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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andrei Radu" data-source="post: 219970" data-attributes="member: 36777">Also, sorry if the previous response ended up a bit lengthy - I ended up surprising myself of how much it took to express my thoughts on the issue <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />. Also, as I noticed I did not really cover the first question about how to even find USPs, I will answer it here. With this new understanding of what an USP is in mind, I do not think it is an impossible task to find them. In terms of the substantive aspects of what to look for, I have two main bits of advice:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Look to combine different distinguishing features into a single USP to increase specificity: for instance, instead of describing a Latham USP simply as "strong PE practice", you could go for something along the lines of "an elite US firm with a leading PE practice in London". The first formulation would make the USP apply to a higher number of firms - both MC firms with great PE practices and smaller US firms who have a strong reputation in PE (such as Willkie or Ropes & Gray). On the second formulation, the only remaining firms (which we would then seek to exclude using other USPs) would likely be Kirkland, Simpson Thacher, and maybe Weil/Paul, Weiss. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Try to find sub-areas of expertise within a practice area/sector: while it may be difficult to find a really specific USP in terms of a practice area/sector at the broadest categorisation levels such as "M&A" or "Energy", firms tend to have sub-specialties. For instance, while Davis Polk may not be a market leader across all types of M&A work, it is known to be especially strong of transatlantic M&A work in the TMT sector. Another example would be Gibson Dunn, who once again may not be a market leader in all types of PE work, but is especially strong in cross-border PE infrastructure work. </li> </ul>Of course, to find out about such sub-areas you will need to research firms in a lot of depth. Some sources I would recommend include:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The TCLA Law Firm Profiles - as their one purpose is to make this exact task easier for you;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Chambers and Legal 500 - particularly the latter has a more segmented ranking system of firm's practices/sectors;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The legal press - legal publications contain a lot more information and in depth comparisons between firms' practices. The Lawyer and Law.com are great but only available through an organisational subscription or on a fee basis. A great free resource is The Global Legal Post. The research method I would advise here would be to simply go type the name of the firm in the website's search bar function and ski through the articles you find. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The firm's website: this will take you a longer time, but if you go through the firm's listed past experience and their awards and accolades, you may start to notice patterns in terms of subspecialties the firm seems to be particularly good at. </li> </ul></blockquote>

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