About us
For more detailed information about our research please download our Research guide
The IFLR1000 is an annual guide to the world's leading financial and corporate law firms. Our first edition was published in 1990 and we currently research over 120 jurisdictions worldwide.
Our aim is to provide clients of law firms throughout the world with easy-to-use rankings and profiles of the leading firms in each country organised by practice area, accompanied by analysis of the market trends and business environment.
We base the rankings and analysis on our own extensive independent research, which is conducted by dedicated journalists in offices in New York, London and Hong Kong, and to maintain objectivity we are not influenced by any law firms or institutions - no firm can pay to be part of the guide.
Our goal is to produce the most objective and informative guide possible. Our researchers are trained journalists, so we endeavour not only to bring the reader statistics and news but a balanced analysis of each country and its legal services. Our journalists also visit some of the countries under review, meaning they can bring first-hand knowledge to the guide.
As well as providing breadth we aim to bring depth, making the best use of our 22 years of experience and the resources of our sister publications and its journalists.
Since 2011 we have also been running the Partner Moves website, which provides daily news and analysis on lateral partner hires around the world and has a free-to-use searchable database of moves going back to 2009.
You can find this information on our Partner Moves website, through our twitter updates and on Facebook.
The contents of the IFLR1000
We currently cover over 120 countries worldwide and for each market that we research we provide at least one of the following:
• An overview of the country's corporate finance legislation and latest important local legal developments, written by a leading firm in the jurisdiction.
• Rankings of the leading financial and corporate law firms in the country organised by practice area. In countries where specialisation is not common, the guide recommends firms for their ability to advise on general financial and corporate law.
• An introduction to each country by practice area in which our journalists provide helpful contextual information to the market as well as an analysis of the latest trends, deals and developments, with opinions from local partners and clients.
• A profile and analysis of each highly ranked law firm, including detailed information on its latest deals, clients, leading lawyers and
rising stars. Overall, we seek to give a flavour of each firm's practice and strengths and the reputation they hold in the market.
• Contact details for the jurisdiction’s bar association and chamber of commerce.
Each jurisdiction’s past rankings are available to view for free in PDF format on the website dating back to 2005. The current edition is also free to view on the website.
The hard copy of guide is published in October of each year.
What differentiates us from others
• We focus exclusively on corporate finance and transactional law, which allows us to offer specialised analysis.
• We have dedicated full-time teams in our offices in New York, London and Hong Kong; a setup which keeps us in close proximity to firms and markets around the world.
• Our researchers all have a background in journalism rather than traditional research methods, which means they ask probing questions, follow leads and write in-depth analysis.
• We visit some jurisdictions as part of the research process. Our journalists have visited firms in their offices on every continent with recent trips taking us as far as Indonesia, Mozambique, Panama and Serbia.
• As well as keeping us connected with our markets, the trips give our researchers first-hand experience of the countries under review.
• The IFLR1000 shares resources with other Legal Media Group publications such as International Financial Law Review (IFLR) and the Expert Guides, which gives our team a broader perspective on markets and a deep well of knowledge to draw from.
Our research method
Each year we send a set of research questionnaires to each of the featured firms in the guide and some that are not featured, asking them to supply:
1. Details of their most important deals over the past 12 months in each of the practice areas we cover;
2. A list of client referees (from current active clients) who we can contact for interview; and
3. Details of developments in their firm, including changes in personnel, new office openings or changes in strategic focus, over the
past 12 months.
We then interview partners in the law firms and ask them for their professional opinions on current markets trends, other leading law firms in the market, leading individual practitioners and up and coming lawyers.
At the same time we conduct interviews with clients, which include the law firms’ clients, in-house counsel from national and international, private and public institutions, and foreign lawyers that have referred work to local firms. We ask for their opinions on the firms, recommen- dations of individual lawyers and opinions on doing business in the market.
In addition to the core research above, we also take into account press releases and other third-party resources, including our associated publications including Legal Media Group's flagship magazine International Financial Law Review (IFLR), which has been covering financial market legislation for more than 25 years, and the Expert Guides.
Taking part in the research is free.
The basis for the rankings
The rankings are based primarily on the interviews we conduct with partners of local law firms and with clients (as detailed above) and therefore represent a cross-section of market opinion. The research is qualitative and the rankings reflect the perceived quality of a firm according to the opinions given by practitioners and clients.
We also look at a law firm’s record over a period of three years in order to reward consistent high performance.
The editorial team has a strict policy of independence and is not influenced by any firm or institution. No firm can pay to be included or ranked.
We do not use the questionnaires in the ranking process, except to verify facts and reach a decision on rankings where there is no clear consensus among interviewees.
We do not specifically use third party sources (such as statistics of deal values and volumes) in the ranking process. These are only used to verify facts and sometimes provide useful information in the write-ups.
Sister publications
As well as our 20 years of experience, the IFLR1000 team is able to draw on a deep pool of internal resources which includes our sister publications:
Partner Moves – run by the IFLR1000 team. We provide daily news and a twitter feed on partner moves and significant lateral hires across the world. We also offer a free-to-view database of moves going back to 2009. The database is fully searchable through a range of criteria.
International Financial Law Review (IFLR) – monthly magazine run by a separate editorial team (although we work closely together), which focuses on financial market legislation and has been running for over 25 years. It also runs the IFLR Awards.
Expert Guides – the guide to the world’s leading corporate lawyers. The Expert Guides has been running for 15 years.
Legal Media Group also comprises: China Law & Practice; International Tax Review; and Managing Intellectual Property (MIP).