Chambers Submissions Are Not Legal Documents

Directory researchers receive thousands of submissions.

They need to dip in and out of your submission, and their eyes should travel quickly over your words.

So make your submissions easy to read by ditching the technicalities and legalese.
 
 

Company Suffixes

 
Remove words like “Inc”, “plc”, “AG”, “LLC”, and other suffixes that denote a company’s legal/technical status – they slow the text down.

There are exceptions, such as if you’re describing the parent company disposing of a subsidiary, or the relationship between a holding company and a trading business.

In such cases, a suffix may clarify the nature of the transaction, or distinguish between two arms of the business with the same name.

For the most part, however, just use the active part of the company name.

In any case, Chambers edits them out for publication.

Have a look at this example:

You might as well help the directories by writing your material in the same style.
 

Capital Letters

 
Avoid excessive capitalization.

Recognize this style of matter description?

“The Investor alleged Cause of Action against the Company’s Directors for breach of fiduciary duties of care, good faith, and loyalty. The Investor filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, Limited Expedited Discovery, and a Prompt Post-Expedited Discovery Date For A Hearing On Plaintiff’s Post-Expedited Discovery Motion For A Preliminary Injunction Pending Trial and sought to enjoin the closing of the acquisition of the Company”

Write like a human being.
 
 

Legalese

 
Write in a simple, clear style that anyone can understand.

Avoid legal terms like pursuant and heretofore.

Some Chambers researchers are legally trained and understand complicated legal documents, others not so.

In any case, all require a short, easy-to-grasp, description of the matter.

If the reader is really keen, they can dig around for more on the case, or you can use the “media link” box to steer them towards further reading.
 
 

IP Symbols

 
You’re not filing a patent application or sending a cease-and-desist letter to a trademark infringer, so do away with the registered, copyright, and trademark signs.

Chambers doesn’t publish these symbols.

See this example:

 
 

Ticker Symbols

 
Sure, you want to brag about your impressive public client base.

And it’s fine to say that you act for a stock exchange-listed company.

But there’s no need to insert stock symbols.

Chambers researchers do not rush to their broker or Bloomberg terminal straight after reading your securities submission.
 
 

Citations

 
Chambers is not Westlaw or LexisNexis.

Most researchers don’t have the time or inclination to look up the case history for one of your matters – however interesting.

Sometimes, particularly for litigation, it’s necessary to provide some legal background or context to explain the significance of a case.

But go easy on citations and references to other sources such as court decisions, statutes, regulations, and academic writing.
 
 

Appendix

 
Don’t add extra documents or supplementary pages to the submission – they will probably get mislaid or unread.

If it’s important, make sure you incorporate into the main body of the submission.

Bear in mind that the Chambers submission template asks you not to deviate from the standard form.

Per Chambers:

 

Disclaimers

 
The directories don’t want to read disclaimers on your submission.

Don’t confuse the person reading your submission, or create extra work for the directories.

Law firms sometimes add these in with respect to matter confidentiality.

For example, they will say:

“Please contact the firm before publishing any of these matters”

Or, in a specific matter description:

“This matter is currently in progress, so check with the partner concerned about what elements can be published.”

Disclaimers slow everything down, and ambiguity over what parts are confidential causes confusion and may lead to something being wrongly printed.

Mark clearly if the matter is publishable or not – a simple “yes” or “no”.
 
 

Footnotes

 
Don’t bother with footnotes – they’re not necessary.

Make sure you include all relevant information about the matter in the main space.