As the world of work continues to evolve and new challenges arise in the post-pandemic era, a new IEL project will allow in-house counsel to better identify the best employment practices and expert practitioners for their legal queries across key jurisdictions.

IEL’s inaugural benchmarking project aims to recognise the market-leading employment and labour law teams that have offered cutting-edge advice and counsel to employers while also continuing to grow and innovate over the past 12 months.

From international and regional behemoths to national powerhouses and specialist boutique practices, the summer months will see the IEL team dive deep into the global employment law market. The project will culminate in a comprehensive, free-to-access online guide featuring the standout work undertaken by the world’s best law firms from 2021 to 2022.

In addition to highlighting exceptional work, IEL will also recognise each firm’s particular specialisms, market standing, and specific strengths, as well as recent hires, promotions, expansions, and innovations that have helped improve their practices of late.

Firms are invited to participate through a short submission process. A submission document is available on request. Submissions should contain a minimum of ten standout instructions from the past year, demonstrating a mix of complex contentious and non-contentious work. The deadline for submissions is 29 July 2022.

IEL does not require firms to provide client referees. However, registered in-house readers may contribute to the research process by providing confidential feedback and observations on individual lawyers or firms via email. The deadline for in-house feedback is 28 October 2022.

Follow-up face-to-face or telephone interviews will be arranged with firms, where appropriate, between the start of August and the end of October 2022. IEL’s research findings will then be published in November 2022.

Visit our benchmarking page for more information on our methodology and submission guidelines. Please email the editorial team if you require more information or have specific queries about how your practice may fit into our benchmarking.