5,000 lawyers polled: select band of firms win associate buy-in

Hogan Lovells, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are leading their UK peers when it comes to lawyers' satisfaction with their work and choice of firm, according to a major research project from Legal Week.

The 2012 Employee Satisfaction Report (ESR) from Legal Week Intelligence, which grades leading law firms according to the estimation of their lawyers across five 'core' areas (professional, personal, management, career & development, and salary & benefits) found Hogan Lovells had the most satisfied lawyers of the top 20 UK firms.

The definitive research is based on responses from 5,242 UK-based qualified lawyers below partner at 70 UK and international firms operating in London – the highest-ever response rate to the annual survey. The 200-page report will be published in July.

Associates were asked to grade satisfaction on 38 sub-categories including partnership prospects, salaries, work/life balance, as well as the quality of the firm, its work and its clients. They were also asked to grade how important each category was to them to create the overall weighted score.

Hogan Lovells scored particularly well with associates in areas including the quality of clients and work, and the culture and collegiality of the firm. Second-placed BLP ranked highly in categories including collegiality, location and quality of work and clients. Third-placed Freshfields received among the highest scores in the top 20 for quality of work and clients.

Hogan Lovells chair Nicholas Cheffings (pictured) said: "We have made considerable efforts to be transparent about our business and where we are going, not ducking difficult questions along the way. We have also spent a significant amount of time putting in place clear career paths and are being open about the options that are available to our associates."

BLP managing partner Neville Eisenberg said: "We have been working particularly hard to make sure that the increase in quality work at BLP is spread throughout the business. It is important to us that our associates have the opportunity to be involved in premium mandates as early as possible so they can learn from the experiences and build client networks as they progress through the firm."

For US and international law firms in London, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Latham & Watkins and Baker & McKenzie lead the rankings, with Weil and Latham also receiving the highest overall scores out of any of the 70 firms included in the research.

Weil associates are particularly happy with areas including profitability, as well as strategic direction and communication. Overall, associates placed particular importance on treatment by partners, whether they were valued by their firm, as well as their own salaries and career development opportunities. Areas they were least satisfied with include salaries and bonuses, partnership prospects and maternity packages.

Weil London managing partner Mike Francies commented: "It has been a transformative year for us, not least because of our move to new offices and the hire of 10 new partners and some excellent new associates. At the heart of all of this our teams are winning key mandates from both new and existing clients whilst also committing to a significant pro-bono programme."

SJ Berwin received the lowest satisfaction ranking of the firms in the UK top 20, with Dechert holding the same place in the nine-strong US and international ranking.

SJ Berwin senior partner Stephen Kon commented: "Since being elected one of my key priorities has been to re-engage with our people across the firm in relation to communication and strategic direction. I have already implemented a number of new initiatives which, although in their infancy, support the step change in how we engage across the firm and reinforce the message of our people being the centre of our business."

For more information on the report, contact Paul Birk on 0207 316 9864 or email [email protected].