A consultancy dedicated to your legal practice
Shum & Co Consulting is the fully integrated solution to all your legal directories needs.
Legal directories have the power to make or break your law firm. The best firms in the world can do better and deserve to do better. Better rankings, more representative editorial, and a more manageable process are all desired. But where to begin?
Shum & Co Consulting was founded by one of the most experienced editors in the legal directories industry, Edward Shum, and we can help you maximise your rankings potential and streamline the process of working with the legal directories, especially the leaders of the international legal directories world, Chambers and Partners and Legal 500.
Edward Shum
Edward Shum is the former Editor of Chambers Global, and in his 15-year career at Chambers and Partners was Editor for the last 10 years, managing a team of researchers to produce each edition of the guide.
He and the other guide Editors at Chambers and Partners were responsible for all the rankings, and he was involved in many of the strategic decisions that shaped the company during those years, including its growth globally and its expansion into new markets. He worked closely with all teams and mentored many of the researchers, including several who went on to become Editors. After leaving Chambers and Partners in 2019 he joined an international law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, as its Directories Manager, guiding its marketing and business development team and working closely with its lawyers throughout the world, before setting up this consultancy.
There has been tremendous growth in the legal directories, and by 2020 over 8000 law firms were ranked, with several times that number trying to be ranked. The numbers have continued to rise since. Just in terms of lawyer billable hours, the process costs firms many millions of pounds or dollars in total. Yet many firms have very little idea of just what improves their chances of a better ranking. The legal directories provide instructions and tools, but ultimately are careful to avoid giving any firm an edge. So how do you make your efforts count? Engaging experienced consultants ensures you use your time and energy wisely when facing the directories.
Range of experience
Headed by a former Editor of Chambers Global and Editor for Africa, the Middle East, Caribbean and Offshore sections and, prior to that, Deputy Editor of Chambers Asia-Pacific, our experience spans the global markets that Chambers and Partners is a pioneer in. Our founder decided rankings in every continent, and as a key ambassador of Chambers and Partners, personally met with hundreds of lawyers across all regions, including many managing partners and other key figures. Our contributing consultants are similarly highly experienced in the legal directories world.
Main services
With the benefit of relevant team experience at Chambers and Partners, including analysing and reviewing thousands of directories submissions, making thousands of ranking decisions and conducting thousands of the interviews, we provide services that are naturally related to these aspects. These include:
...as well as other bespoke services depending on your requirements.
Proven outcomes
While results can never be predicted, our guidance and management (and working alongside great teams at law firms, of course) has resulted in real ranking gains, including examples such as:
Further details and examples are available on request.
Take your first step to improving in the legal directories
Despite the huge demand for better results in legal directories, we certainly know that the process has left many firms bewildered and frustrated, with the burden placed on marketing teams a source of much discontent. It doesn’t have to be that way. With the benefit of substantial experience at Chambers and Partners, and now helping a broad range of law firms internationally, we know the importance of finding the correct balance, where the demand for legal directories results and partner expectations can be served by trusted expertise and a well-managed process.
Whether you are a marketing professional or a partner at a law firm, a clerk or a barrister at a set, or represent a legal network or alternative legal service provider, get in touch and we can explore how we can help you.
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