Bristol’s Burges Salmon has been named as the country’s best law firm to work in by legal website RollOnFriday – with four other city-based firms in the Top 10.
Burges Salmon, which employs 800 people in its Bristol HQ and London and Edinburgh offices, took the top spot out of 61 firms included in the table, which is based on responses from 8,000 people working in law firms. 
Anyone from a partner to a PA to the IT Team to a paralegal could take part in what RollOnFriday describes as the most comprehensive survey of law firm satisfaction.
TLT, which is headquartered in Bristol, and Osborne Clarke, which has a major office in the city, share fourth place with national firm Mills & Reeve.
National firms Clarke Wilmott, in seventh place, and DAC Beachcroft, in eighth, also have sizeable bases in the city.
Burges Salmon said its scores showed it to have the happiest workforce in 2022, with the majority of respondents declaring themselves to be very satisfied.
Well over half of the firm participated in this year’s survey, which gave respondents the opportunity to rate how satisfied they are with their career development, pay, management, work/life balance and their firm’s culture.
Burges Salmon has historically performed very well in the survey – it previously won it in 2018. It described is latest win as a further reflection of the strong culture at the firm.
Burges Salmon managing partner Roger Bull, pictured, said: “This award is unique as it’s based on our people’s individual views of the firm.
“Over the past two years we have focused on building strength and resilience that comes from our culture of working together and supporting each other. It is this culture that has helped us meet the challenges we have all faced together.
“At Burges Salmon, we are proud to have the courage to care – for our people, our clients and for the wider communities around us.
“Everyone in the firm makes Burges Salmon what it is. That’s why there’s genuine pride in the firm; it’s therefore especially humbling to receive this fantastic accolade.”
At the outset of the pandemic in 2020, Burges Salmon prioritised its people with a focus on wellbeing ensuring it provided the full-range of support through its people-first agenda.
This was highlighted in its 2021 People Survey, where 98% of respondents said the firm navigated its way through the pandemic well.
Further demonstrating its commitment to its people and communities, Burges Salmon was last year named a Top 75 UK employer in the Social Mobility Foundation Index, recognised with a Platinum ‘We invest in people’ accreditation by Investors in People, and named one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Women.
The firm was also recognised for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity at Bristol Council’s Stepping Up Excellence Awards.
Roger Bull added: “It’s particularly gratifying to see such a high response rate from our people to this survey.
“It stands to reason that having a happy workforce will have hugely positive impact on our clients, helping to further drive our relentless focus on our clients and continue providing them with the excellent levels of service for which Burges Salmon is known.”
Since Burges Salmon last won the RollOnFriday award in 2018, the firm has had a number of significant achievements and milestones, including exceeding £100m turnover and 25% growth in the firm’s people, driving ongoing growth of its international practice, along with the successful launches of the firm’s fast-growing office in Edinburgh and its Intellectual Property practice in Dublin.
The firm has also implemented a range of progressive initiatives in relation to Responsible Business, Innovation, Environment and Diversity & Inclusion.
For TLT, the result follows hot on the heels of its Law Firm of the Year award by The Lawyer, which was based on the firm’s growth, the quality of its clients, its approach to innovation, and its commitment to sustainability and equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing.
TLT managing partner John Wood, pictured, said: “This is such an important survey because it’s based on the opinions of our people. We’ve been engaging with staff even more regularly since the start of the pandemic – on everything from our new fully-flexible working policy and mental health and wellbeing – and it’s great to see the RollOnFriday result reflecting our own internal results.
“I am incredibly proud of how hard our people have worked over the last year to support our clients and be the firm for what comes next. We are continuing to win significant panel appointments and instructions from our clients, and pursuing ambitious growth plans in the UK and internationally.
“This year will also see significant developments in our net zero journey and employee value proposition.”
