Clifford Chance's (CC) new strategy to align the firm more closely with client demands has a familiar ring about it. So does its pledge to invest in technology and explore more flexible ways of working. Hardly a day goes by without news of the launch of a low-cost centre or flexible working initiative.

The good news for law firms embracing such initiatives is that, according to Legal Week Intelligence's flagship Client Satisfaction Survey, they are exceeding client expectations in this department.

The possible fly in the ointment is that of all the performance measures tracked by the survey, which canvassed the opinions of more than 1,400 in-house respondents, use of a flexible workforce and legal process outsourcing (LPO) are the two categories that general counsel care least about.

The survey, in its eleventh year, seeks the views of GCs, heads of legal and company secretaries, as well as C-suite staff including chief executives and chief operating officers.

Respondents are asked to assign an importance score out of 10 for eight aspects of legal advice (see table). They are then invited to rate the law firms they instruct against the same measures, providing a comparison between client expectations and law firm performance.

This year, as in previous years, GCs value technical legal advice most highly, with an average rating of 9.5. Service delivery and responsiveness (9.2) comes next in their list of priorities, followed by the quality of commercial advice (8.8). Bringing up the rear are use of a flexible workforce (5.3) and use of LPO (4.8).

CC managing partner Matthew Layton is unlikely to be concerned that two of the areas he wants his firm to focus on as part of its new strategy come low on the list of GCs' priorities. It stands to reason that if the firm conducts its work more efficiently it will be able to charge less, a factor GCs do care about. Sure enough, the survey provides evidence that law firm efficiency initiatives are having the desired effect: satisfaction with cost and billing practices among respondents jumped from 7.1 in 2013 to 7.5 in the latest survey, which records a rise in satisfaction across six of the eight categories measured.

These encouraging findings are tempered by the fact that GCs appear no more satisfied with the quality of the legal advice they receive. Not only is this the most important measure for GCs, it is also the area where the gap between expectations and delivery is greatest.

The question as to whether this is the fault of the firms or the clients is an interesting one. Some in-house counsel are already concerned that London's reputation for legal expertise will ultimately suffer if in-house lawyers exert too much pressure on their advisers to deliver advice more efficiently.

The following firms have been named CSR 2014 Best Legal Advisers – click on the links below to read a summary of their results.

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Ashurst is highly rated for personal/partner relationship, quality of legal advice and service delivery/responsiveness, while the firm also achieved improved satisfaction scores for its use of outsourcing in the wake of its Glasgow launch – click here for more information

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Blake Morgan celebrates the merger between Morgan Cole and Blake Lapthorn that created the firm in July 2014 by ranking as a top UK firm, according to the Legal Week Intelligence Client Satisfaction Survey
– click here for more information

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Although it has been a little over a year since the merger of Norton Rose and US firm Fulbright & Jaworski, Norton Rose Fulbright manages to improve on its client satisfaction scores in both the global firms and FTSE 100 advisers categories – click here for more information

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RPC secures fifth place overall this year, with no individual score falling below the UK average. Its most impressive performances are for quality of commercial advice and cost/billing practice, where the firm secures the top score in both categories – click here for more information

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Shoosmiths sits comfortably above the UK average in all of the categories in the 2014 Client Satisfaction Report. The firm's highest rankings are for quality of legal advice and personal/partner relationships with clients – click here for more information

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Squire Patton Boggs secures the accolade of the highest-ranking global firm for the 2014 Client Satisfaction Report, with an overall score of 8.20
– click here for more information

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Related:

• Demand for fixed fees soars as cost-conscious clients continue to seek more for less from firms
• What clients want – in-house lawyers may be demanding more, but law firms are delivering
• Client Partner of the Year: Jonathan Herbst, Norton Rose Fulbright (global firms); David Jackson, Shoosmiths (UK firms)
• Record numbers respond to Legal Week's Client Satisfaction Survey