Welcome to Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific

The definitive guide to the Asia-Pacific region’s leading litigation law firms and lawyers

Benchmark Litigation is the only publication on the market to focus exclusively on dispute resolution. Since its inception in 2008, the Benchmark brand has grown dramatically and garnered industry-wide accolades as the definitive hub for in-depth analysis of the players shaping the dynamic practice of litigation. In keeping with Benchmark’s sharp rise in popularity, its publishing staff increasingly aims to respond to the demands of its audience.

The Asia-Pacific guide officially launched in 2018, with a dedicated team located in Hong Kong and actively researching the market on the ground. We exclusively cover the litigation and disputes markets and aim to provide law firm and lawyer rankings on the market’s most important cases and firm developments across the region.

Research is conducted through extensive interviews with litigators, dispute resolution specialists and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms. During these interviews, we examine recent casework handled by law firms and ask individual litigators to provide their professional opinions on peers and practitioners within their jurisdiction or practice area.

The annual research cycle begins in August every year and the results are published in May the next year. The 2023 edition of Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific research has been concluded and it's been published online. 

The Benchmark Litigation awards are held every year based on the submissions and research for the guide.

**For Benchmark China, please click HERE **

The 2024 edition of Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific research has begun! 

Research Webinar

A well-attended webinar was presented on 13 September covering the submission process, details and guidelines. We had a record number of live viewers and an unprecedented amount of questions during the live Q&A session. Thank you to all those who joined and participated. A recording and PDF of the webinar are available in the links below. 

Please find the recording available for viewing HERE.

A PDF version of the presentation is available for download HERE. 

Due to the high volume of questions during the Q&A, we were unable to address everything during the webinar. Please find this Q&A follow up for those answers to your questions HERE.

Form downloads

BENCHMARK LITIGATION APAC RESEARCH FORM 2024

BENCHMARK LITIGATION APAC CLIENT REFEREE FORM 2024

How to take part

To take part in our research simply:

1. Download our RESEARCH FORM and CLIENT REFEREE FORM
2. Complete the form(s)
3. Upload them to our ONLINE SUBMISSION TOOL (ACCREDITATION PORTAL)

** Note: You will need to sign up for and register an account on the accreditation portal before you can upload the submissions **

** Due to GDPR compliance, we cannot accept submissions outside of the portal **

DO NOT USE THE FORM AND LINKS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEARS. THE FORM AND LINKS ARE MADE FOR EACH RESEARCH CYCLE AND IS UPDATED EACH YEAR.

Practice area submission: Due to our submission portal requirements, you must submit SEPARATE research forms for each dispute resolution practice area (e.g. commercial and transactions, competition, international arbitration, white-collar crime etc). 

Client referee submission: Each firm should submit only ONE referee excel form with all client details as we do not require practice area specifications. As you upload the excel form, when prompted to select a practice area, simply select any one of the relevant practice areas to your firm and submit. This will link the excel to your submission account irrespective of practice area selection (thus, each submission account should have only one excel form uploaded). 

What we publish

We publish law firm and lawyer rankings and accompanying editorial online.

We research the following dispute resolution practice areas (but not limited to):

*Kindly note that 'Commercial and transactions' refers to general commercial, corporate, transactions-related disputes only. 
 We do not cover non-contentious, transactional work. 

Jurisdictional practice area categories

In each jurisdiction that we cover we have different practice area ranking tables depending on the nature and sophistication of the market.

Below we have listed the ranking categories that we cover in each country. * indicates a new table this year. 

New categories may be introduced if, during the course of the research period, the level of market feedback indicates enough evidence for an addition. 

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Australia – Class action, Commercial and transactions, Government and regulatory, Intellectual property

China – Commercial and transactions, Construction, Government and regulatory, Insolvency, Intellectual property, International arbitration, Labour and employment

China and Hong Kong SAR (International firms) – Commercial and transactions, Construction, Family and matrimonial, Insolvency, Intellectual property, International arbitration, Private client, Shipping, White-collar crime

Hong Kong SAR (Domestic firms) – Commercial and transactions, Family and matrimonial, Labour and employment, Insolvency, Intellectual property, Private client, White-collar crime

India – Commercial and transactions, Competition/antitrust, Construction, Government and regulatory, Insolvency, Intellectual property, International arbitration, Labour and employment, Tax, White-collar crime, Bangalore*, Hyderabad*, Mumbai*, New Delhi* (please include the city/cities your submission is reflecting in the form at the top)

Indonesia – Commercial and transactions, Insolvency, Intellectual property, Labour and employment

Japan – Commercial and transactions, Intellectual property, International arbitration, White-collar crime

Malaysia – Commercial and transactions, Competition/antitrust, Construction, Intellectual property, Labour and employment, Shipping, Tax, White-collar crime

New Zealand – Commercial and transactions

Philippines – Commercial and transactions, Government and regulatory, Intellectual property, International arbitration, Labour and employment, Tax, White-collar crime* 

Singapore – Commercial and transactions, Construction, Family and matrimonial, Insolvency, Intellectual property, International arbitration, Labour and employment, Private client, Shipping, White-collar crime

South Korea – Commercial and transactions, Competition/antitrust, Construction, Insolvency, Intellectual property, International arbitration, Labour and employment, Product liability and recall, Tax, White-collar crime

Taiwan – Commercial and transactions, Intellectual property, Labour and employment, White-collar crime

Thailand – Commercial and transactions, Government and regulatory, Intellectual property, Labour and employment, Trade and customs

Vietnam – Commercial and transactions, Construction, Energy, Intellectual property, International arbitration, Labour and employment

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As the research progresses our team may introduce additional ranking categories for individual jurisdictions if market feedback is strong enough.

We will also introduce rankings in other jurisdictions that are not currently featured in the guide if demand from the market is strong enough.

Research timeline

• RESEARCH BEGINS – 23 August 2023
• SUBMISSION DEADLINE (firms and client referees) – 27 October 2023 
• RESEARCH INTERVIEWS (firms and client referees) – Late September to December
• RANKINGS AND EDITORIALS PUBLISHED ONLINE – May 2024

Late submission on client referees will not be entertained regardless of reason. 

RESEARCH TEAM

Please contact the relevant researcher for your country if you have any specific questions:

Candice Mak at candice.mak@legalmediagroup.com (India, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam)

Kelsey Li at kelsey.li@legalmediagroup.com (Australia, China, China and Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Philippines)

Miao Sha at miao.sha@legalmediagroup.com (Benchmark China regions, Taiwan)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Research form

Do NOT use a research form from the previous years as there are adjustments in the research form each year. Download the latest available research form every year. 

Please mark confidential information in RED and indicate clearly if the case is wholly or partially confidential (if partially, please specify what elements). Any information given may be published, except where indicated.

The first section on the form is for the awards nominations. You may nominate up to three cases per practice area and fill out the form accordingly. We will only consider the cases filled out in this section. 

Provide up to 20 case highlights per practice area, listing in order of importance or significance. Although not advised, if you wish to submit more than 20 cases, please provide them in a shortened, list format (contact your relevant researcher to discuss further). 

Case highlights must be ongoing or completed within the last 12 months. This time period should roughly cover August 2022 - October 2023. 

Clearly indicate correct practice area(s) for each case highlight.

Try to fully complete the form by filling in all required information.

Do NOT delete any question or section in our research form. Leave it blank, if you do not wish to provide any specific information.

Do NOT capitalise or highlight the text. Do NOT adjust or alter the format of the research form.

Keep the contents concise and to the point. You may bold some sentences indicating importance. 

Remember to include reasons why the case is important or significant.

Please include your firm’s name and jurisdiction (and practice area) when saving your research form. The suggested format is FirmName_Jurisdiction_BMAP2024. If you are submitting by practice areas, save as follows: FirmName_Jurisdiction_PracticeArea_BMAP2024.

Upload it to our online submission portal once completed. We do not accept submissions via email.

Please make sure all your research forms are fully completed and are correct versions. We cannot guarantee any corrections or amendments to what you first submitted will be implemented.

Client referees

There is NO LIMIT on the number of client referees you can submit.

Please follow the client referee excel format exactly and do not make any changes. We do not need to know the recommending lawyers and/or practice areas. 

Only submit ONE excel sheet per firm. Please include all firm clients on the single excel form. 

All client referees that are submitted will be contacted.

All client information provided will be treated as confidential.

We do not accept late submissions for client referees. 

Lawyer survey

Our Lawyer Survey is a quick and easy way for lawyers to tell us about their practice and promote their credentials. It is a key factor in helping us determine our Stars list of ranked lawyers. Lawyers can also provide feedback on our existing lists of ranked firms and individuals.

The survey will close on December 31, 2023. 

The survey is open to all disputes lawyers and you can take it by clicking the link below:

TAKE THE LAWYER SURVEY

Why take part?

• Guaranteed basic editorial coverage
• Accurate and in-depth representation of your firm’s activities
• Exposure to our global readership at the world’s most significant corporations and financial institutions
• No cost involved

Methodology

Our law firm rankings are based on three key criteria:

Case evidence

In each research cycle, we ask firms to provide recent case highlights and this is used to determine their position in the market.

Firms should provide their most complex and interesting cases in the research form and explain clearly to our research team why they are important and what they tell us about the firm’s abilities.

Peer feedback

We conduct an online LAWYER SURVEY of law firm partners to get their thoughts and feedback on our current law firm rankings and leading lawyers.

All partners active in the relevant research categories are invited to take part and we also conduct virtual interviews with practitioners.

Client feedback

We speak to a wide range of corporate and in-house contacts as part of our client feedback survey to get their opinions on the firms and lawyers they use. Please note that law firms and referring practitioners are not given direct access to the survey. 

Litigation Stars and Future Stars

Alongside our firm rankings, we also recognise the work of outstanding individuals. Our recommendations are based on the same three factors as our law firm rankings and consist of the following categories:

Litigation Stars

Lawyers who are highly regarded by their peers and possess a strong case record and positive client feedback.

Future Stars

'Ones to watch' these are lawyers who are building their reputations in the market.

Awards

*Please note only submitted cases via the Benchmark Litigation research form will be accepted for awards consideration. Please fill in the required information in the top blue section for awards nominations. Even if your submission is in another template/format, we must receive the awards nomination cases in our specific form *

The awards assessment is highly case-based. The editorial team reviews specific work matters and focuses on those that are landmark, novel, precedent -setting or unusually complex. The criteria is different from what we evaluate for the rankings. 

It is possible for a lower-ranked firm to be shortlisted or for a top tier firm not to be shortlisted. To ensure the nominated matters you put forth reflect their merits, please remember to include relevant information in the significance portion of the submission form. 

New Asia-Pacific awards categories for 2024: 

1. In-house counsel team of the year award (nominations accepted through the lawyer survey)

2. Top 50 Women in Litigation in Asia (extra submission materials not required)

3. Top 40 Litigators under 40 in Asia (nominations accepted via the research form)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I send information in another format?

Yes, as long as the information we ask for is provided, you can submit in Word format. Kindly note that awards case nominations will only be accepted via our specific submission form. Even if the rest of the form is blank and you submit using your own format or template, our form must be used for the awards nominations (please fill in the blue awards nominations section). 

How does Benchmark differ from Chambers or other competitors?

Benchmark focuses exclusively on dispute resolution and litigation. This allows us to provide a much more in-depth analysis of the market. Benchmark is also editorially driven, rather than statistically driven, and strives to avoid being over-inclusive. We aim to cover only firms and litigators that are of an elite status.

How much influence do we have over our ratings vs. the external market?

Firms are encouraged to tell their story via our research form and through interviews. We then measure the firm’s input against the feedback we receive via studying the market. If our studies are in harmony with the firm’s assertions, we weight them equally. If there is an extreme disparity between the firm’s views and a pronounced percentage of the market, we will provide greater weight to the market consensus.

If we participate, are we guaranteed to get rated and/or have commentary?

All firms who submit and can prove they are doing notable work in the relevant practice areas will receive some form of editorial coverage, however we do not guarantee rankings or lawyer ratings.

Should we list confidential cases/clients? How do we ensure these remain confidential?

You can provide confidential clients/cases if you feel we should be aware of these, and we will certainly be respectful of confidential agreements – please mark confidential information clearly, ideally in RED.

When/how do you contact client referees?

We contact all client referees provided to us via email and invite them to take part in an online client survey. The survey asks clients about the firms they use, why they use them, what they use them for and how long they have been using them. The information provided by clients is confidential though we do publish non-attributed client quotes in the guide. 

We will reach out to the clients mid-November and will notify participating law firms around one week in advance. 

Do you only rate those of partner level?

We primarily rank partners but outstanding associates and senior associates are recognised in our ‘future stars’ lawyer rating category.

We’re a small boutique firm – what chance do we stand against the big brand name firms in your ratings?

Because Benchmark focuses exclusively on disputes, which is often the focus for specialist firms in the market, smaller firms stand a very good chance of being just as highly rated as large corporate firms, and in some cases even more highly rated.

How do we get an interview?

Speaking to practitioners is an important part of our research. Simply contact us and request one, and, depending on our schedule flexibility and research needs, we are happy to arrange one electronically. Please note that due to the volume of firms in certain markets, not every firm will be able to receive an interview. It is also a key imperative that interviewees be willing and able to share market feedback on the current ranking tables. 

Should I wait until the firm questionnaire is complete before reaching out about partner interviews?

There is no need to wait, as the interviews are not about going through the submission again. Interviews allow lawyers to tell our researchers with the feedback that we require regarding peer review, market trends, firm updates, etc.

Can I review my firm’s editorial in advance of press and suggest changes to it?

No. Firms cannot be allowed to view their editorials prior to press, and are never allowed to have their own input into how they read.

What is the readership of Benchmark Asia-Pacific?

The readers of Benchmark include law firms and buyers of legal services/in-house counsel.

Is Benchmark "pay-to-play?" If I don’t support the project financially do I still get rated?

Benchmark is absolutely not "pay-to-play." Firms cannot pay to appear in the guide, and can only be rated if the market deems them worthy of consideration.

I have a question that’s not answered here. Can I contact anyone to ask it?

Editor, Candice Mak at candice.mak@legalmediagroup.com

Business Development, Fan Yeung at fan.yeung@delinian.com