The Lexpert Selection Process: Methods and Rankings
The identification of leading practitioner and firms is based upon a comprehensive annual Survey, which has been ongoing since 1994. The lawyers named on the Lexpert Survey have been recommended by their law firm leaders and peers to be so named. They are acknowledged as leaders in their respective fields, lawyers prominent in their practice areas and professional organizations, and lawyers otherwise enjoying significant recognition from their colleagues.
The annual Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada is based upon the year's Survey results, which are also used for The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada comprises an exclusive group of lawyers ranked highest in the Survey in practice areas of importance to an American audience. We hope this publication is of assistance to US attorneys, corporate counsel, and other professionals throughout America.
Nominations to the annual Lexpert Survey
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Law firm lawyers may be nominated in writing to be added to the Lexpert Survey on the recommendation of a) their firm’s leadership or b) a Lexpert-ranked lawyer in the same practice area.
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Lexpert reviews the nominations, conducts necessary research and in its sole discretion determines whether or not a nominee’s name is added to the Survey.
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On each practice area Survey, Lexpert also provides room for write-in nominees. Names of lawyers who receive sufficient write-in nominations, determined in Lexpert’s sole discretion, will appear on the following year's Survey.
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The names of those lawyers who do not receive a minimum number of votes in their respective Survey are removed from the following year’s Survey.
Please Note:
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We maintain strict separation between editorial (which includes the Surveys and Rankings) and advertising. The names of all lawyers, which result from the survey conducted by Lexpert, are published at no charge whether or not they or their firms purchase advertising in any of our publications.
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Lawyers advertising and communicating regarding Lexpert rankings and awards should follow their governing law societ(ies)’ rules and regulations concerning advertising, communications, and third party rankings and awards. Compliance with these rules and regulations is the sole responsibility of lawyer and entity members of their governing law societ(ies).
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Being ranked in a Lexpert publication one year does not guarantee that a lawyer or firm will be ranked the following year. We conduct annual Surveys and there is significant change, from one year to the next, in the subsequent Rankings.
The Survey Process
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Lexpert sends the Survey to all law firm lawyers named therein, for their voting.
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In addition, the Survey is sent to selected in-house counsel in certain practice areas. Last year, the Survey was sent to in-house counsel in the following practice areas: Banking; Computer & IT Law; Corporate Commercial Law; Corporate Finance & Securities; Litigation – Corporate Commercial; Litigation – Intellectual Property; Mergers & Acquisitions; and Property Development.
The Tabulation of Results
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There are three levels of ranking result determined on the basis of the tabulation of votes on the Survey: Most Frequently Recommended, Consistently Recommended, and Repeatedly Recommended.
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Editorial discretion is added to the Survey and tabulation processes in several ways. These include: advice from senior members of the Bar, market research, and considering the votes received by lawyers in more than one practice area.
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These methods have produced a consistently high response rate. In preparation for this edition, Lexpert made 21,739 requests for completed surveys from lawyers at law firms, and 5,541 additional requests were sent to corporate counsel. We received 16,815 completed surveys from law firm practitioners representing a response rate of 77.35 per cent. Our response rate from corporate counsel was 2.31 per cent.