their website:
www.iicj.net/lawfirmselectionandmanagementsurveyresults.htm

Chambers & Partners

Legal 500
Martindale-Hubbell
Practical Law Company
Who’s Who Legal

HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS 2

 chambers is a reliable and
respected source
The Chambers brand is well-known amongst clients, many of
whom are familiar with our research. They know how thorough it
is, and therefore trust us as a reliable source. “I used Chambers to
find the lawyer for a major transaction,” said one UK chief
executive. “I consulted Chambers, did a few background calls with
bankers and then cold-called the lawyer in question. Chambers
was how they got the work.”
The general counsel of a major UK football team remarked to our
researchers: “I now rely on Chambers as my primary reference guide.
This is because the guidance matches my own experience of particular
lawyers and firms.”

◆ OTHER CLIENT COMMENTS:

Chambers UK is an invaluable guide for both professional and lay

people alike. It can be used from a local or national perspective.
Peter Camponi, General Counsel, Von Roll Isola

The descriptions are helpful, and I am familiar with the discipline

used in making assessments. This gives me confidence that this
resource is better than others that are less rigorous in their
rankings.
John McCall, Executive Vice President, General Counsel &
Corporate Secretary E.ON

3 HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS

The first place to go when searching out reliable information on a
law firm.
Philip A. Ramsell, Head of Legal – EMEA, Mercer

Chambers & Partners is my best reference to firms and lawyers

around the world. They seem to get it right and I trust their
judgment.
John Dickens, Alberto Culver

I find [the Chambers Guides] useful and very much right on point.
Joseph Finn, Founding Partner,
Finn, Warnke & Gayton

I think that lawyers rely on Chambers because of the process

they go through to take the time to speak to people. It gives the
publication real substance. Looking at my area I believe that it’s
accurate – many, many good lawyers get listed in Chambers.
Jill Harrison, Assistant General Counsel
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc

It’s useful because the reviews come from clients and it’s
anonymous, so there’s no benefit to plug anyone. It’s very helpful.
William Bonn, Senior Managing Director & General Counsel
Beacon Capital Partners

HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS 4

 how do clients use chambers?
Many clients use the rankings, editorial and profiles of firms to
find lawyers. The head of legal at a global bank in London told us:
“I use Chambers all the time as it is a useful guide in identifying
specialists through both the rankings and the profiles.”
Solicitors also find Chambers a useful source for finding
barristers. One London lawyer commented: “I use Chambers when
looking for barristers dealing with matters outside my usual
geographic or practice area.”

◆ FURTHER COMMENTS

Chambers UK occupies a useful position in my library. I am

especially impressed by the profiles of particular specialists at
each firm. These enable me to pinpoint the individuals I can best
approach for my professional training purposes.
Matthew Hutton, Chartered Tax Advisor

I use Chambers to review what they say about law firms I

already use, or to get suggestions in jurisdictions where we
do not already have contacts.
Matthew Foss, General Counsel,
Moody’s Investors Service Limited

I use Chambers in several different ways. If I need a lawyer in a

jurisdiction, I will consult the guide and see what firms and
individual lawyers are recommended. I also use it generally to see

5 HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS

what people are saying about the firms we use and to get a sense
of what’s going on in a particular market.
Peter Schwartz, Senior Executive Vice President & General
Counsel, Westfield Corporation Inc

I would look to Chambers if I wanted to select new firms for

interview for our panel.
Maggie Wood, Group Corporate Services Director,
A2Dominion Group

I use Chambers when looking at an area of practice that I don’t

normally hire lawyers for – more esoteric or specialist practice
areas mainly.
David Blue, Ospraie Management LLC

I have just used the Global Edition to appoint appropriate counsel

in Brazil but I also use it for other countries. I am very happy with
the content of the rankings and firms’ profile information
contained in the guide.
Matthias Fenner, Fresenius

I find Chambers useful when identifying practitioners for large

matters.
Ken Dreifach – Linden Lab Inc

HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS 6

 I use Chambers to find M&A lawyers as part of my role as a deal
originator and have found it very useful.
Takahiro (Tom) Kimura, Global M&A
Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (Japan)

Chambers is an invaluable resource for finding law firms outside

my area of expertise or for confirming my choice of counsel on a
particular matter.
Augustine V. Cheng
Managing Director & Chief Legal Officer
Arizona Technology Enterprises

We use Chambers often. We receive two copies – our corporate

department receives one and investment banking uses the other.
Investment banking uses it to assist in assessing the quality of
attorneys used by client companies. If a company or prospect comes
to us represented by an attorney, we want to know who this person
is, the quality of their effort and how he/she is generally regarded.
Barry Alpert, Managing Director
Raymond James & Associates

The Chambers Guides are incredibly helpful. When Emmis

Communications is looking to enter a new market, either a new
country or different market in the United States, Chambers is the
first place I go to find top-quality local counsel. I typically identify
three or four individual lawyers from the top three Chambers

7 HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS

bands and have a conference call with each of them to determine
who will be the best fit. In most instances, we’ve hired someone
from the Chambers book.
J. Scott Enright
Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel and
Secretary, Emmis Communications Corporation and
Subsidiaries

The Chambers Guides are a big thing here in the US. I want to
give my appraisal because people look at the Chambers rating.
John Southern,
Chief Financial Officer
CareSouth Health System

HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS 8

 global coverage
The guides cover 176 countries around the world and use the same
research methodology to identify the key law firms in every
jurisdiction.
Many clients are not content to rely on the recommendations of
their existing counsel when entering new jurisdictions. One
London solicitor, Andrew Peel of Halliwell’s, told us recently:
“Many clients, despite what others may say, are heavily influenced
by the rankings and profiles. This is even more apparent as
overseas work is increasing and overseas clients almost wholly rely
on these sources of information.”
A banker at a leading global bank commented: “Chambers is
really helpful in providing an impartial view of which lawyers to
instruct in foreign jurisdictions.”

◆ FURTHER COMMENTS:

Usually when finding local lawyers we go through the advice of

our international counsel — unless they’ve just got no clue! In
which case you get out your Chambers Guide and just try and
work it out.
Ben O’Bryan, Director of Equity Derivatives Structuring
Merrill Lynch (London)

I use Chambers to find M&A lawyers as part of my role as a deal

originator and have found it very useful.
Takahiro (Tom) Kimura, Global M&A
Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (Japan)

9 HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS

Our legal dept definitely uses the guides when we need to find a
foreign law firm, and I think the global finance department uses
them as well. I think they are very useful in guiding us to
individuals we need for specific work.
Myung Hee Suh, Korea Development Bank

In my role as Group Legal Counsel for Ericsson I regularly engage

legal counsel in a large number of jurisdictions all over the world,
including developing countries. When I need to engage counsel on
short notice in a jurisdiction where I have no established firm
contacts or any reliable recommendation to go on, the Chambers
Guides are an invaluable tool and my first port of call to quickly
identify suitable counsel candidates for the deal in question, in
particular in developing countries.
Hans Swolin, Group Legal Counsel Finance, Insurance and
M&A Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson

The Chambers Guides are an invaluable source of up to date

information regarding legal practitioners in the Asia-Pacific
Region. With respect to the selection of local-law legal counsel,
the guide provides good background information with respect to
potential candidate firms and lawyers.
Tim Meaney, Head of Project Finance, Asia-Pacific,
Global Structured Finance, DZ Bank

HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS 10

 industry respect
Lawyers as well as clients use Chambers as a valuable resource.

A partner at a leading London firm commented: “Everybody at my

firm uses Chambers Directories. I think the key point to make is
that the research is accurate. We think they do a very good job and
are certainly the most accurate publication available.”
A barrister recently told us: “I use the guides when I am
instructed by a firm of solicitors for the first time, to see what those
who know them have to say about their abilities and practice. I
also use Chambers to find out about counsel whom I am to appear
against for the first time.”

◆ FURTHER COMMENTS:

Yes, I do use Chambers, both in terms of reviews of other firms of

solicitors, and (mostly) to assist with the selection of appropriate
counsel. It is the foremost legal directory in the UK.
Michael Veal, partner, Lester Aldridge

I use Chambers Guides. I find them an objective and reliable

index to what you need to know and who you need to know in
the legal world.
Paul Kilcoyne, Barrister, 1 Temple Gardens

11 HOW CLIENTS USE CHAMBERS

 CHAMBERS & PARTNERS
LEGAL PUBLISHERS

Seldom are rating services and surveys of

lawyer reputations taken seriously by current
or prospective clients, with one significant
exception – Chambers. We have discovered that
a Chambers recognition is valued by both our
clients and our fellow attorneys as a mark of
informed distinction that gives us instant
credibility and respect.
Bruce Culpepper, Akerman Senterfitt

www.ChambersandPartners.com