The continuing turmoil in the legal job market has not had a negative impact on the quality of work being handled by lawyers at the UK's top firms, according to a major new research project.

Legal Week's annual Employee Satisfaction Report, which this year canvassed the views of almost 4,000 lawyers below partner level, found a belief that the standard of work and the quality of firms' clients has returned to pre-crisis levels, having dipped significantly in the years since 2007.

The survey found the perception of both the quality of clients and work being done for them at its highest point in four years, with fee earners recording an average satisfaction level of 8.3 out of 10 this year for quality of work, matching pre-recession scores. The score for quality of clients saw near identical results.

Employees are also more satisfied with the performance of their firm than in recent years, with lawyers on average happier with profitability and prestige than in 2010. 

Meanwhile, satisfaction with international work opportunities has jumped markedly since the recession, increasing from 6.2 in 2007 to 6.8 this year.

Herbert Smith Freehills senior partner Jonathan Scott said: "Sentiment in major commercial law firms follows upticks in work flows. This is likely to be reflected in staff morale and people feeling a bit more optimistic. People are working harder and longer, but that gets the adrenaline going."

Simmons & Simmons senior partner Colin Passmore added: "In the wake of the financial crisis in 2010, work levels and M&A were down, so lawyers were given less exciting and cutting-edge deals to work on. But now we are seeing a growing uptick and enthusiasm is returning to the workplace as a result. 

"Moreover, there has been a push to remove a lot of processes in what law firms do – fee earner attitudes to work nowadays might reflect the trend that more firms are outsourcing work to external providers, so lawyers may be doing less of what might be seen as repetitive work."

However, in contrast to increased satisfaction with the professional options available, junior lawyers are feeling less valued by their firms than they did pre-crisis, with continued redundancies having a negative impact on morale. The recent spate of job cuts at top 50 firms has continued this week with the news that DAC Beachcroft and Taylor Wessing are set to make layoffs.

In 2007, associates rated their contentment with how much they were valued at an average of 6.9 out of 10 – a figure that has now fallen to 6.4. Likewise, lawyers' satisfaction with their treatment by partners has fallen, dipping from 7.6 in 2007 to 7.2 in this year's survey.

Weil Gotshal & Manges London managing partner Mike Francies said: "It is even more important for firms to retain talent in competitive market conditions, so law firms are looking much more carefully at professional and career development, training, work allocation and the like for their lawyers. 

"Firms are paying more attention when it comes to considering how to get associates more involved in business development, and making sure they develop an infrastructure that gives people more of a sense of ownership of the business and of being a key part of a cohesive team."

Legal Week's Employee Satisfaction Report will be published next month. For more information contact Sean Donaghey on +44 20 7316 9575.