Some lawyer directories are more exclusive than others.
Consider that Super Lawyers features more than 200 mergers & acquisitions lawyers from Atlanta in its 2008 edition. The Chambers Guides lists more than 30 M&A lawyers from 16 Atlanta law firms. But the International Who’s Who of Merger & Acquisition Lawyers has picked only five.
The Who's Who lawyers are: Kilpatrick Stockton partner Stan Blackburn; King & Spalding partner Michael Egan; Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker partner Walter Jospin; Sutherland partner Mark Kaufman; and Alston & Bird of counsel Sid Nurkin.
There are other differences between the publications. It’s possible for an attorney to purchase an advertisement in Key Professional Media Inc.’s Super Lawyers directory to call more attention to his listing. Who’s Who Legal and Chambers both say that lawyers cannot buy a listing in their guides.
The editors of the Who’s Who guide say that they compiled their listing by canvassing and analyzing the opinions of law firm clients and M&A lawyers “from around the world.” The Who’s Who guide is one of a series, organized by legal practice areas, published by Law Business Research Ltd. of London. The 2008 guide for M&A lawyers sells for 80 British pounds.
Lawyers from New York-based law firms are well represented in the Who’s Who guide, including Cravath, Swaine & Moore partner Richard Hall and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz partner Martin Lipton. The Who’s Who guide culled names from most U.S. states, as well as from dozens of countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa and the U.K.