This guide walks through the Doyle’s Guide rankings submission form for every practice area except Family Law, section by section. Start a submission · Family Law submission form · Frequently asked questions
Before you begin
This form is for law firms, individual practitioners and barristers seeking consideration in the Doyle’s Guide rankings in any practice area other than Family Law. Submissions are welcome but never required, and a submission does not of itself determine a ranking: it helps our researchers understand your practice and identify the peers and clients to consult.
One submission covers one practice area in one jurisdiction. A firm seeking consideration in Insolvency & Restructuring in both Victoria and New South Wales makes two submissions. The form offers “Start another submission” as soon as one is sent.
Have these ready before you start (allow 45 to 90 minutes for a full firm submission):
- Your key matters from the last 12 months, with the month each completed or was active
- A spreadsheet of everyone in the practice group (name, role, email, phone, location) — it can be pasted straight into the form
- Details of at least three referees who have agreed to be contacted
- Headcounts for the practice group in the nominated jurisdiction
- Optionally, an existing capability statement or matter list (PDF or Word, up to 10MB)
Deadlines are set per ranking, not per form. Submissions are due two months before each ranking publishes. Check the 2027 Rankings Publication Schedule for your practice area and jurisdiction — the form also lists the relevant rankings and their deadlines once you have selected both. Material received after that month may not be considered in that year’s research.
Our ground rules
Four rules shape everything that follows. The form enforces the first two; the editorial team relies on you for the rest.
- Matters must be from the last 12 months. List only work completed, or substantially progressed, within the 12 months before you submit. The month field will not accept anything older, and older matters are disregarded if they reach us another way.
- No confidential matters. Doyle’s Guide does not accept confidential matters in this form. Every matter you list must be capable of being referenced publicly, and you tick a confirmation to that effect on each one. Our researchers may raise your matters with peers, clients and referees, so if a matter cannot be disclosed, leave it out rather than disguise it. The same applies to the Key Clients field.
- Referees and team contacts are never published. Both are used for research verification and peer surveys only, and are not shown to other firms. They are not the confidential part of the submission — they are simply private.
- Family Law is a separate submission. It has its own form and research cycle: use the Family Law submission form.
The declaration at the end of the form asks the person submitting to confirm all four, and that they are authorised to submit on the firm’s or practitioner’s behalf.
Opening the form
The submission form is open to any firm, practitioner or barrister — no invitation or private link is needed. If you follow a “Submit for this ranking” link from the rankings schedule, the practice area and jurisdiction are filled in for you.
Saving your progress. Two safety nets run at once:
- Save & Continue Later (at the foot of the form) stores a draft with us and shows you a private resume link. Copy it: it works on any device for 30 days, and nothing is sent to the editorial team until you press Submit. Saving again from the same draft updates it rather than creating a second one.
- Browser autosave keeps your progress as you type. If you close the tab and return on the same device, the form offers to restore or discard it. This copy is cleared once you submit.
Working with colleagues. Send a colleague your resume link and they can pick up where you left off, from any device. Anyone holding the resume link can open the draft, so treat it as private. Several people in the firm can prepare different submissions at the same time.
Long sessions. If a page has sat open for more than a day, the submission may be refused with a “session expired” message. Save a draft, reopen it from the resume link and submit again.
More than one submission. After a submission is sent, click “Start another submission” for the next practice area or jurisdiction.
Section 1 — Applicant Details
Tell us who is applying and who to talk to about it.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Submitting As | Law firm when the submission is on behalf of a practice group, even if it puts forward only one lawyer. Individual practitioner / barrister for a sole practitioner, or a barrister submitting in their own right. |
| Practitioner Name | Required for individual submissions only. The name as it should appear in a ranking. |
| Firm / Chambers Name | The firm or chambers as it appears publicly. |
| Website | The firm’s or chambers’ site. |
| Office(s) Relevant to this Submission | The office or offices that serve the jurisdiction you are submitting for, e.g. “Melbourne” or “Perth, Karratha”. |
| Submission Contact | The person our researchers should contact with queries — often the practice head or a BD manager. The confirmation copy of the submission goes to this email address. |
A barrister’s chambers can also submit as a Law firm on behalf of several members: list each member in Section 5.
Section 2 — Practice Area & Jurisdiction
Pick the one practice area and the one jurisdiction this submission is for; everything that follows should relate to that combination. The practice areas match the headings in the Doyle’s Guide rankings schedule:
| Group | Practice areas |
|---|---|
| Corporate & Commercial | Corporate & Commercial · Competition & Antitrust · Intellectual Property · Technology, Media & Telecommunications · Taxation · Agribusiness & Rural Industry |
| Disputes | Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution · Arbitration · Class Actions · Defamation & Reputation Management · Insolvency & Restructuring · Mediation · Estate, Trust & Probate Litigation |
| Insurance & Injury | Insurance · Insurance (Defendant) · Injury & Compensation (Plaintiff) |
| Property, Construction & Environment | Property & Real Estate · Construction & Projects · Planning & Environment |
| Employment & Criminal | Employment & Workplace Health & Safety · Criminal Defence & White Collar Crime |
| Private Clients | Wills, Estates & Succession Planning |
| Public, Regulatory & Other | Administrative & Public Law · Health & Aged Care · Immigration · Indigenous Law & Rights · Transport, Shipping & Aviation |
If your area is not listed, choose Other and name it in the box below the dropdown. Family Law is not on the list because it has its own form.
Jurisdiction. Choose the state, province, country or region in which you are seeking a ranking — “New South Wales” for the NSW rankings, “Ontario” for Ontario, “England” for the English regions. Choose a national option (“Australia — National”, “Canada — National”) only where the schedule shows a national ranking for your area. For a city-level ranking (Brisbane, Toronto, Manchester and the like), select the state or region that contains the city and name the city in the Office(s) field in Section 1.
A practice that is strong in two states makes two submissions. A national practice seeking both a state and a national ranking makes one of each.
Section 3 — Key Practice Indicators
Give researchers the size and shape of the practice group in this jurisdiction, then the case for it in your own words.
Headcounts. The first three figures are for this practice area in the nominated jurisdiction, not the firm as a whole. The boxes take free text, so “4 (plus 1 in Brisbane)” or “6 equity, 2 salaried” is fine.
| Field | Count |
|---|---|
| No. of Partners in this Practice Area (required) | Partners whose principal practice is this area, in this jurisdiction |
| Counsel / Consultants | Special counsel, counsel, of counsel and consultants in the group |
| Other Fee Earners | Senior associates, associates and lawyers in the group |
| Lawyers Firm-wide | All lawyers across the firm, every office and practice area |
Practice Overview (required). Aim for 150 to 300 words. Open with what the practice is known for, then cover: the client base (sectors, size, in-house or referred), market position in this jurisdiction, panel appointments and standing arrangements, and growth over the last year. Write for a researcher who does not know the firm.
Key Strengths / Differentiators. Three to five short points that distinguish the practice from its competitors in this jurisdiction: depth in a sub-specialty, a particular sector, bench strength, cross-border reach, the volume of work of a certain type.
Key Clients (optional). Name only clients you are able to name publicly — those on your published client list, panel appointments announced by the client, or clients who have agreed to be cited. Do not list confidential client relationships; a shorter public list is better than a longer one you would have to walk back.
Recent Hires & Departures (optional). Lateral hires, internal promotions and departures in this practice area over the last 12 months, with the month and the person’s previous or new firm. Researchers hear about departures from the market anyway; your account of them is more useful than someone else’s.
Section 4 — Key Matters (last 12 months only)
List the matters that best show the practice’s work in this area and jurisdiction over the last 12 months — up to 25, though eight to fifteen well-described matters usually make the stronger case. Click + Add Matter for each.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Matter / Client Name (required) | The matter as it can be referenced publicly, e.g. “Acting for XYZ Ltd on its A$250m acquisition of ABC Pty Ltd” or “Smith v Jones [2026] NSWSC 123”. |
| Completed / Active (month) (required) | The month the matter completed or, if ongoing, the month it was most recently active. The picker only allows the last 12 months. |
| Deal / Matter Value | Optional. Currency plus a round figure or range: “A$250m”, “US$40–60m”, “claim of A$12m”. Leave blank if undisclosed. |
| Lead Practitioner(s) | The partner or partners who led, and anyone else whose role is relevant to Section 5. |
| Other Parties / Advisers / Court | Optional but valuable: the counterparty and its advisers, co-counsel, the court or tribunal, the regulator. Researchers use these to corroborate. |
| Description & Role Played | Three or four sentences: what the matter was, why it mattered (size, novelty, precedent, reach), exactly what your team did, and the outcome where there is one. |
| I confirm this matter may be referenced publicly (required) | Tick it for every matter. The form will not submit without it, and a submission arriving without it is rejected. |
Choosing matters. Favour significance, complexity and relevance to this practice area and jurisdiction over volume. A matter led from another office or another practice group belongs in that submission, not this one. Where a matter is still running, say what stage it has reached.
The public-reference confirmation. You are confirming that the matter and your role in it can be disclosed: it has been announced or reported, it is on the public record (court lists and judgments, exchange or regulatory announcements, published deal tables), it appears in your own published deal list, or the client has agreed that it may be cited. If none of those apply, do not list the matter. Anonymised or disguised matters are not accepted on this form.
Section 5 — Key Individuals for Ranking
These are the practitioners you are putting forward for individual recognition in this practice area and jurisdiction — up to 30. This section is what researchers rank individuals on, so each entry should make a case. Click + Add Individual for each person.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Name (required) | As it should appear in a ranking. |
| Role | Partner, Special Counsel, Counsel, Of Counsel, Consultant, Senior Associate, Associate, Barrister or Other. |
| Office / Location | The office they practise from. |
| Year Admitted | Year of first admission. Researchers use it to place people in the right list, including Rising Stars where one exists. |
| Their direct email. Used for verification and survey invitations; not published. | |
| Summary of Standing & Focus | Two or three lines: seniority, the sub-areas and sectors they focus on, notable roles on the matters in Section 4, and any recognition that bears on this area. |
Who to put forward. Those with a genuine claim in this practice area and this jurisdiction. Put forward a partner who leads the practice, the partners and counsel who carried the matters in Section 4, and the senior associates whose work you would stand behind. Leave out people whose principal practice is elsewhere; a long list dilutes the case for everyone on it.
Writing the summary. Be concrete. “Leads the firm’s restructuring practice in Victoria; acted for the administrators on the Globex collapse (Section 4, matter 2); 18 years in insolvency” tells a researcher more than “highly regarded and experienced”. Tie people to matters by number where you can.
Individual practitioners and barristers list themselves here with the same detail, and may add anyone who works with them.
Section 6 — Full Practice Team & Contact Points
List everyone in the practice group in this jurisdiction: all partners, plus counsel, special counsel, consultants and senior associates — up to 150 people. This list is never published. Researchers use it to verify the submission and to invite peers to the research survey, so it is worth letting the people on it know.
Each entry takes a name and email (both required), a role, a phone number and a location. Partners who are also Key Individuals appear in both sections.
Pasting a list from a spreadsheet. For anything beyond a handful of people, use the paste box at the top of the section rather than adding rows one at a time:
- In your spreadsheet, arrange five columns in this order: Name, Role, Email, Phone, Location. A header row is fine.
- Select the rows and copy them.
- Paste into the box labelled “Paste a team list” and click + Add from pasted list.
- The form creates a contact row for each person. Roles are matched to the form’s list (Partner, Special Counsel, Counsel, Of Counsel, Consultant, Senior Associate, Associate, Barrister); anything it does not recognise is set to “Other” for you to correct.
- Check the rows, fix any role or email, and remove anyone who should not be there.
Comma-separated lines typed by hand work the same way (“Dana Lee, Partner, [email protected], 02 9000 0000, Sydney”). You can paste in batches, and add or remove individual rows afterwards.
Individual practitioner submissions may leave this section empty.
Section 7 — Referee Details
Provide at least three referees, and up to ten, who can speak to the work described in this submission. The first three rows are required; each referee needs a first name, surname and valid email address, and the company and title help researchers place them. Referees are used for research verification only and are never published or shown to other firms.
Who makes a good referee. Referrers of work and people who see your work from the other side:
- General counsel and in-house lawyers who instruct you regularly
- Partners at referring law firms, including firms in other jurisdictions
- Barristers you brief
- Accountants, bankers, insolvency practitioners and other advisers who refer matters
- Clients who are a source of repeat instructions
A client who has instructed you once, on one matter, is not what we are after. Referees must be outside your own firm.
Consent. Tell your referees you are naming them and which practice area it concerns. Researchers may send a short email or survey, occasionally followed by a brief call. The declaration at the end of the form confirms your referees have agreed to be contacted.
Across several submissions. Referees who can speak to the specific practice area and jurisdiction are the most useful, and a referee named on several submissions may be contacted about each. Where you have different referrers for different areas, use them.
Sections 8 and 9, and the Declaration
Section 8 — Supporting Document (optional). Attach one PDF or Word (.docx) file of up to 10MB if you have an existing submission, capability statement or matter list. It supplements the form rather than replacing it: the form fields are still required, and researchers work from them first. The “Anything else” box is for context that fits nowhere else — a merger, a rebrand, a change of practice name.
Section 9 — Editorial Interview (optional). The button opens a scheduler for a short video conversation with the Doyle’s Guide editorial team about your practice and the submission. Book it before or after submitting, or not at all; it adds context and is not a requirement.
Declaration. The person submitting confirms that:
- the information is accurate;
- the key matters relate to work within the last 12 months and may each be referenced publicly;
- the referees have consented to being contacted by Doyle’s Guide; and
- they are authorised to make the submission on behalf of the firm or practitioner named.
The form will not submit until the box is ticked.
Submit, or Save & Continue Later. Submit sends the submission to the editorial team and shows a confirmation on screen. Save & Continue Later stores a draft and gives you a resume link, and sends nothing.
After you submit
The submission goes to the Doyle’s Guide editorial team, and the submission contact receives a confirmation email with a Word copy of everything entered. If the on-screen confirmation did not appear, the submission was not sent — check for a highlighted field and try again.
What the editorial team does with it. Researchers read the submission alongside the peer survey for the practice area, interview practitioners, clients and industry bodies, and may contact your referees and the people on your team list. The submission informs that research; it does not determine the result.
Timing. Rankings publish in the month shown for your ranking in the rankings schedule, two months after the submission deadline. Rankings appear on the site; there is no separate notification.
Corrections. Email [email protected] with the firm, practice area and jurisdiction in the subject line. For a substantial change, make a fresh submission and say that it replaces the earlier one.
After publication. Ranked firms and individuals may use their Doyle’s Guide rankings in their own marketing. A Rankings Reconsideration process is available after a ranking publishes; the editorial team can send the form.
Checklist before you press Submit
- ☐ This submission covers one practice area in one jurisdiction, and the matters, individuals and referees all relate to it
- ☐ The practitioner’s name is entered (individual submissions) and the submission contact’s email is the right one for the confirmation copy
- ☐ Headcounts are for the practice group in this jurisdiction, not the firm
- ☐ The practice overview opens with what the practice is known for and covers clients, market position and growth
- ☐ Every matter completed or was active within the last 12 months
- ☐ Every matter can be referenced publicly and its confirmation box is ticked — anything confidential has been left out
- ☐ Key clients listed are ones you can name publicly
- ☐ Each key individual has a role, year admitted and a concrete summary of standing, tied to matters by number where possible
- ☐ The full team list includes all partners, counsel, consultants and senior associates, with a valid email for each, and pasted rows have been checked
- ☐ At least three referees are complete (first name, surname, email), all from outside the firm, and all have agreed to be contacted
- ☐ Any attachment is a PDF or .docx under 10MB
- ☐ The declaration is ticked
- ☐ If anything is unfinished, you have used Save & Continue Later and copied the resume link
Start a submission · Frequently asked questions · Questions? [email protected]