Bristol’s biggest law firms have again put those from the rest of the country in the shade when it comes to working conditions – this time claiming six of the top 10 places in a survey on work/life balance in the sector.
Less than a month after dominating the upper reaches of a similar poll on the best law firms to work for, the city’s legal elite have again swept aside all-comers when it comes to new ways of working. 
Both surveys were carried out by legal website RollOnFriday and based on extensive feedback from staff at the firms.
Leading the pack this time is DAC Beachcroft, which has its largest UK office in Bristol, with Clarke Willmott and TLT taking the second and third spots respectively.
Burges Salmon, at fourth, made it four out of the top five for Bristol, while Osborne Clarke, joint eighth, and Womble Bond Dickinson, at 10, gave Bristol bragging rights over more than half the top flight.
Burges Salmon, which employs 800 people in its Bristol HQ and London and Edinburgh offices, had last month taken the top spot out of 61 firms included in the ‘best firm to work for’ table.
Both rankings were based on responses from 8,000 people working at all levels in law firms in what RollOnFriday described as the most comprehensive survey of its kind.
The work/life balance part of the survey revealed that staff at staff at DAC Beachcroft are the most satisfied with their work/life balance in UK private practice, with a score of 83%.
The firm was hailed for its agile working policy, introduced last year, which allows staff to decide where and when they want to work.
One paralegal told RollOnFriday that the firm’s ‘Flex Forward’ policy meant there is no pressure to go into the office, while its ‘Glide your Time’ scheme meant working at a time that suited staff.
The website quoted a senior lawyer at the firm saying: “Flex Forward has been an absolute game changer for me. 
“It really lends itself to life with a small child. I split my working day around him and feel like I am able to spin both plates pretty successfully, as a working mum and as a solicitor. I am far more productive without my commute.”
At Clarke Willmott, which was close behind with a score of 81%, CEO Stephen Rosser, pictured, said staff work/life balance featured heavily in its growth plans.
“Our team responded exceptionally well during unprecedented circumstances. Our culture has always been recognised as being highly collegiate and supportive, and in the last two years this has really come to the fore.
“There are many lessons from the pandemic, but the biggest for Clarke Willmott is the ability and willingness of our staff to adapt and to adopt new flexible ways of working, supporting each other and also our clients,” he said.
Other than for a few specific roles, Clarke Willmott’s staff are encouraged to work where they and their teams can best deliver for our clients.
“If they want and need to be in the office, they can be. Equally if they can get their best work delivered by working remotely, then they will be supported in doing so if they wish,” he added.
“As well as supporting hybrid working the firm has provided a range of broader initiatives including wellbeing activities such as online yoga and Zwift cycling sessions, art club, cream tea events and a coffee club that connects staff members across teams and offices for an informal get together.”
He said the new approach meant taking a broad overview of the firm’s office space and making sure that it was fit for purpose considering its “new normal”.
It recently announced it will relocate its Bristol office from Bath Street to “a more flexible friendly and environmentally sustainable space” in the new Assembly office complex on Temple Way.
TLT, which achieved third place with a score of 80%, was viewed as “super flexible” with home/office working, according to the survey.
One partner told RollOnFriday: “They’ve made the impossible (juggling work and kids) possible and I’m really grateful”.
