And our survey says...
This is a last call for entries before the RollOnFriday Best Law Firm to Work at 2023 survey closes. Voting closes on Tuesday, with the results being published in next Friday's edition.
Almost 6,000 people have written in so far. Don't miss your chance to have your say - fill in the survey below.
As things stand, for City firms, it's looking good for Bird & Bird, RPC, Osborne Clarke and Trowers & Hamlins. But not so fab for Ince, Keoghs and Watson Farley & Williams.
For US outfits, things are going great guns for Sidley Austin (last year's runner up), Latham & Watkins and Ropes & Gray. But the likes of BCLP, Squire Patton Boggs and Goodwin Procter have cause for concern.
In the Magic Circle, Freshfields is leading the pack so far, while Slaughter and May and Linklaters will need a significant boost in the next couple of days to climb up the table.
Outside the City, there's a cracking showing for Bristol firms: Burges Salmon (crowned as last year's winner), TLT and Clarke Willmott. But things are looking ropey for northern firms Knights (last year's Golden Turd) and Slater and Gordon.
With just a few days to go before the survey closes, there's still all to play for. Have your say below, free from any voter suppression.
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Comments
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Phew! Looks like Wombles will avoid the golden 💩 this year.
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"But the likes of Squire Patton Boggs have cause for concern."
I mean, is anyone surprised? Shocking firm.
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Delighted to see Freshfields getting some recognition. By far the friendliest and most approachable partners of the magic circle firms.
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I am deeply shocked to see Knights mentioned as contenders for the golden turd two years in a row…. I mean it’s not like [X] has just this last week embarked on a grand tour of the offices where he puts up each FE KPIs (time and recovery (“fees don’t matter”) on the big screen and interrogates them about them in front of their peers.
oh wait….
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I can't take "Wombles" seriously.
Possibly just a reaction to growing up in the UK and being of a certain age, but you might as well call the firms "Duckula", "Dangermouse" or "Bert from Trap Door".
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I love Squire Patton Boggs. I love Squire Patton Boggs. I love Squire Patton Boggs.
I tell myself this every morning as I stare at the train tracks. Don't do it. No. I don't hate it. I love it. Come on. You can do this, get through one more day. You love this firm, you got through yesterday and you can do it again today. You do not hate the firm. Remember what Paul McKenna said. You love it. You love it. Come on, you love it. I am genuinely excited to be at this firm. Imagine how disappointed the partners will be if you topped yourself. They'll have to hire someone else, and no one wants to join, you'll let them all down. One more day. Don't inconvenience the commuters. It's selfish. You love this firm. One more day, it's nearly the weekend. Get an escort and tell her you work for Kirkland. She'll probably believe you. Then you'll have status. She'll like you.
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@Shooty
Probably not helped by them being atrocious as well. You’d get better advice from Cyril Sneer.
59
50
My firm hasn't been mentioned.
It hhas good work, average pay and a really horrible partner that ruins one of their friendly offices. Answers on a postcard.
65
50
This firm is great for people that like licking bums
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@Anonymous at 13:23
Give us a clue at least. First and last letter maybe?
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@Fellow traveller 13 January 23 12:42
Brutal and so accurate. Cleaning the khazis at Victoria Station or emptying the traps at Glastonbury would be immeasurably more fun and rewarding than working at that pit.
68
57
SPB's greatest achievement is avoiding the golden turd for so long.
56
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So Shakespeare martineau staff haven't listened to their HR staff and put a 5 star review for another pointless award....
59
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Tinpot Knight…that really isn’t what David did is it?
He explained the 4 dials to all staff to avoid any confusion and went through a few practical examples.
Get a grip you absolute clown.
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To be fair to Happy Knight - it’s spot on and was actually quite helpful. He has put a lot of time into speaking to each team and different offices which I think was generally appreciated on the ground.
103
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Nothing like a good bit of time shaming from the CEO followed by some nonsensical ramblings about dials. Visionary thy name is Beechy.
102
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It might be worth assessing his own dial performance.
Share price down 70%
Profit warning.
Screwing the SAYE scheme.
Senior Executives selling just before the profit warning.
Glass houses and stones etc.
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53
Which is better - there’s only one way to find out….
FIGHT!!!
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“Morale at Knights couldn’t be higher. Offices bustling with life, lots of happy faces and the revealing people’s work figures (now known as the 4 dials) to people in other teams has gone down really well.”
That was the joke I just found in my leftover Christmas cracker
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I worked there a few years back (before the floatation) and moved on when the somewhat compliant and robotic- think Stepford Wives- culture became too much. Back then it was all about utilisation and recovery/speed and accessibility. A Waitrose firm not an Aldi firm etc etc.
66
35
It sounds a bloody awful place.
67
40
Yesterday’s results left much to be desired…….
68
39
Those who knew when to dump their shares…dumped magnificently! Nothing like a big ‘turd’ dump to clear the air for those around the golden table!
Yesterday highlights exactly what is culturally wrong with this firm. Less Stepford Wives, more The Following! Especially for those 2 golden turds! We know who they are! Curtains twitch! Follow old Beechy to the end… let’s hope that’s soon! I see it happening!!
55
34
I see from the uptake in dislikes on the comments above that the Knights management have mobilised their toadies.
51
28
There’s a touch of the unseemly about Knights. Gateley appears to be unaffected by the same market conditions which apparently led to a rapid fall in Knights market cap. This suggests that there’s more to it than the excuses trotted out by Knights beleaguered CEO.
46
30
Can we have a page dedicated to....
Ta
51
32
Get out for your own sanity.
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To those who are quick to pull down the Knights ways of working... There is only one thing for you to do... Find the door...
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…Or become one of the ‘disappeared’. Those whose face didn’t fit or were not deemed sufficiently on-message tended to vanish. The issue of a new phone number list was a common indicator of this.
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Here, here. What sort of person comes straight on here to reveal the CEO’s efforts to improve time recording and profitability?
If you don’t like life at Knights then f*** off to a traditional law firm and be done with it.
You won’t be missed.
33
31
Suspicious that ROF never post anything negative about Osborne Clarke given numerous employees have come forward with criticism about the "excellent culture".
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To Dirty Knight
The type of person with integrity… that’s who.
You obviously have no knowledge of the behaviour and lack of moral compass displayed by some of our Beechy toadies. Unless you are one of them, and in that case, your opinion is of no value whatsoever.
Knights needs more than one page dedicated to it.
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Slagging your CEO proves integrity does it? If you had integrity you’d leave.
Nobody wants to work with your sort. Just go.
49
35
Based on the Knight bun fight in here, the golden turd's a given, no?
32
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Shocking firm, with even worse management. The comment above about rather cleaning the khazis than working at SPB checks out. As a recent escapee I’d even add that it would be much more fun to be part of a salt mine chain gang than spend another week in the shambolic London office.
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To quote another commenter on ROF on another post…
Integrity trumps greed