Philadelphia. Photo: Shutterstock

Midlevel associates are pretty darn happy across the United States. But they're even happier in the City of Brotherly Love.

Philadelphia associates in their third, fourth and fifth years gave their firms an average satisfaction rating of 4.353 out of 5, according to data from Legal affiliate The American Lawyer's annual Midlevel Associate Satisfaction Survey. The data included 121 responses from 10 large law firms with Philadelphia offices.

Nationally, the average satisfaction score was 4.27, showing a slight uptick from last year.

In each of the 12 categories on which associates were surveyed, the average Philadelphia score was higher than the average score among all firms surveyed by The American Lawyer.

Across the state, in Pittsburgh, the average associate satisfaction score was 4.23. That number takes into account just 18 survey respondents among two law firm offices in that city: Reed Smith and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

At Morgan Lewis, Pittsburgh associates gave an average satisfaction score of 4.308, which was lower than Morgan Lewis' firmwide satisfaction score. Reed Smith, at 4.164 in Pittsburgh, had a higher average score in the city where it was founded than the firm earned in Philadelphia or globally.

Not Just Hometown Happiness

At the 10 firms ranked in Philadelphia, all but two had a higher satisfaction score for their Philadelphia associates than their firmwide scores.

And it's not just a matter of being in the headquarters or the firm's largest office. Of those eight, DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells are out-of-state entrants to the Pennsylvania legal market, and Dechert and Morgan Lewis, while founded in Philadelphia, now have their most populous offices elsewhere.

The Philadelphia Big Law office where associates are happiest is DLA Piper, which has 60 lawyers in the city. Nine Philadelphia midlevels at DLA Piper gave the firm an overall satisfaction score of 4.759—significantly higher than the DLA Piper's firmwide score of 4.136.

The two firms where associates were less happy in Philadelphia than their firmwide average were Ballard Spahr and Reed Smith.

The category in which Philadelphia firms were most above-average was management openness, with an average score of 4.269, versus 4.065 nationally. They also performed well above average for their pro bono attitude, associates' expectation to stay two more years and communication about partnership.

In response to a question about what associates would like to tell the managing partner of their firm, one Philadelphia associate said, “The managing partner is very open to comments and suggestions. I have nothing to say because I always feel comfortable sharing my thoughts with him.”

Still, several others said they want their firms to go further with their open communication, particularly with regard to compensation and career paths.

“Associates need to feel that the partners are invested in them and their careers. More mentorship, opportunities to discuss career goals with partners, and transparency concerning partnership prospects would be greatly appreciated,” another Philadelphia associate said.

Nationally, management openness and communication about partnership were the weakest categories. But management openness was also the category in which firms improved the most nationally from 2017 to 2018.

The one area where Philadelphia scores were just barely above average was billables policy, and that was reflected in associates' open-ended answers too. More than a dozen Philadelphia associates, across several different firms, said they would like the billable hour policy to change in some way. Several suggested reducing the minimum hours requirement, and others suggested giving billable credit for certain nonbillable activities, like training or business development.

National Rankings

Looking at firmwide scores, four local firms made the top 30 nationally. Blank Rome has the highest firmwide score among Pennsylvania-based firms, coming in at ninth in the national rankings, up from No. 26 last year.

Morgan Lewis also made a big jump, going from 43rd in 2017 to 19th this year. Drinker Biddle & Reath also made a big jump, going from 48th to 28th. Dechert slipped nine places in the rankings, but remained in the top quarter of firms, at 24th.

Duane Morris came in 62nd, Ballard Spahr 74th and Reed Smith 82nd, with all three showing improvements in their scores between 2017 to 2018.

Two locally headquartered firms landed in the bottom 10. Pepper Hamilton dropped 15 places to 100, with a firmwide score of 3.826, though its Philadelphia score was better, at 3.989.

And Fox Rothschild lost 14 places in the rankings, dropping down to 95. While the firm is Philadelphia-based, it did not have enough respondents in the city to be ranked there.

More than 5,000 associates from Am Law 200 and Global 100 firms completed this year's Midlevel Associate Satisfaction survey. Respondents gave scores of 1 to 5 in a dozen categories, and more than half of the category averages remained unchanged from 2017 to 2018.