Employee Satisfaction Report 2013 – costs not careers take priority
Assistants at top law firms are still receiving a high level of professional satisfaction from the quality of their work and their access to the best clients, according to the 2013 Legal Week Employee Satisfaction Survey. On the flip side, lawyers are generally feeling less engaged on a personal level. This may well be the year when law firms accept that the way they manage their human resources is driven much more by the need to reduce client fees than providing a coherent career structure for junior lawyers. The scores for the professional elements of the survey – from quality of work and prestige of the firm to client quality and international opportunities – are all higher this year as more junior lawyers are given a greater opportunity to shine. But the picture is less rosy in the personal section, where lawyers consider their engagement in terms of being valued or their treatment by partners. Assistants are happy with the work but find they are being treated less well in softer HR areas such as work/life balance, recognition and praise.
July 11, 2013 at 07:03 PM
3 minute read
While employees are increasingly happy with the quality of work they are given and the calibre of clients they advise, this year's Employee Satisfaction Report finds contentment with personal issues slipping
Assistants at top law firms are still receiving a high level of professional satisfaction from the quality of their work and their access to the best clients, according to the 2013 Legal Week Employee Satisfaction Survey.
On the flip side, lawyers are generally feeling less engaged on a personal level. This may well be the year when law firms accept that the way they manage their human resources is driven much more by the need to reduce client fees than providing a coherent career structure for junior lawyers.
The scores for the professional elements of the survey – from quality of work and prestige of the firm to client quality and international opportunities – are all higher this year as more junior lawyers are given a greater opportunity to shine. But the picture is less rosy in the personal section, where lawyers consider their engagement in terms of being valued or their treatment by partners. Assistants are happy with the work but find they are being treated less well in softer HR areas such as work/life balance, recognition and praise.
The survey showed the perception of both the quality of clients and work 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 was nearly identical.
Employees are also more satisfied with the performance of their firm than 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 financial crisis, increasing from 6.2 in 2007 to 6.4 this year.
However, in contrast to increased satisfaction with the professional options available, junior lawyers are feeling less valued by their firms than last year or before the crisis, with a stream of redundancies having a negative impact on morale.
Several law firms have embarked on redundancy and 'resizing' programmes and there is a one percentage point rise in the number of lawyers actively looking for another role, with a greater proportion of more senior lawyers also looking.
In 2007, associates rated their contentment with how they were valued at an average of 6.9 out of 10 – a figure that has fallen to 6.4. Likewise, lawyers' satisfaction with their treatment by partners has fallen, dipping from 7.6 in 2007 to 7.2 this year.
Law firms that consistently score well include Shoosmiths, which has topped the national table for the past three years, and TLT, which moved from second to first place in the top 100.
In the list of City of London firms, Travers Smith had a very good year while Baker & McKenzie topped the international table for the second year running.
Click here to view the results of the Employee Satisfaction Report 2013
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
International Arbitration: Key Developments of 2024 and Emerging Trends for 2025
4 minute read
The Quiet Revolution: Private Equity’s Calculated Push Into Law Firms
5 minute read
'Almost Impossible'?: Squire Challenge to Sanctions Spotlights Difficulty of Getting Off Administration's List
4 minute read
Trending Stories
- 1Meta Hires Litigation Strategy Chief, Tapping King & Spalding Partner Who Was Senior DOJ Official in First Trump Term
- 2Courts Beginning to Set Standards for Evidence Relying upon Artificial Intelligence
- 3First-Degree Murder Charge May Not Fit Mangione Case
- 4Legal Tech's Predictions for Legal Ops & In-House in 2025
- 5SDNY US Attorney Damian Williams Lands at Paul Weiss
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
