Linklaters is the early leader in the new RollOnFriday poll of in-house lawyers.

A senior lawyer at a massive energy company identifies Linklaters as the best firm on their panel, citing it as "reliable and commercial". A senior lawyer at a tech/telecoms business also makes the firm their number one choice, praising its "responsiveness" and "ability to get to issues rather than score points for the sake of it".

The Magic Circle is generally proving popular. Slaughter and May is "unrivalled" on the technical side, even if it "sometimes makes you feel like you are in a never-ending exam on Listing Rules technicalities". Meanwhile a senior lawyer in the banking sector is a big, big fan of Clifford Chance, reeling off its "fantastic" service, "great, consistent teams" and "great teamwork".

    A GC meeting CC yesterday

But in-house lawyers are also spreading the love more widely. Lewis Silkin is "always helpful and courteous", which might help it put its Monopoly misery into perspective, while DLA Piper has "good lawyers" and, equally important, "loads of client entertainment". Meanwhile Latham & Watkins' "dedication to getting the job done on time" was "second to none" according to a GC working in the energy sector. Presumably because, being a US firm, associates are stapled to their desks until their work is done.  

However it's not all spooning and love letters. One firm which shall remain anonymous until RollOnFriday checks with its defamation lawyers has been branded "a shit show from start to finish" by a hotel chain's GC. Another firm was not just "awful, simply awful", according to a senior lawyer in a bank: it was also "backwards, slow, difficult, rude, aggressive", produced "rubbish documents" and "antiquated drafting", and had associates "like ghosts who appeared bullied and harassed" by "AWOL" partners. And breathe.

RollOnFriday wants to hear more, so if you're an in-house lawyer, fill in the survey and get everyone else to as well.


Have your say. The RollOnFriday Firm of Year 2015 survey is now open, and so is the survey for in-house lawyers.
 
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Comments

Anonymous 12 December 14 09:28

That mystery firm? My money's on Howard Kennedy, Memery Crystal or Irwin Mitchell.