Increase to the maximum number of referees permitted in Chambers UK
In this article, Alex Marsh, UK Research Director, explains the increase in the number of referees to the upcoming Chambers UK guide research.
Increase in number of referees for all practice areas
For many years, the UK guide has limited the maximum number of referees permitted to 20. We have always wanted to collect as much feedback as possible. And we do: in the last research round we conducted just shy of 9,000 telephone interviews and backed this up with a further 39,455 client surveys.
For the upcoming UK guide research, we will allow a maximum of 30 referees for all practice areas. There are many benefits to asking for more referees. It allows more lawyers to be showcased, enables us to speak to more clients and reduces any difficult decisions that departments may have to make about who benefits from that crucial twentieth slot.
We recently spoke to a cross-section of firms across the UK to gauge their views. The majority were positive and reiterated the view that we hear time and time again: that it is awkward to divide a small number of referees between an entire department.
A few things to remember about this are:
- Keep in mind that 30 is the maximum. You can continue to submit 20 and your department ranking will not be disadvantaged
- The main purpose of this is to allow larger department to showcase more of their lawyers. This is an opportunity for you to showcase more of your younger lawyers and any others who might not have been previously heralded. If your department has one partner, they do not need 30 referees to obtain or maintain a ranking
- This does not affect the guidelines that we follow to minimise over-contacting clients. We will continue to avoid contacting the same client in a short time period
- Please continue to encourage your clients to keep an eye out for our emails and to warn them that they may need to check their spam folders
- The UK Bar guide’s maximum of 5 referees per barrister remains unchanged
As always, the efforts that you put into your submissions are very much appreciated. We look forward to a successful research period for Chambers UK 2027