The Straits Times-Statista Survey
Date: July 2020
The inaugural survey on “Singapore’s Best Law Firms 2021” was recently announced, and the participation numbers have been encouraging thus far.
It’s organised by The Straits Times (“ST”) and Statista, a data and business intelligence portal that provides statistics, business relevant data, and various market and consumer studies/surveys.
Due to ST’s strong readership figures, there is going to be widespread publicity within Singapore when the results are published both in the print and online edition in November 2020. The closing date for the survey is 3rd August 2020.
In this article, I will examine this survey in the context of law firm marketing.
This is the link to the survey’s official webpage.
https://www.statista.com/page/best-law-firms-sgp
Assessing the importance of the ST-Statista survey
The main benefit on offer for law firms is publicity and recognition within Singapore.
According to the organisers, the published results would include a list of recommended firms under each of the 15 practice areas covered by the survey.
It is also worth noting that the survey includes a few practice areas that are not covered by the ranking directories. I will highlight this point later in this article.
If you are not sure about the importance of this survey to your firm, you can start by asking yourself the following questions.
Question 1:
If your competitors get listed as recommended firms in your key practice area(s), and your firm is not on that list, is this acceptable to you?
Your answer to the above question will indicate if it is necessary for you to think about improving your results in this survey.
Question 2:
Are there a substantial number of key decision-makers or key contacts within your clientele who are based in Singapore?
If yes, you need to be careful about the optics/ market visibility. A ST report is usually well publicised within Singapore.
Question 3:
How does it compare with the other prestigious directories?
I am sure many firms have been busy with recent submissions to IFLR, Chambers and Legal500.
This survey is different from the mentioned directories. First of all, no submissions are required from law firms. You don’t have to provide any information on your bench strength and recent work experience.
It is more about external perceptions. Will anyone recommend your firm in a particular practice area?
When the results are announced, it is going to be more about how your practice areas are perceived in the Singapore market.
Think again about the optics (as mentioned above).
If you are very particular about your firm’s visibility in the Singapore market, especially as highlighted by questions 1 and 2 above, then such a survey can provide an additional accolade that will add to your narrative about being the best in your practice area in Singapore.
Understanding the survey and how it is structured
As with all things inaugural, there is always some level of uncertainty at the beginning.
Let’s review the structure of this survey for a better understanding of how it works.
Participants
It is important to note that any input by participants would only be valid if each of them enter their name, firm, and email address at the end of the survey.
The survey is open to lawyers, legal executives, in-house counsel, clients and “other” (with a window to specify). The last category provides for participants who may have known or worked with lawyers, and therefore are in a position to recommend, but do not fall into the other listed categories.
First of all, there is a clear rule that lawyers are not allowed to recommend their own firms. As such, I am not expecting all the lawyers to participate, and recommend their competitors.
There are however two key groups that will have a significant influence on the results:
(a) in-house counsel; and
(b) (non-lawyer) clients.
I have highlighted a strategy (below) on how you can engage these groups and secure a better result for your firm.
Practice Areas
There are 15 practices areas that are listed in the survey.
It is necessary to distinguish B2B practice areas from the B2C areas.
Are you targeting B2B practices (where your clients are business entities/ companies, corporations, etc.)?
Or B2C practices (where your clients are individuals)?
The areas listed are as follows.
Banking & Finance
Company and Commercial
Mergers & Acquisitions
Insolvency & Restructuring
Intellectual Property
Maritime and Shipping
Real Estate (Commercial Property, Construction, Funds)
Manpower & Employment
Charities, Not-for-Profit Associations & Pro Bono
Conveyancing
Family
Criminal Law
Negligence (Professional/Medical/Accidents)
Inheritance & Succession, Private Wealth Management
Civil Dispute Resolution (Litigation, Arbitration, Mediation)
Publicity considerations between B2B and B2C practice areas.
For some B2C practice areas (such as family, criminal, accident, etc), this is a great opportunity for publicity. There are numerous firms in Singapore that offer such services, and if your firm is listed as one of the recommended firms in Singapore, you will stand out from the crowd. In the absence of other publications or surveys covering these practice areas, you cannot afford to miss this opportunity.
These are practice areas that are typically not included in the annual research programme of the prestigious ranking directories.
Different considerations apply to other practice areas. For example, the private wealth practice is not covered by all the ranking directories.
If you are representing HNW individuals who are based in Singapore, this is an opportunity worth considering, and worth publicising if you are one of the recommended firms.
For most of the B2B areas listed above, you may have numerous other opportunities to accumulate accolades throughout the year, but this survey is important if you are concerned about your visibility within the Singapore market. Refer back to questions 1 and 2 above.
Note also that there are B2B practices that may include matters that involve individuals, not companies. For example, in litigation. This survey presents another avenue for your publicity efforts, apart from the need to focus on google search results. Do you exist when you are needed by such an individual? The revenue will always go to those who exist.
Who will determine the results?
There are two ways you can approach this survey.
You can leave it to the ST readers to participate, and I am sure many of them will do so.
Alternatively, if you wish to do something to improve your chances of getting recommended in your key practices, there is one strategy you can adopt for this survey.
You need to reach out to your contacts in the two groups (i.e. in-house counsel & clients) and seek their support. Here are some of the steps you can take.
Identify the practice area(s) that you wish to target
Make a list of all in-house counsel / non-lawyer clients who used your services in these area(s) (but make sure they were satisfied or impressed with your services)
Send them an email (explaining all the necessary details) and ask them to consider participating and recommending you in the relevant practice area(s)
Send a follow-up note thanking them for their effort and support.
Every year, numerous law firms approach their clients to include them as clients referees in their submissions to Chambers and Legal500.
Although this survey does not request for client referees, and the processes involved are entirely different, the only way you can help your firm achieve an improved outcome is to request for the participation of clients who are in a position to vote favourably for your targeted practice area(s).
If you study it carefully, the survey is a numbers game.
It is about statistics as much as it is about external perceptions. Every digit counts.
Your engagement with these groups is the key to a positive outcome for your firm.
Develop the full view ahead of time
I wish to share with you a method that I used from time to time when I was faced with a new initiative where there was no previous course of action.
I tried to imagine the best possible outcome, from the moment the desired results are achieved, up to all the follow-up actions that must be taken to achieve the desired level of publicity.
I studied it in my imagination.
This gave me a complete picture of an eventual outcome, the type and extent of effort required for that ideal outcome, and its effect on influencing perceptions in the market.
The last few words are of crucial importance to anyone involved in strategic publicity.
It can be as simple, or as complicated as you want it to be. It is up to you.
Additionally, if you have a keen awareness of your brand positioning, and how to evolve it, you will be well placed to achieve better traction in respect of any initiatives related to your firm’s market visibility.
When I led the publicity efforts for a top regional law firm some years ago, I always knew ahead of time which are the 2 or 3 key messages that are absolutely necessary for strategic brand positioning, that will be part of the overall messaging, or an announcement, or quotes requested by journalists, etc..
Important note: it is critical (for accurate positioning in such lines) that you must have a properly executed brand research, or at the very least, a client feedback programme.
Once I knew what was the best possible outcome of my desired results, and knew how it can be milked to the max, I will pursue it. Or ditch it.
Sometimes I did this before drafting an email to partners to encourage pursuing or rejecting an initiative.
Try that for this inaugural survey. How are you going to milk it if you achieve your desired results?
Lakhbir Gill / Equibloom Asia