How do you get ranked in the Legal 500 in Australia?
We hold no verified record of how Legal 500 assesses submissions, so this page does not describe a process. What we do hold: legal500.com was 1 of 40 sites we read in full on 3 August 2026, and it published no price. A directory entry and search visibility are different purchases.
Last updated: 5 August 2026
What do we actually hold about Legal 500?
One line each in a supplier read, and nothing else.
| What we checked | legal500.com | bestlawyers.com | lawyerist.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appeared in the read of 40 suppliers, 3 August 2026 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Published a price on the page as read | No | No | No |
| Submission or research process recorded in our pack | No | No | No |
| Anything about how entries are assessed | No | No | No |
That is the whole of it. The read counted whether a price was present on the page, not what it was, because our tooling collected figures that mixed genuine fees with case values and fragments and a wrong number against a named business is not a mistake worth making.
Why will we not describe the submission process?
Because we have not verified one, and a plausible description is worse than none.
The obvious page to write here is a numbered list: research cycles, submission deadlines, referee nominations, word limits. We could assemble something that reads correctly. It would be a guess dressed as a procedure, aimed at readers whose profession is finding the weak point in an argument, on a site whose entire pitch is that its numbers can be checked. One invented step discredits every sourced figure around it.
If you want the process, ask the directory. They publish their own timetable and requirements, and they are the only source that is authoritative about their own methodology. We are a marketing supplier with no relationship to any directory, and we cannot get a firm ranked anywhere — not in a directory, and not in a search result.
What is a directory entry worth next to search visibility?
They reach different people at different moments, which is why the comparison is not a contest.
| Directory entry | Pages on your own site | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is looking | Referrers, in-house counsel, other firms, recruiters | A person with a problem, usually now |
| Who controls it | The directory | The firm |
| What it can carry | A profile in their template | Anything, including fees |
| How it is won | Their process, on their timetable | Publishing answers, over months |
| What it costs to buy the same attention | Not purchasable as traffic | A$37.64 a click, Melbourne commercial |
The last row is the one worth sitting with. In Melbourne, commercial work runs at 170 searches a month at around A$37.64 a click, and estate work in Brisbane at 460 searches a month at around A$21.50, both measured 3 August 2026. A hundred Melbourne commercial clicks is A$3,764 — multiplication, not a forecast. There is no equivalent arithmetic for a directory entry, because the audience is not sold by the click and the entry does not scale with spend.
Which one should a firm do first?
It depends on who sends the firm work, and the honest answer often is not the one that pays us.
Referral-led practices should take the directory seriously. If most instructions arrive from in-house counsel, other firms or offshore referrers, a directory is read by exactly those people and a search page mostly is not. Corporate and commercial practices sit here more often than not.
Client-led practices are usually the other way around. A person deciding which family or conveyancing firm to ring is not consulting a directory. They are searching, and then reading whatever they find.
Most firms are somewhere between, which is why the question to answer first is not how do I get ranked but where did last year's ten best matters actually come from. That is a half-hour with the file list, it costs nothing, and it settles the question better than either channel's marketing does.
What does the Australian market change about this?
One thing, and it works in favour of the firm's own site.
Australia has no equivalent of the United Kingdom rule requiring firms to publish price information, so nothing puts fee information anywhere by default. A directory profile sits in the directory's template and will not carry it. If a firm wants a prospective client to see what work costs before ringing, its own site is the only place that can happen, and that is a commercial decision about positioning rather than an obligation. Of 40 suppliers we read in full on 3 August 2026, twelve published a price at all and five of those showed only a range, so the same reluctance runs right through the people selling to law firms.
The short answer is above. If the underlying question is where a firm's next matters come from, the report gives demand in your own town, what your site is missing, and what 40 suppliers charge — free, about two minutes: /legal/au/
Where should I read next?
On the channel a firm can control: law firm seo services and lawyer website design
On who does this work and what it costs: marketing agency for law firm, lawyer firm marketing and marketing in law firm
Frequently asked questions
How do you get ranked in Legal 500?
We hold no verified record of the assessment or submission process and will not describe one we have not checked, so the directory's own published requirements are the only source worth relying on.
Can a marketing supplier get a firm ranked?
No. We cannot get a firm ranked in a directory or in a search result, and any supplier saying otherwise is describing an outcome they do not control.
What does our supplier read actually record about Legal 500?
Only that legal500.com was one of 40 sites read in full on 3 August 2026 and that it published no price on the page as read, which is a presence check rather than a statement about fees.
Is a directory entry better than ranking in search?
Neither is better in general. A directory reaches referrers, in-house counsel and other firms, while search reaches a person with a problem, so the right answer depends on where the firm's work comes from.
What does the equivalent search traffic cost in Australia?
Commercial work in Melbourne runs at 170 searches a month at around A$37.64 a click and estate work in Brisbane at 460 at around A$21.50, measured 3 August 2026, so a hundred Melbourne clicks is A$3,764 by multiplication.
How should a firm decide between them?
Look at where the last ten good matters came from before buying either, because that half-hour with the file list settles the question more reliably than either channel's own marketing.
Does an Australian firm have to publish its fees anywhere?
No. There is no Australian equivalent of the United Kingdom publication rule, so showing fees is a commercial decision, and a firm's own site is the only place it can happen since a directory profile uses the directory's template.