Western Europe: Submission Deadline - February 12 2027

Central and Eastern Europe: Submissions closed for 2026

Middle East: Submissions closed for 2026

Americas: Submissions closed for 2026

Asia-Pacific: Submissions closed for 2026

Africa: Submissions closed for 2026

IFLR1000 and The Lawyer are working together to create a stronger source of insight and recognition for the global legal market: The Lawyer leads on journalism, analysis and strategic market intelligence, while IFLR1000 continues as an independent authority for research, rankings and awards.
The partnership creates greater opportunity for the information provided during the research process to contribute to a broader understanding of their practice and position in the market. Where information overlaps, inputs collected through the IFLR1000 submission process can support IFLR1000 rankings research and contribute to The Lawyer's wider market analysis.

IFLR1000 and The Lawyer are introducing new transatlantic rankings designed to recognise firms demonstrating substantive capability across the UK and US markets.
The purpose is to answer a specific question: which firms deliver the strongest legal capability across this corridor? The assessment is evidence-led. It is designed to recognise what firms and their teams achieve across the UK and US together, rather than simply recognising firms because they maintain offices in both markets.
For eligible firms, the IFLR1000 submission provides a dedicated opportunity to demonstrate this capability through relevant matters and evidence of cross-border work. Research will consider the substantive evidence provided through the research process.

These new rankings reflect an increasing focus on legal capability across markets rather than looking solely at localized performance. The wider proposition specifically identifies the global corridor lens as a way for research to reflect cross-border client demand. IFLR1000's wider regional and jurisdictional research continues, with the transatlantic rankings contributing an additional perspective to the existing programme.

Each regional research cycle begins with the opening of the submission period. Firms are invited to submit one research form per practice area and jurisdiction through the submission portal, providing the information and evidence that will inform both IFLR1000 rankings and relevant IFLR Awards consideration. There is no separate submission for the IFLR Awards. Submission templates and applicable deadlines are linked above.
Following the research launch, IFLR1000 hosts webinars to explain the research process, key dates, submission requirements and any changes for the current cycle. Firms are encouraged to attend or review the available guidance before preparing their submissions.

Across all regions, the research team conducts interviews with firms and practitioners to gather additional deal insights, market details, and discuss relevant industry activity, market developments and practitioner performance for rankings and awards purposes. Interview availability and timing will vary by research cycle.

As part of the research process, IFLR1000 gathers market feedback through client referee and lawyer surveys. Client referees provided by participating firms may be contacted for feedback, while practitioners may be invited to schedule an interview and/or provide feedback via the lawyer survey.

Following evidence gathering, the research team reviews submissions, interviews, survey feedback and other relevant research material. This evidence is assessed collectively to inform ranking decisions and, where applicable, awards research.

At the conclusion of each regional research cycle, IFLR1000 publishes the resulting firm and lawyer rankings. Results are released according to the timetable for each region, and firms should refer to the key dates above for the expected publication period.

IFLR1000 evaluates law firms and lawyers by practice area within a jurisdiction based on transactional deal evidence and client feedback.
IFLR does not research arbitration, competition, disputes, employment, IP, life sciences, litigation, or tax work. Any work submitted that falls into these practice areas will not be taken into account.

IFLR1000 ranks firms and lawyers by practice area. The research focuses on financial and corporate and project development work. We assess work in the following practice areas:

• Banking
• Capital markets
• Financial services regulatory
• Investment funds
• M&A / transactional private equity
• Project development
• Project finance
• Restructuring and insolvency

Practice area rankings vary by country and depend on the breadth and depth of a market and the degree of specialization that firms and lawyers have in the area. Note: A ‘financial and corporate’ ranking is based on all the types of work listed above excluding project development.
Our law firm rankings and lawyer ratings are based on three key criteria:

In each research cycle we ask firms to provide deal highlights since January 1 of the previous year. Deal evidence provided on the submission forms is the decisive factor to determine a firm’s ranking and lawyer’s rating. In the context of the jurisdiction and practice area, we assess deals on the basis of:

• Complexity
• Innovation
• Market impact

When making an assessment of firm’s work we also take into account:

• The volume of complex work within a practice area
• Evidence of a consistent high market share of complex deals in the jurisdiction and practice area
• Client feedback that corroborates the quality of work
• Statistical evidence of transactions values and volumes produced by external publications
• Independent research

IFLR1000 conducts interviews with leading practitioners, virtually and in-person, to gather market intelligence. This allows us to gain a better understanding of market trends, so that we can better assess the significance of transactions and keep our rankings ahead of the curve.
Lawyer/Practitioner Survey

During each research cycle, IFLR1000 surveys lawyers to get their thoughts and feedback on the firms and fellow lawyers in their markets. All practitioners with active work in relevant jurisdictions are invited to participate. This survey is an opportunity for lawyers to provide evidence to support a Leading Lawyer rating and to have their say on our rankings.

Lawyers can provide us with recent examples of their work and details about their practice area and industry sector specialisms, which will be assessed as we evaluate our ratings.

IFLR1000 surveys tens of thousands of corporate and in-house contacts annually provided to us by participating firms to capture their opinions and assess the quality of the services received. Client feedback captured within the Client Survey is used in support of transactional evidence when determining a firm’s ranking or lawyer’s rating.

Firms are encouraged to provide referees for all submitted deals. Firms should also confirm referees are happy to be contacted before details are provided to us. All firms will be contacted ahead of the client survey launch to ensure referees are made aware of the outreach.

Good client feedback alone will not guarantee a firm or lawyer will be ranked or rated.

IFLR1000 China researches firms and lawyers in the provinces/municipalities listed below. The research is undertaken and published in Mandarin and English. Firms can submit work that falls into any of the relevant core practice areas.

• Beijing
• Chongqing
• Guangdong
• Jiangsu
• Shandong
• Shanghai
• Shaanxi
• Sichuan
• Tianjin
• Zhejiang