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is it kosher to mention band rankings in a cb? i want X firm because they are well respected in practice Y, for example I saw you were ranked band 1 in practice Y by Chambers. Or does this come off as rankings-whore? i mean, its better than just saying "i heard your office is well renowned in this area" without anything to back it up. paranoid it may come out wrong though.

There is definitely a lot of merit to being an informed shopper. However, backing up a statement like "I heard your office is well renowned in this area" (probably better phrased without "I heard") with specific cases they worked on, even if you don't know anything other than that the deal/litigation was significant or between well known parties, is definitely better.

Anonymous User wrote:is it kosher to mention band rankings in a cb? i want X firm because they are well respected in practice Y, for example I saw you were ranked band 1 in practice Y by Chambers. Or does this come off as rankings-whore? i mean, its better than just saying "i heard your office is well renowned in this area" without anything to back it up. paranoid it may come out wrong though.

First, I don't know that anyone really cares about Chambers bands IRL. I sure have no clue what bands my firm is in in any given practice area.

Second, the thing about being renowned in one practice area is there's no guarantee you'll end up working in that practice area. Cleary (and I don't work there, just to be clear) is renowned for its sovereign bond practice, but there are probably 20 people at the whole firm who actually does that work, so saying you want to work on sovereign bonds will likely get you some looks asking "what do you think the other 1200 lawyers at the firm do?"

If you, say, want to do energy work, and you're interviewing in Houston, that's a different story, but the above it worth keeping in mind in most situations.

this practice im talking about is big there, so at least that won't be an issue. i will look into more recent deals, found one in June but I guess they can't be doing deals every week. hopefully thats good enough.

Actual biglaw lawyers almost never care about these things, just go with the line about being known for having a strong practice with a few specifics if you know them.

Just be vague - "you guys have an excellent reputation for appellate work". Bam, gets it across without sounding aspie.

definitely do not refer to it as a "band ranking"

I saw a partner sneak out of the office with a copy of Chambers & Partners (like, the actual giant published book) in jeans and a t-shirt on a Sunday night.

Found out later he had just been added to their rankings.

Really enjoy that memory.