Balancing demanding clients and PEP-obsessed partners is a trick which few firms have cracked. There's no doubt that working for a law firm can be tough, and at times ridiculous. But which firms get it right most of the time?

Unsurprisingly, it's the smaller firms which populate the top of the table. And right at the top is overall winner Ince & Co. One member of staff claimed "partners actually do respect that you have a life outside the office" (and added "hurrah!"). Another proudly claimed "I have never had to work an all nighter" before sheepishly adding "which means I am not a true lawyer".

Shoosmiths and Bird & Bird came equal second. Shoosmiths won praise for a "relaxed approach to targets", even if work was "often under resourced", meaning "it does not take much for the reasonable working hours to go out of the window". Bird & Bird was loved for a sensible billable hours target, and having a "healthy approach" to its "great" work-life balance.

Larger City firms Reynolds Porter Chamberlain and Norton Rose came in at eighth and ninth places respectively. Norton Rose, which did well overall, was singled out for having "no requirement to put in unnecessary face time (unless it's at the pub)".



And congratulations are due to Slaughter and May, which stood out from the City elite, and put paid to a few clichés, by scoring a very respectable 61%. One trainee claimed there was "no pressure to stay late for the sake of it", and another said "no facetime and no target hours makes for a relaxed but hardworking atmosphere."

Generally, though, the BigLaw firms dominate the bottom of the table, with the other four members of the Magic Circle all in the bottom five. Linklaters fares worst, with a terrible score of 45%. The firm's lawyers claim "work-life balance is poor, and sometimes ridiculously bad". But then one mid-level associate said the firm offered "excellent part-time opportunities" and was "encouraging of family life", so there are clearly a few brighter elements to the Links experience too.

Last place went to Macfarlanes. The firm scored poorly throughout the survey, but came in for a particular kicking for its work-life balance, scoring only 44%. There may be "lots of interesting work", but "too much responsibility means little supervision" and there was criticism for relentless long hours. One senior associate, when asked to describe good things about the firm simply was left "struggling to think of any". Ouch.