When It Comes to Associate Satisfaction, New York Is Merely Middle of the Pack
Results from The American Lawyer's 2018 Midlevel Associates Survey show that midlevel associates in Manhattan aren't as happy as those in Dallas or Los Angeles, but they're much more satisfied than their colleagues in other major markets.
August 28, 2018 at 03:49 PM
3 minute read
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When it comes to Big Law, the Big Apple is typically ahead of the market. But when it comes to midlevel associate happiness, Manhattan is right, smack in the middle.
The average score for 59 law firms surveyed in New York City on The American Lawyer's 2018 Midlevel Associates Survey was 4.257.
While New York's score, which was down slightly from last year's average score of 4.238, was marginally below averages in Dallas (4.443), Houston (4.422) and Los Angeles (4.446), the city's midlevel associates rated their firms higher than in other major markets like Chicago (4.252), San Francisco (4.237), Washington, D.C., (4.207) and Atlanta (4.157).
The midlevel survey is based on responses from 5,270 third-, fourth- and fifth-year associates at 102 firms from the Am Law 100, Am Law Second Hundred and Global 100.
Associates scored their law firms in a number of different categories, such as job satisfaction, compensation and benefits, guidance and training, relations with partners and other associates, the potential to make partner, a firm's policy on billable hours and management's openness about firm strategy.
Schulte Roth & Zabel took the top spot in New York, as well as The American Lawyer's overall midlevel associate satisfaction rankings. The firm, which just two years prior had placed 78th on the list, attributed its success to a complete revamp of its associate program to include a more elaborate mentorship network, generous parental leave policies and business development training, among other initiatives.
Paul Hastings came in a close second in New York with an average score of 4.854, up from 4.708 the year prior. O'Melveny & Myers, which took the top spot in New York last year, slipped to No. 3, while Blank Rome and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft jumped several spots to round out the top five for firms in the city.
At the other end of the spectrum, global legal giant Dentons held the bottom spot among large firms in New York. With an average score of 3.713, midlevel associates cited some dissatisfaction with the firm's openness and communication regarding partnership.
Haynes and Boone, which came in last for midlevel associate faction in the city in 2017, and Hogan Lovells rounded out the bottom three at Nos. 57 and 58, respectively.
“We take the results of the Midlevel Associate Survey seriously and, in our firm's spirit of continuous improvement, will factor them into our planning moving forward,” a Haynes and Boone spokesman said.
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