The annual Doyle’s Guide rankings have landed, which can mean only one thing: LinkedIn is filling up with carefully worded declarations of collective excellence.
First out of the blocks was Bankside Chambers, proudly announcing it had secured the highest number of ranked junior commercial litigators in New Zealand, with ten members recognised, alongside five ranked King’s Counsel. It was an exercise in numerical precision, emphasising not only the total count but also the breakdown of Preeminent, Leading and Recommended rankings.
Among the standouts were Jeremy Johnson and Polly Pope, both ranked Preeminent as junior counsel, while Jason Goodall KC achieved Preeminent status among silks. Mike Colson KC, Christine Meechan KC and Tom Weston KC were recognised as Leading, with Brian Dickey KC listed as Recommended.
Shortland Chambers came hot on Bankside’s heels with its own announcement, reporting 17 of its members had been recognised in the same Doyle’s Guide commercial litigation rankings.
Its list included an imposing 11 King’s Counsel (let’s name them, Shortland did) – David Cooper KC, Jenny Cooper KC, Stephen Hunter KC, Sarah Armstrong KC, Alan Galbraith KC, Jack Hodder KC, Bob Hollyman KC, Daniel McLellan KC, David Bigio KC, Adam Ross KC and Robert Stewart KC, along with junior counsel Matthew Harris, James Little, Desley Horton, Julian Long, Andrew Peat and Daisy Williams.
The contrast between the announcements was almost as interesting as the rankings themselves.
Bankside led with the headline statistic, stressing that it had “the highest number” of recognised juniors and carefully cataloguing every ranking tier.
Shortland took a more understated route, by not recognising ranking categories or claiming numerical supremacy. Instead, it simply congratulated its own barristers and, with admirable diplomacy, “all other members of the profession recognised in the Guide.”
To be fair, Doyle’s Guide is hardly an obscure vanity exercise. Its rankings are based on peer review, client feedback and independent research across multiple jurisdictions, and unlike some legal directories it does not require formal submissions from firms.
Doyle’s says rankings cannot be bought, although ranked practitioners are invited to enhance their profiles and promote their recognition once the research is complete.
That hasn’t stopped the legal profession from treating rankings season with a mixture of both reverence and scepticism.
Among lawyers, the annual directories have long attracted knowing smiles. On Reddit’s well-followed r/auslaw forum, practitioners have variously described Doyle’s as “mostly marketing”, “reasonably accurate”, “a popularity contest”, and, perhaps most memorably, “all a bunch of bullshit until I am recognised, at which point it is an obvious and well-earned mark of distinction.”
Whether it’s Doyle’s Guide, Chambers & Partners or The Legal 500, the rankings undoubtedly influence client perceptions and law firm marketing. Firms trumpet them because clients notice them. Clients notice them because firms trumpet them. It is one of the legal profession’s more elegant examples of circular logic.
For now, though, the Doyle’s Guide season is only getting started. Expect many more announcements celebrating another year’s recognition, another year’s market leadership and another year’s proof, apparently, that humility remains one of the Bar’s least developed advocacy skills.
