4,000 surveyed: 45% of assistants aim for partner; one in four want to quit private practice

Partnership is losing its lustre for the swelling ranks of female lawyers entering the profession, according to Legal Week research, which shows that barely a third of women aspire to be partners at their own firm.

The 2009 Employee Satisfaction Report (ESR) found only 45% of assistants listed partnership with their own firm as their primary career aim, down from 50% the previous year.

The findings, based on a survey of 4,020 UK-based qualified solicitors below partner level, reverse a minor rebound in the 2008 ESR when the number of assistants aspiring to partnership increased.

The 2009 report also illustrates the increasingly stark gender divide on the issue. Only 35% of women see partnership with their own firm as their primary career aim, against 58% of male solicitors.

In a related finding, the popularity of senior partner alternative roles has risen sharply. Fifteen percent of respondents listed a partner alternative as their main career goal, against 10% in 2007 and 13% in 2008.

Such roles are particularly popular with women, with 21% seeking a senior non-partner role as their main goal, against 7% for male respondents.

The findings will be taken as evidence that female solicitors see partnership at major City firms as increasingly hard to combine with family aspirations.

"The market will respond to the demand for intermediate roles," said Berwin Leighton Paisner managing partner Neville Eisenberg. "Partner alternatives don't undermine partnership. I think of diversity as a strength, so I see it as strengthening partnership."

Likewise, evidence that lawyers under 30 are turning away from what is seen as an increasingly unattainable goal suggests the partnership model could come up for revision.

The 200-page report, the most comprehensive portrait of the attitudes and priorities of UK lawyers, concludes assistants continue to be dissatisfied with the lifestyle on offer at commercial law firms.

Nearly one in four assistants (23%) said their main aim was to leave private practice, against 19% in last year's survey. The most important of the 37 criteria assistants were asked to judge their firms against was once again 'feeling valued'. The other categories rated in the top five were 'work/life balance', 'culture', 'salary' and 'quality of work'.

Linklaters managing partner Simon Davies commented: "[These results] reflect the challenging circumstances of the past year. We are working with our associates in response to the feedback they have given us and we are launching initiatives in a number of areas, including mentoring and work/life balance."

As expected, the survey found that redundancies at law firms have impacted on the extent to which assistants feel valued, with assistants on average rating their satisfaction on that factor as 6.6 out of 10, against 7 the previous year.

The average figure masks wide divergences between individual firms.

For more details on the standout performers in the survey, [asset_library_tag 50,click here] to download and view profiles of the top-rated firms.

For further information on the 2009 Employee Satisfaction Report, please contact Paul Birk on 020 7316 9864 or email [email protected].