Bulge-bracket bank Goldman Sachs is the UK's best employer for in-house lawyers, according to the results of a Legal Week Assistant report.

The survey asked more than 30 UK recruitment consultants which in-house teams and sectors they rated most highly in terms of pay, prospects, quality of work and culture.

Scoring highly on all fronts, Goldman topped the poll, beating rival banking outfits, Deutsche Bank, which came third, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Capital, which came fourth and sixth respectively. It won accolades for its sociable and diverse environment and the top quality work it offers its lawyers.

David Crawford, global head of recruitment at the bank said: "We employ dynamic, ambitious people and that creates a culture at the bank which people are proud to work for."

Hedge fund Man Investments was the second highest-scoring company, with multi-disciplinary teams, a variety of opportunities for commercially-driven lawyers and attractive share schemes cited as plus points.

Recruiters voted banking the highest-ranking sector, followed by technology and media with Warner Bros (fifth), Universal Pictures (seventh), Sky (eighth) and Google (10th) all winning places in the list of top 10 best employers.

Kirsty Palmer, a consultant at recruitment firm Robert Walters, warned that as in-house jobs increase in profile and popularity, employers are becoming more specific about the sort of lawyers they want.

"Employers are not interested in taking on lawyers who have simply tired of having long working hours or who have not made partner," said Palmer. "Any lawyers who carry residual private practice snobbery about going in-house are sifted out very quickly."

For full details of research, see the Legal Week Assistant report.

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