Global law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s London office received the highest ranking for employee satisfaction, according to the Legal Week 2012 Employee Satisfaction Survey, which was released yesterday.

Based on responses from more than 5,000 respondents across 69 UK, US and international law firms in the UK, Weil was ranked as the number one firm overall, and beat the all-firm satisfaction average on each of the 11 categories measured in the survey, for the second time in three years. As part of the survey, Weil scored particularly highly in the following areas:

• Reputation of practice
• Internal communications
• Work/life balance
• Expectation of hours worked
• Physical environment
• Location
• Satisfaction with salary
• Maternity policy

Mike Francies, Managing Partner of Weil’s London office, said, “This is excellent news for us, and complements our ranking as number one firm for client service in the UK in Legal Week’s 2011 Client Satisfaction Report. With fantastic results from our associates, as well as from our clients and in the league tables, it shows that our London office is going from strength to strength, despite market conditions.”

The survey examines associates’ perceptions of and satisfaction with respect to the following criteria:

• Professional – quality of work, quality of clients they are working with, the prestige of their firm
• Personal – work/life balance, how well they get on with partners, how valued they feel
• Management – looks at immediate management as well as the effectiveness of the firm's internal communication and its strategic direction
• Career and development – covers areas such as partner prospects, availability of alternative senior roles, skills training and levels of responsibility
• Salary and benefits – includes salary and bonus schemes, and other core benefits like maternity leave