Lexology Index for Indian Lawyers: How Nominations Work and When to File

Most Indian firms plan their directory year around Chambers and Legal 500. Lexology Index, which until recently was called Who's Who Legal, rarely makes the list. It costs nothing to enter, it ranks people rather than practices, and a nomination takes a fraction of the effort of a full Chambers submission.

The catch is timing. Each report has its own nomination deadline, and the deadlines are spread across the year. Firms that do not track them usually find out after the window has closed.

This guide covers how Lexology Index ranks lawyers, what a nomination needs, the reports that matter for Indian practices, the current schedule, and what happens after you file. Everything here comes from Lexology's own submissions page, FAQ and methodology, as we read them in October 2026.

What Lexology Index ranks

Chambers and Legal 500 start with the firm. You file a practice submission, list matters and referees, and individual lawyers are ranked as part of that practice.

Lexology Index works the other way round. It ranks individual practitioners and experts, report by report, on peer and market feedback. A firm appears in the results only through the lawyers it has listed, and you can see everyone from one firm by filtering Lexology's expert search by firm.

So a young practice that lacks the matter volume for a Chambers band can still see a partner with strong client relationships listed as an individual.

Rankings run in tiers, from Global Elite Thought Leader at the top down to Recommended. Global Elite Thought Leaders are the people with the most nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market sources in a report. They are also gathered into a separate cross-practice guide, Thought Leaders: Global Elite.

Three kinds of report

Lexology publishes three families of report, each with its own calendar:

• Practice area reports. Global reports by subject, such as Arbitration, Banking & Fintech, Capital Markets, M&A and Governance, and Private Funds. Many are split into subcategories. Capital Markets, for example, has Debt & Equity, Islamic Finance and Structured Finance, and some reports add Expert or Future Leader categories.
• National reports. Country guides such as Australia & New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
• Thought Leader reports. Editorial guides built from the practice area research, such as Thought Leaders: Capital Markets.

For Indian lawyers, the practice area reports are where nominations go.

How a nomination works

Since 2023, Lexology Index has accepted formal submissions. Either the lawyer can put themselves forward, or the firm's marketing or BD team can nominate them. A nomination has two parts, and you can send either or both.

Client references

You give Lexology the details of clients it can contact for a recommendation, through its online Client Referee Upload Tool. There is a separate form for practice area reports and for national reports.

• There is no longer a cap on the number of referees. Lexology suggests around five to ten per practitioner.
• Referees should be in before the month in which research for that report begins.
• Lexology is looking for people who can be considered international leaders in their field, so choose clients who can speak to cross-border or high-value work.

Work highlights

A separate survey collects recent matters the nominee has worked on. Lexology uses it alongside its peer-review research when deciding who to list.

• Mark anything confidential clearly. The survey explains how.
• Non-confidential details may be quoted in Lexology's editorial for the report.

Once Lexology has either referee feedback or work highlights, the research team assesses the nominee for its longlist. Most nominees are accepted if the information is there. Lexology may reject a name, or suggest a more suitable category.

There is no fee for any of this. Lexology sells advertising and profile products, but these are separate from the research.

The reports for Indian corporate practices

These were the published dates when we checked in October 2026. Lexology marks every date on its schedule as provisional.

Capital Markets 2027

Subcategories: Debt & Equity, Islamic Finance, Structured Finance.

• Referee and submission deadline: 20 November 2026
• Research: 30 November 2026 to 28 January 2027
• Launch: 17 August 2027

M&A and Governance 2027

• Referee and submission deadline: 4 September 2026
• Research ends: 6 November 2026
• Launch: 24 May 2027

Private Funds 2028

• Referee and submission deadline: 19 February 2027
• Research begins: 8 March 2027
• Launch: November 2027

There is no standalone Private Equity report. PE deal lawyers usually belong in M&A and Governance. Private Funds covers fund formation, not transactions, so it suits funds lawyers rather than deal teams.

Other reports Indian firms should watch

The same schedule lists several reports that fit Indian disputes, finance and regulatory practices:

• Arbitration 2028: deadline 19 February 2027, research 8 March to 21 May 2027, launch 18 November 2027. Categories include Partners, Non-Partners and Expert Witnesses.
• Asset Recovery 2027: deadline 20 November 2026, research 30 November 2026 to 21 January 2027, launch 8 July 2027.
• Business Crime Defence 2027: deadline 19 February 2027, research 8 March to 23 April 2027, launch 28 September 2027. Split into Corporates and Individuals.
• Banking & Fintech 2027: the deadline (29 May 2026) has passed; the report launches on 10 December 2026. Watch for the 2028 dates. Subcategories: Finance, Regulatory, Fintech and Blockchain.
• Artificial Intelligence 2027: the deadline (29 May 2026) has passed; launch 10 December 2026. Covers Contentious, Regulatory & Compliance, and Transactional & Advisory work.

Lexology posts a quarterly round-up of upcoming research on its Research Updates blog, usually covering 14 or 15 reports at a time. It is the easiest way to catch new deadlines.

Deadlines, late filings and extensions

Lexology says there is no need to ask for an extension. It accepts nominations after research starts and can usually take feedback after research ends, time permitting. If a nomination is too late for the current report, Lexology tells you when it arrives, and a very late one may be held over to the next year's cycle.

That flexibility helps if you have just missed a date, but do not plan around it. A nomination filed before research begins gives the team the full window to reach your referees.

After research ends

• Lexology emails each selected individual, typically about four weeks after research closes. If you have heard nothing, you can contact them to check.
• The confirmation email says which year's guide the lawyer is listed in.
• Profile corrections go to [email protected].

Why it matters beyond the listing

For some practices, individual listings feed into firm rankings. Lexology says the number of listings, and in some cases the number of Thought Leaders and Global Elite Thought Leaders, is one of the criteria for the GAR 100, GCR 100, GDR 100, GIR 100 and GRR 100. These surveys rank firms, not individuals.

For arbitration practices the link runs both ways. Listings in Lexology Index: Arbitration count towards the GAR 100 and GAR 30, and Lexology draws on GAR 100 submissions and GAR journalists when ranking arbitration lawyers, though it gives more weight to the feedback and submissions it receives itself.

Is it worth it for a younger firm?

Lexology presents its reports as a guide to the leading lawyers in each field, and the global reports list many long-established names. A partner at a young firm will not always make the list in the first year.

The cost, though, is a few hours of preparation and some referee goodwill. The work you do for it (a clean matter list, a briefed referee pool, short work highlights) carries straight into your Chambers and Legal 500 submissions. That makes it one of the cheapest additions to a directory plan.

A nomination checklist

1. Pick the report and subcategory for each lawyer from the schedule on Lexology's submissions page.
2. Note the referee deadline and the month research begins.
3. Choose five to ten clients per lawyer who can speak to recent, preferably cross-border, work. Ask them first.
4. Upload the referees through the Client Referee Upload Tool for that report type.
5. Submit work highlights through the survey, with confidential matters clearly marked.
6. Brief each referee before research opens so they expect Lexology's email and answer it.
7. Diary the date four weeks after research ends, and check with Lexology if you have heard nothing by then.

Where it fits in a directory calendar

For an Indian corporate practice, a typical year looks like this:

1. Lexology Index nominations, report by report (Capital Markets and Asset Recovery in November in the current cycle; Arbitration, Business Crime Defence and Private Funds in February).
2. Chambers Asia-Pacific, with India deadlines spread from January to May.
3. IFLR1000 and asialaw in spring.
4. Legal 500 Asia Pacific, around June.

The same matter bank and referee list feed all of them. Build it once and keep it current, and each submission becomes an edit rather than a rewrite.

Our practical guide to Chambers, Legal 500 and IFLR1000 submissions covers the rest of the calendar. If you would like us to run the cycle for your firm, get in touch.