What makes a law firm unique?

[Mike Wazaoski]

This may be a broad question but I am narrowing down the criteria which makes clients select certain law firms over others.

Using this analogy I am looking to understand what makes law firms different from each other.

My current criteria includes:

- Global presence: Is the firm operation in jurisdictions of interest to the client?

- Practice area strength: Can the firm provide legal and commercial advice to match the complexity of a clients needs

- Multi-practice area strength: (similar as above) Depending on the nature of client needs, where a deal/ project includes multiple practice areas, can the firm provide high calibre advice on those?

- Awards/ Chambers rankings: Do clients select law firms primarily based on how high firms rank?

- D&I: Significant number of clients are expecting to see diversity represented in their legal panels

- Regulator/ Industry body involvement: (Mostly US firms) I see lawyer profiles pointing out experiences of lawyers working directly for regulators

Are there any other criteria you seek out when looking to understand what truly makes a firm unique compared to any other?

Let me know below!

 

[AlexJ]

This may be a broad question but I am narrowing down the criteria which makes clients select certain law firms over others.

Using this analogy I am looking to understand what makes law firms different from each other.

My current criteria includes:

- Global presence: Is the firm operation in jurisdictions of interest to the client?

- Practice area strength: Can the firm provide legal and commercial advice to match the complexity of a clients needs

- Multi-practice area strength: (similar as above) Depending on the nature of client needs, where a deal/ project includes multiple practice areas, can the firm provide high calibre advice on those?

- Awards/ Chambers rankings: Do clients select law firms primarily based on how high firms rank?

- D&I: Significant number of clients are expecting to see diversity represented in their legal panels

- Regulator/ Industry body involvement: (Mostly US firms) I see lawyer profiles pointing out experiences of lawyers working directly for regulators

Are there any other criteria you seek out when looking to understand what truly makes a firm unique compared to any other?

Let me know below!

From a client perspective, experience (working on similar matters), price, and relationships are key as well as some of the factors you mentioned

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

You’d be surprised how much “do I like /will I like working with these people” is taken into account! On a more sophosticated level that can also be “do these firm’s values align with ours”.

Price, even when paying out at the very top end of the market, will also be a key factor.