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Aspiring Lawyers - Applications & General Advice
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How to find the competitors of the law firms?
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<blockquote data-quote="Jaysen" data-source="post: 748" data-attributes="member: 1"><p>It's tricky. Law firms often use similar language to market themselves so it's often a battle trying to work out who is competing with who.</p><p></p><p>If this is for an application form question, it helps to remember that law firms can compete with different firms in many different ways. For example, two firms may not normally cross paths, but they may compete in a certain geography, practice area or technology. You can then zoom in on one aspect and justify why they are competitors.</p><p></p><p>Let me run through how I'd do it for DWF. It's not meant to be an exact science and it's not always easy to work it out, but it should give you some areas to look out for.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Where is DWF positioned? </strong>As a starting point, I'd need some idea of where the firm positions itself. A quick Google search tells me that DWF is headquartered in Manchester with 13 locations in the UK and Ireland. It was originally a regional firm then it became a national firm and now it's on a pretty aggressive international expansion drive - but most of the work still comes from the UK. So I know to look out for firms that are big national players.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Check practice areas</strong>. Legal 500 tells me that DWF <a href="https://www.legal500.com/firms/867-dwf/183-london-ec3m-england#LocalReferenceWorkArea1097" target="_blank">ranks highly for insurance work</a>, especially personal injury (on behalf of defendants). I check the <a href="https://www.dwf.law/en/Expertise/Legal-Services/Insurance#sectorTab=how-can-we-help-tab" target="_blank">insurance practice area page</a> for DWF and it confirms 'we're one of the largest specialist insurance teams in the UK and regarded as a national heavyweight'. Ok, so I know it's big on UK insurance work, I should look for other national firms in this sector.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Who else is big on UK insurance work?</strong> I check Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners and make a note of the firms ranked above and below. Firms like Kennedy's, DAC Beachcroft, Browne Jacobson and Clyde & Co pop up. DWF aren't necessarily direct competitors with all of them - some firms may be much bigger and some may be more specialist - but they are ones to flag up.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Any other practice areas?</strong> I check Chambers Student Guide, which mentions that DWF is also good for banking and finance outside London and a range of commercial practices in the north. Chambers and Partners ranks it highly in employment and litigation in the North West along with firms like Addleshaw Goddard, DAC Beachcroft, Hill Dickinson and a few others.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Who are their clients? </strong>I'd also check the legal news to see who their clients are/who do they share their legal panels with - you can then see which firms serve the same market.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Where do they hire from? </strong>Where are their lateral hires from? Which firms do partners exit to? If there are a lot of people coming from, or exiting to, certain firms, then they may well be competitors.</li> </ul><p>To answer your questions, I generally only compare London unless the firm is known for being strong in a different region. You're right that for some firms it's hard to pick out practice areas, especially for the magic circle and some US firms when they get top tier rankings everywhere. In the past, I used to use The Lawyer to narrow it down, but now most of it's under a paywall. The next best is probably firm profiles on Chambers Student and Roll on Friday - usually, they'll tell you what the firm's bread and butter is.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jaysen, post: 748, member: 1"] It's tricky. Law firms often use similar language to market themselves so it's often a battle trying to work out who is competing with who. If this is for an application form question, it helps to remember that law firms can compete with different firms in many different ways. For example, two firms may not normally cross paths, but they may compete in a certain geography, practice area or technology. You can then zoom in on one aspect and justify why they are competitors. Let me run through how I'd do it for DWF. It's not meant to be an exact science and it's not always easy to work it out, but it should give you some areas to look out for. [LIST] [*][B]Where is DWF positioned? [/B]As a starting point, I'd need some idea of where the firm positions itself. A quick Google search tells me that DWF is headquartered in Manchester with 13 locations in the UK and Ireland. It was originally a regional firm then it became a national firm and now it's on a pretty aggressive international expansion drive - but most of the work still comes from the UK. So I know to look out for firms that are big national players. [*][B]Check practice areas[/B]. Legal 500 tells me that DWF [URL='https://www.legal500.com/firms/867-dwf/183-london-ec3m-england#LocalReferenceWorkArea1097']ranks highly for insurance work[/URL], especially personal injury (on behalf of defendants). I check the [URL='https://www.dwf.law/en/Expertise/Legal-Services/Insurance#sectorTab=how-can-we-help-tab']insurance practice area page[/URL] for DWF and it confirms 'we're one of the largest specialist insurance teams in the UK and regarded as a national heavyweight'. Ok, so I know it's big on UK insurance work, I should look for other national firms in this sector. [*][B]Who else is big on UK insurance work?[/B] I check Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners and make a note of the firms ranked above and below. Firms like Kennedy's, DAC Beachcroft, Browne Jacobson and Clyde & Co pop up. DWF aren't necessarily direct competitors with all of them - some firms may be much bigger and some may be more specialist - but they are ones to flag up. [*][B]Any other practice areas?[/B] I check Chambers Student Guide, which mentions that DWF is also good for banking and finance outside London and a range of commercial practices in the north. Chambers and Partners ranks it highly in employment and litigation in the North West along with firms like Addleshaw Goddard, DAC Beachcroft, Hill Dickinson and a few others. [*][B]Who are their clients? [/B]I'd also check the legal news to see who their clients are/who do they share their legal panels with - you can then see which firms serve the same market. [*][B]Where do they hire from? [/B]Where are their lateral hires from? Which firms do partners exit to? If there are a lot of people coming from, or exiting to, certain firms, then they may well be competitors. [/LIST] To answer your questions, I generally only compare London unless the firm is known for being strong in a different region. You're right that for some firms it's hard to pick out practice areas, especially for the magic circle and some US firms when they get top tier rankings everywhere. In the past, I used to use The Lawyer to narrow it down, but now most of it's under a paywall. The next best is probably firm profiles on Chambers Student and Roll on Friday - usually, they'll tell you what the firm's bread and butter is. [/QUOTE]
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