Survey of UK lawyers identifies top-rated legal employers

Linklaters, SJ Berwin and Berwin Leighton Paisner are among a select band of 16 law firms that have been named as Best Legal Employers by Legal Week.

The grouping contains representatives from across the Legal Week UK top 50, ranging from international firms such as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Norton Rose to regional firms including Hill Dickinson and Weightmans. The London office of New York-based Weil Gotshal and Manges is the only US firm on the list.

In order to qualify for the quality mark, law firms must perform strongly in Legal Week's flagship Employee Satisfaction Report and agree to work with Legal Week's research arm, Legal Week Intelligence, to ensure they make full use of the research in order to continue to improve their employee satisfaction levels.

The independent report is based on feedback from more than 4,000 assistant and associate solicitors working at the UK's leading firms. It ranks more than 50 firms across a range of performance measures including quality of work, work/life balance, salary and bonus.

John Malpas, publisher of Legal Week, said: "This initiative is not simply about recognising the achievements of law firms that scored highly in this independent report. It also singles out those firms that have agreed to work closely with Legal Week's research team to build on their record."

The other firms named as Best Legal Employers are: Bird & Bird, Cobbetts, Denton Wilde Sapte, Holman Fenwick Willan, Ince & Co, McGrigors, Shoosmiths and Stephenson Harwood.

Click here to view details of the Best Legal Employers 2009