Flagship report finds client satisfaction falling on 2009 as tensions over cost simmer

SNR Denton has emerged as the highest ranked top 20 UK law firm by clients for cost and billing practices, according to Legal Week research.

The merged firm was closely followed by Eversheds, Simmons & Simmons and CMS Cameron McKenna, according to Legal Week Intelligence's seventh annual Client Satisfaction Report, which is based on responses from 1,265 senior in-house lawyers.

The flagship report found that within the UK's largest 20 law firms, the top-tier firms ranked the lowest when it came to client satisfaction with costs. Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Herbert Smith hold the bottom five places in the table when judged on cost issues, including value, transparency and efficiency.

Many of the respondents, from 903 companies operating in the UK including 71% of the FTSE 100, argued that in general law firms still cost too much, despite the recession putting pressure on fees.

Standard Life legal manager Colin Anderson commented: "From an in-house perspective, complying with budgets is crucial – fixed and capped fees have helped us to achieve this. Building strong relationships with our external advisers is all about sharing risk. We require a certain level of transparency from our lawyers, just as we would from our other suppliers."

Eversheds chief executive Bryan Hughes (pictured) said: "Clients are looking for more imagination from their lawyers in pricing matters and also for lawyers to share some of the risk involved in transactions. But let us not forget the basics – clients don't like surprise."

When it comes to alternative billing options, clients ranked SNR Denton, Hogan Lovells and magic circle firm Slaughter and May as the most effective.

As in previous years, the report found that clients typically rate law firms far more highly on quality than they do on cost issues. The report also found that client satisfaction has declined compared to 2009 on all criteria, with satisfaction on costs falling the most sharply over the year.

Top 20 firms by client-ranked cost/billing practices (score out of 10)

1     SNR Denton 7.3
2     Eversheds 7.0
3     Simmons & Simmons 7.0
4     CMS Cameron McKenna 7.0
5     Pinsent Masons 6.9
6     Bird & Bird 6.8
7     SJ Berwin 6.8
8     Hogan Lovells 6.7
9     Ashurst 6.6
10   Addleshaw Goddard 6.5
11    Berwin Leighton Paisner 6.5
12    DLA Piper 6.5
13    Norton Rose 6.4
14    Clyde & Co 6.4
15    Allen & Overy 6.3
16    Linklaters 6.2
17    Clifford Chance 6.2
18    Slaughter and May 6.0
19    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 6.0
20    Herbert Smith 6.0

For more, see Slaughters, Simmons and Bird & Bird top-rated by clients in new research.