About the Research

This Year in the UK

For our 2026 guide, we received 8,546 submissions. Thanks to the extensive data provided by firms, our continuous communication with clients and the availability of the lawyers in the firms that participated in our interviews, we have registered more than 60,000 interactions with the UK legal market.

As far as rankings are concerned, the Chambers UK 2026 guide includes 954 law firms. This is an increase of 7% over the previous year, reflecting greater market coverage and penetration.

You will find detailed regional coverage encompassing Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the individual regions of England.

The number of lawyers included in the UK guide has also reached an all-time high of 14,722 individuals. This is 8% more than were featured in last year's guide.

Chambers Ranking Changes

To ensure the best and most accurate reflection of the market, we have made several adjustments this year. These include the complete overhaul of banking and finance in London and a new artificial intelligence (AI) table for lawyers.

8,546

Submissions

6,011

Ranked departments

954

Ranked firms

14,722

Ranked lawyers

View rankings

Closing the Gender Gap

The Chambers UK 2026 Guide added 565 more women to the rankings, raising the total proportion of ranked female lawyers to some 39%. 869 women are now ranked as Star Performer or Band 1.

The steady increase over recent years is encouraging, given the legal profession’s historically mixed record on gender diversity. For decades now, more women than men have entered the profession, but this has yet to be fully reflected at the partner level of elite law firms.

Percentage of ranked lawyers by gender

Perhaps in a sign of things to come, more women than men are now appearing in the Up-and-Coming Individual, Associate to Watch and Star Associate rankings.

Chambers cares passionately about diversity and inclusion. We have measures in place to help ensure that the best lawyers of all backgrounds are discovered and analysed.

For example, we request interviews with an even gender split of male and female lawyers. In addition, our research team is trained to spot bias, including examples of gendered language.

Combined number of Star Associates, Up-and-Coming Individuals. Associates to Watch and Star Associates by gender

Recategorisation in Banking and Finance

Chambers Ranking Changes

In a major change to our ranking tables for 2026, we have overhauled our classification of banking and finance to more closely reflect the landscape today. The market is now divided into Corporate Finance and Leveraged Finance.

Recognising that the leveraged and investment-grade markets are distinct enables us to better compare like for like. We are now better placed to highlight lawyers conducting high-quality work in the investment grade space.

The change should also provide greater clarity to users of the guide. A borrower client looking for advice on an investment grade deal will now know which table to look at, to find the right legal adviser.

A Better View of a Complex Market

Modern financial leverage is increasingly risky due to opaque multi-layered debt structures, the diversity of lenders, expansion into complex asset classes and embedded leverage through financial engineering.

These complexities make risk difficult to assess, with modest market changes potentially triggering large losses. Regulatory measures are often insufficient, as much leverage exists outside traditional banking oversight.

This Year at Chambers

Every year, participation grows, as more firms and lawyers across the legal world take part in Chambers' research.

We are deeply grateful for the law firms' continued commitment, as well as for the active collaboration of their clients. Year after year, we continue to increase the number of submissions and rankings thanks to the invaluable support of their referees.

Last year, we received more than 60,500 submissions from law firms in the 200+ jurisdictions we cover. In addition, members of the research department conducted a total of 89,000 interviews, and received more than 250,000 completed surveys.

60,500+

submissions received

89,000

interviews

250,000+

surveys